Giant supermarket chain, OK, Zimbabwe has responded to an outcry over its high prices.

In a statement released on Thursday, the supermarket blamed its suppliers for wantonly increasing prices forcing them to follow the trend.

Full Statement from the supermarket reads as follows:

OK, Zimbabwe is grateful for the support and patronage of all our customers. Your support and patronage, particularly in these difficult times, is especially appreciated.

We are proud to be the leading Zimbabwean retail and supermarket chain and we will strive to ensure that you, our customers, will continue to get value from our stores.

The last month of June has been turbulent as we received numerous price increases from our supplier base as they chased the exchange rate movement.

We welcome the new SI142, which we believe will stabilise prices and allow us to deliver the good prices and value you have always expected and enjoyed from us.

We have always received good support from our supplier partners. Accordingly, we have engaged them and some have started to moderate prices in response to SI142.

We will continue this engagement to ensure that we, together with them, deliver the value you have always enjoyed.

We appreciate and applaud the feedback we receive from you our customers. We have other a number of platforms available for easy access, communication and feedback.

We would like to assure you that we will continue with our relentless efforts to ensure that all our stores nationwide remain reasonably stocked.