Asda has adopted pound shop tactics on more than 1000 products in a move which may light the touch-paper on a price war between the main supermarket giants.
Asda said there would be price cuts on 1,000 essential items in its 350 stores across the UK, ranging from fresh and frozen products to bakery items and toiletries.
Asda has guaranteed that, at any one time, there would always be 1,000 items with reduced prices although some fresh produce would vary according to the season.
The offers include £1 deals on a range of 100 fresh and frozen produce, three-for-£10 deals on leading wines, three-for-£10 offers on selected joints of chicken or meat and 200 everyday toiletries.
The Leeds-based chain said the price cuts would be funded by a drive launched last year to reduce unnecessary costs in its business.
A spokeswoman for supermarket giant Tesco, responding to the Asda announcement, said: "We have already dropped our prices on thousands of everyday lines and we have more to come."
Andy Bond, Asda president and chief executive, said: "2009 is going to be a very difficult year and I believe we have an obligation to help our customers through these tough times.
"They want to know that when they spend their hard-earned cash they are getting real value for money and not just a gimmicky price promotion.
"No longer can retailers claim they are investing hundreds of millions of pounds in lowering prices and not provide hard evidence as to how and for how long," he said.
The Asda announcement comes after the British Retail Consortium predicted price cuts and special offers were likely to continue throughout 2009.
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