Sainsbury's customers are switching to own-brand products and cutting back on non-essential spending as prices rise more quickly, the supermarket's boss has said. Simon Roberts added that pressure on household budgets is set to increase over the rest of the year. Households have been struggling with the cost of living as energy, food and fuel bills soar. Some customers are "switching into economy own-label" when food shopping, while Sainsbury's is seeing customers "pulling back" some spending on general merchandise, Mr Roberts said, with larger "big ticket" items "more challenged". Last month, a BBC-commissioned survey suggested that people were cutting back on food, fuel and clothes as prices rise. Despite its latest comments, Sainsbury's said it still expected full year underlying profit before tax to be in line its previous estimate of between £630m and £690m.
