New research shows that Tesco has been reducing the size of their own-brand value lines despite rising food and groceries costs.
Research by The Grocer shows that the supermarket's own-brand range has decreased substantially over the last 12 months, while the premium tier sector has also grown in the same timeframe.
However, Tesco has responded by saying they are 'more committed than ever to providing customers with great value', introducing other ways and means to offer value prices on bigger brands - such as Clubcard reductions and Aldi Price Match.
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The Mirror reports that the value 'Exclusively at Tesco' range consists of 316 lines as of August 4, 2022, compared with the 339 items on display at the same time last year. According to exclusive Assosia data, there were 422 of these items in 2019.
This revelation comes amid Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports last month of inflation across the UK reaching a record high of 9.4 per cent. This is anticipated to be even worse in the shopping and supermarket sector, with the price of food and drink seeing surges of 9.8 per cent overall in the space of one calendar year.
Meanwhile, some groceries have increased in price by some 26.3 per cent altogether.
The rapidly increasing cost of living in-turn means that households will see their yearly expenditure on food shopping hike by £380 this year, with many residents across Great Britain struggling to make ends meet. Ben Reynolds, Deputy chief executive of food charity Sustain, said: “With more and more people on the breadline, it beggars belief that a major supermarket would reduce the size of its value range year on year.”
As well as the Exclusively at Tesco range, the retail goliath offers the Aldi Price Match and Low Everyday Prices campaigns, with the additional bonus of a long-standing Clubcard loyalty system. Clubcard prices were launched back in May 2019, and the Aldi Price Match made way in March 2020.
This means that hundreds of basic essentials have been price matched with budget store Aldi, allowing shoppers to enjoy high-quality products for similar prices at both retailers.
The Clubcard allows shoppers at Tesco to earn one point for every £1 spent in store or online, as well as one point for every £2 spent on fuel. These points when amassed can be exchanged for vouchers, allowing customers to save money on food or other partner schemes.
Clubcard holders also access cheaper prices on certain items, compared to those who don't possess the loyalty card. As of last year, Clubcard Prices also became available across all of its 1,800 Express stores.
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