Asda has announced it will double the number of stores stocking its budget food range, as it fights back against criticism it has not been doing enough to stop inflation hitting customers.
The retailer said it was reacting to rising concerns over inflation and energy prices, following a campaign by activist Jack Monroe who complained that the cost of everyday essentials was going up in price more than the cost of living.
Asda said in response, it will nearly double the number of stores that offer its lowest-priced value range to help households struggling to afford essential goods.
The supermarket said of the 200 lines making up its Smart Price and Farm Stores products, 150 are available in 300 stores across the country. It currently includes items such as tinned foods and everyday products such as cleaning goods.
But from March 1, bosses will roll out the 200 lines to all 581 stores as the cost of products rise due to higher transportation costs and increased wages and energy bills.
Last month, poverty campaigner Jack Monroe forced the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to change the way it presents inflation data to reflect the impact on different products.
Ms Monroe also said several items from the Smart Price range were no longer available online.
Meg Farren, Asda's chief customer officer, said: "We want to help our customers' budgets stretch further and have taken on board the comments about the availability of our Smart Price range made by Jack Monroe.
"We are taking steps to put our full Smart Price and Farm Stores ranges in store and online to make these products as accessible as possible."
The supermarket has also added 100 Smart Price and Farm Stores products to its website this week, increasing the total online range to 187 products, and this will rise to 200 by the end of February.
The price promise comes after Britain's biggest supermarket, Tesco, warned "the worst is yet to come" on rising food prices.
Tesco's John Allan yesterday told the BBC said grocers and suppliers were not immune from rising energy costs.
He estimated supermarket prices could rise as much as 5% by the spring as energy and other costs feed through to the High Street, adding that Tesco's food price inflation in the last three months had been contained to about 1%.
"We are impacted by rising energy prices, our suppliers are impacted by rising energy prices. So the likelihood is that that inflation figure will rise," he said.
Mr Allan said he recognised the cost of food took up a bigger proportion of household budgets for people on lower incomes.
People having to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families "troubles us, and I'm sure troubles many people... That's clearly not a situation that any of us should tolerate," he said.
A report earlier this month from the British Retail Consortium said food inflation accelerated to 2.7% in January, up from 2.4% in December.
