The supermarket listed 790 that were price matched against Aldi in August 2024, but now this number stands at 645 this week, according to Paul Stainton, partner at private label consultancy IPLC
Tesco has axed almost 150 products from its Aldi price match campaign.
The supermarket listed 790 that were price matched against Aldi in August 2024, but now this number stands at 645 this week, according to Paul Stainton, partner at private label consultancy IPLC. Tesco claims it has changed the way it decides whether a product can be included or not.
Before, the food giant said it would only match a price if it can find the equivalent in a minimum of five of their stores – but it has now increased this to a minimum of ten stores. However, Mr Stainton told The Grocer that he believed the reduction was also in response to a BBC Panorama investigation last September, which revealed how not all Tesco products that were included in the price match promise were a like-for-like comparison to Aldi.
For example, the BBC probe said Tesco Hearty Food Co Chicken Nuggets contained 39% chicken – while the Aldi Roosters version had 60% chicken. It also noted how Tesco Hearty Food Co Chicken Kievs had 44% chicken, compared with 57% at Aldi. Other examples highlighted in the BBC Panorama investigation include Tesco Cottage Pie which was found to include 18% beef, while the Aldi version had 25%.
According to Mr Stainton, the number of Hearty Food Co lines included in the price match campaign has dropped since from 36 to 13 since August last year, while the Grower’s Harvest range has reduced from 27 to 16, Ms Molly’s from 16 to five and Eastman’s from 19 to nine.
Mr Stainton said: “Tesco were shown to be price matching their value tier against Aldi’s standard tier own label. It’s not a surprise that Tesco subtly removed many of these items from the price match to avoid further negative reaction.” Its standard tier of own-label products has only gone down from 265 to 253.
Other lines removed were brands that Tesco had price matched against the same brand on sale for a limited time in Aldi’s middle aisle, including Blue Dragon, Douwe Egberts, Fanta, Hartley’s, and Old El Paso. Tesco denied the reduction of products in its Aldi price match promise was down to the Panorama investigation.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We work hard to offer our customers the best possible value, quality, and service with every shop. Our powerful combination of Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices and Clubcard Prices ensures we deliver great value for our customers as the UK’s cheapest full line grocer.”