Over 100 food suppliers will be “at risk of collapse” as supermarkets cut prices to keep customers coming in.

According to the report, released by insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor, the food retail business has been showing signs of financial difficulty with firms in “significant distress” in the last three months of 2014. It added that around 4,550 firms are currently listed as “struggling”, compared to last years figure of 2,878.

In a statement by Julie Palmer, partner at Begbies Traynor, said: "Unless the supermarkets start treating their suppliers more fairly and find longer term solutions to their cost cutting exercise, we expect that more than 100 of these 1410 significantly distressed food and beverage suppliers will fall into administration before the year is up."