Supermarket giants escalate price war

THE supermarket price war has heated up further with two of the biggest players pledging to cut more prices in a bid to win customers.

Tesco said it is cutting prices on Irish brands by 11%, while Superquinn also announced a new series of pricereductions.

Just as Tesco finishes the roll-out of its multi-million euro Change for Good campaign, which saw it cut the prices of 12,500 items, it said it is slashing the prices of 100 Irish products, with some cuts up to 66%.

The brands include Denny’s, Irish Pride, Brennan’s, Glenisk, Charleville and Dairygold.

The largest price cuts are in the Irish yoghurt range with the prices of 40 products reducing by two thirds.

Tesco marketing director Kenny Jacobs said: “This is part of our ongoing campaign to help our customers spend less through long-term price cuts. These Irish favourites feature in a lot of baskets and trolleys every week so the majority of our customers will see a saving at the till. This also re-affirms our commitment to working with Irish suppliers.”

Tesco came under fire earlier in the year as reports emerged that it was considering substituting Irish brands with products sourced in Britain.

However, it said each year it buys almost €2 billion worth of Irish food and drink products. Of this €655m is exported to Tesco stores worldwide, which it said makes Tesco a bigger export destination for Irish food than France, Germany or the US.

Meanwhile, Superquinn is the latest supermarket to shake up the price war pledging to cut thousands of prices on branded and own label items at its 23 stores.

Trading director for Superquinn, James Wilson said: “Shoppers are looking for ways to save money each week, so we are committed to lowering the price of the average weekly basket.”