Morrisons has announced it will cut the average price of its fruit and vegetables by 17 per cent in a statement of post-Brexit commitment to its customers.
From today, 1,045 products - including meat and toiletries, as well as fresh produce - will be reduced in price in what the supermarket has called its “biggest ever price crunch”.
Fresh produce prices will be cut by 17 per cent on average and up to 56 per cent on some fruit and vegetable products.
The reductions are the latest development in the price war between Britain’s leading supermarkets to win back customers from Lidl and Aldi. And the other members of the ‘big four’ – Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda – are now expected to follow Morrisons’ example.
The supermarket is hoping the cuts will reassure customers of its commitment to low prices amid concerns about post-Brexit price increases.
Andy Atkinson, Morrisons’ customer and marketing director, said: “We are constantly listening to our customers and know they are concerned about whether food prices will go up following the Brexit vote, especially on imports.
“We are British farming’s biggest supermarket customer, which means we can better control our prices, and this latest round of crunches demonstrates our commitment to offering the best possible value to our customers this summer.”
Experts have predicted the Leave vote will cause supermarket price inflation, as the devaluation of the pound makes imports more expensive, but the referendum result has yet to impact on retail prices, according to the latest figures from the Kantar Wordpanel for the 12 weeks to 17 July.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at the consumer panel, said: “The EU referendum result has had no immediate impact on the prices retailers are charging or the sales volumes consumers are buying over the past 12 weeks.
“The nation’s average shopping basket is 1.4% cheaper than a year ago, exactly the same level of deflation as reported last month, and it remains to be seen if the Brexit vote will bring about any price rises this year.”
Despite this, sales have dipped slightly at all of the ‘big four’ supermarkets, according to Kantar’s data. Overall sales have fallen by 1.8 per cent at Morrisons, by 1.1 per cent at Sainsbury’s and by 0.7 per cent at Tesco. Asda recorded the biggest sales fall with a 5.6 per cent decrease.
