Sainsbury’s will take its fight against Tesco's 'misleading' Price Promise campaign to Judicial Review.
The move follows the Advertising Standards Authority ruling in favour of Tesco.
Sainsbury's said it wants to fight for customers’ rights to make shopping decisions based on all relevant factors including ethics, provenance and price.
But a spokesperson for Tesco said its Price Promise scheme offers customers reassurance on the price of their whole shop, in store and online, and not just the big brand products.
Sainsbury’s commercial director, Mike Coupe, said: 'It’s time to take a stand on behalf of the huge majority of customers who want to be able to make fair comparisons when they shop. Tesco says that whether, for example, a product is Fairtrade or MSC-certified is just a ‘minor part’ of a customer’s considerations – especially for value products.
'More than ever, customers want to be able to let their values guide them, and in price-matching its products with ours, Tesco is - when it sees fit - choosing to ignore factors such as ethical or provenance certification or even country of origin. We think that’s wrong and we’re pretty sure our customers do too.'
The Judicial Review is a reaction to the findings of the ASA’s independent reviewer, Sir Hayden Philips, who said in his recent review that while Sainsbury’s had made a “persuasive case” that customers increasingly place value on provenance and other ethical issues, the ASA had followed the correct process.
Sainsbury’s originally challenged Tesco in the ASA over the Price Promise scheme, in which Tesco matched products such as its Everyday Value Tea, which is not Fairtrade, with Sainsbury’s basics tea, which is. Other examples include Sainsbury's 'basics' water, which comes from a spring in Yorkshire, filtered through mineral-rich Greenmoor rock, but which Tesco compared with its Everyday Value water, which starts at the mains supply, like tap water.
Tesco's UK marketing director, David Wood, said: “Sainsbury’s argument against Price Promise has been heard and rejected twice already. Tesco Price Promise offers customers reassurance on the price of their whole shop, in store and online, not just the big brand products. When family budgets are under pressure, that is the kind of help customers want and the real question for Sainsbury’s is why they aren’t trying to do the same for their customers.”
Wood noted that Price Promise covers fresh food and own brand products, as branded goods only make up half the average grocery basket .
He added: 'A massive amount of work goes into making the comparisons, down to the quality of the individual ingredients, to make sure we make common-sense comparisons customers would see as fair and meaningful. The origin of a product can be important and where it is, for example, Melton Mowbray pies, we compare by origin too. Where it isn’t a key factor for customers, we don’t let it stand in the way of making a common-sense comparison.'
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