Asda is now facing a legal battle with Waitrose just days after announcing its new budget range.
As the cost of living crisis continues, the Leeds-based supermarket giant made the decision to launch a new and larger value range and axe its current Smart Price range. The new range will be called 'Just Essentials' and is said to comprise of 300 products, double the current Smart Price range.
It will be rolled out in May but Waitrose has said it has sent a legal letter to its rival over the brand name. Waitrose runs its own version of a discount brand named 'Essential Waitrose'. As reported by the Guardian, a Waitrose spokesperson said: "We were surprised to hear that Asda is launching an essentials range as the Essential Waitrose brand has been in use since 2009 and has built up a strong reputation for value, quality and higher welfare standards in that time."
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They continued: "As we’ve also protected the name as a trade mark, we have raised this with Asda and are awaiting a response." An Asda spokesperson has said:" The word ‘essentials’ is a generic and commonly used term by retailers to describe their value product ranges.”
Asda says it has designed the new range 'with consideration for customer concerns over the cost of living crisis'. It comes a week after the Office for National Statistics said inflation jumped to a 30-year-high of 6.2 per cent in February, with food inflation at 5.3%.
Mohsin Issa, co-owner of Asda, said: “We understand that customers are increasingly worried about the cost of living and want help to keep their grocery bills in check, whilst still being able to buy healthy and nutritious food for their families.
“Our new Just Essentials range has been specifically designed with this in mind, combing our lowest prices with a much larger and more diverse range of great value products to meet all household needs.”
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