Re:fresh award-winning supermarket group Morrisons has slated a National Consumer Council (NCC) report that placed it at the bottom of a retail health league.
Ellen Malinski, the retailer’s consumer public relations manager, told freshinfo: “We reject the findings of this report. It is six months out of date, contains a number of inaccuracies and is a largely subjective assessment, which ignores the obvious focus we place on fresh food in all our stores through Market Street. It is limited to one moment in time and is not an accurate or useful guide for customers.”
NCC researchers checked eight stores in Sheffield in March - operated by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, The Co-op, Somerfield, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose - and found twice as many promotions for fatty and sugary foods in March 2008 as in July 2006. Of the cut-price deals on offer, 54 per cent were on foods high in sugar or fat, while only 12 per cent were for fruit and vegetables.
Lucy Yates, the report author, said: ‘The volume of in-house promotions for fatty and sugary foods the supermarkets are all offering is staggering. We expected to see evidence of big improvements since our last investigation, but we have been sadly disappointed.”
Overall, Sainsbury’s came top of the league of eight, with 15 per cent of its promotions on fruit and veg and 52 per cent on fatty or sugary foods, compared to the Morrisons figures of 10 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.
Malinski said: “We do business differently to other retailers to ensure that we offer great value on fresh food all year round - and our customers are buying more fresh produce from us all the time.
“While this report was being put together, we were running high-profile TV and press adverts, which highlighted our seasonal British produce. Our newest advert has fresh fruit right at the heart of it and our customers also know that we make and prepare more fresh food in-store than any other retailer.”
Morrisons’ TV advertising campaign featuring actress Denise Van Outen promoting “seasonal apples” went live on Monday.
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