Tesco pledges to cut 350 prices

Supermarket giant Tesco today handed British shoppers a £60m (€87m) boost by pledging to cut prices on more than 350 products.

The latest reductions, which take effect from Monday, cover a range of products sold in the company’s 780 UK stores.

An average of 12% would be shed from 350-plus items, a move which equated to an overall reduction of £60m (€87m), said the company, the UK’s biggest supermarket chain.

Tesco director Tim Mason added: “These price cuts focus on the essential items people buy every week.

“We’ve invested £1.2bn (€1.7bn) in reducing prices and this creates a virtuous circle for us. By reducing price we increase volumes which helps us buy for less - and when we buy for less we pass these savings on to customers.”

Among Tesco’s rivals, Asda said it had no plans to respond directly to the price-cutting move. An Asda spokesman added: “We cut prices week in, week out.”