What is eating US, UK? Rising oil prices

THE BAR GOES UP: Restaurants and supermarkets feel the pinch as oil prices rise.

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London: Theo Randall’s restaurant in London's affluent Mayfair neighborhood does not exactly cater to penny pinchers, but even here people aren't immune to the rising cost of food.

Chef Randall blames his rising costs on transportation costs. "Ingredients have gone up in price, because transport has gone up—because of the oil prices. Everything has a knock on effect. So yes we are experiencing probably a 10 per cent rise in prices across the board," says Randall.

That squares with estimates that UK transport companies have raised their charges by 10 to 15 per cent. In line with an average 11 per cent increase in the weekly shopping bill, it is no surprise really then that some drivers are paying around $700 more per week this year for diesel.

In the US, some truckers now face a thousand-dollar charge at the pump when they fill up an 18-wheeler. Fuel prices in the US have jumped 50 per cent in the past year but truckers say they aren't always able to pass that on. The reason some recently staged a go-slow protest.

"Our costs as truckers are going up and up but revenue is not keeping pace," says trucker John Herman.

Food price and fuel prices have tracked each other for decades. Both spiked in the mid 1970s but fell throughout the eighties and were positively benign in the nineties. Since 2006 both have soared.

Transportation companies say products have to be delivered no matter the cost of fuel and in order to make a profit they will continue to increase their charges to supermarkets and restaurants. And much of that will just be passed through to your table.