Britain supermarket price wars are continuing into spring of 2024, with Sainsbury’s cutting prices on 1,000 items and Waitrose reducing the cost of 200 items including fresh vegetables.
The major announcement by Sainsbury’s, however, only hinted that it would include “favourite branded products.” The chain didn’t not reveal much more than that and whether those would include fresh fruits and veg.
Waitrose, on the other hand, was clear about its intentions to cut prices on “a wider range of healthier products, with 40% of the products having the Waitrose Good Health certification.”
“We are focusing on even more weekly shop staples as well as a large range of organic ingredients which our customers love,” Charlotte Di Cello, Commercial Director for Waitrose, said. “We continue to offer market-leading quality on our higher welfare products, such as chicken and outdoor-bred pork alongside our best seasonal fruit and vegetables. As always, our quality won’t change but our prices will drop, allowing customers to enjoy great value with no compromise.”
One of the major price reductions is on a 1.5kg package of Waitrose Duchy Organic Potatoes, which dropped 18.8% from £2.35 to £1.95. Waitrose Essential Spinach has also seen a price cut of more than 11%, while loose leeks are down nearly 7%.
Waitrose stores carry more than 1,600 Good Health products, defined as “foods with less refined sugar, more wholegrains and fibre, less meat protein, and less saturated fat.” Customers are likely to see additional deals in the coming months on better-for-you items.
“As we approach the warmer months, seasonal produce will be in abundance, and with the addition of our ‘In Season’ section on Waitrose.com, customers can easily find our top quality, seasonal products with a simple click,” Di Cello said.
Like Sainsbury, Waitrose and other big supermarkets across the UK are both pitching quality and price, trying to keep up on the latter with deep discounters Aldi and Lidl by price matching on some products. Waitrose has slashed prices across a range of items five times in the past year in what is says has been a £130m investment.
Customers are buying it, especially healthy items. Its New Lower Prices campaign has seen sales jump 20%.
