Sainsbury's has criticised Tesco's Price Promise promotion and confirmed it has reported the retailer to the Advertising Standards Authority.
Sainsbury's group commercial director Mike Coupe says that Tesco is listing imports alongside UK fresh produce offered by rival retailers, including Sainsbury's, as part of its price comparison promotion. Accusing the UK's biggest supermarket of 'failing to compare own-brand products fairly,' Coupe launched the scathing attack on Sainsbury's official blog.
The post reads: 'They [Tesco] have recently begun an attempt at recasting their ethical image and pushing fresh food credentials in a high-profile marketing campaign which encourages us to ‘love every mouthful.'But there’s a basic contradiction between this advertising and the way they’re operating their ‘Price Promise’.
'The arguments Tesco have used to defend their position include the suggestion that customers don’t actually care all that much about the provenance of their food or the ethical aspects of food production.We’re pretty sure that customers would disagree.”
Post-horsegate, Tesco is currently trying to improve its image among customers with the food focusedLove Every Mouthful campaign, which includes a commitment to offer customers in-store samples of fruit and vegetables.
Tesco's Price Promise promotion has also been labelled 'unfair' by Sainsbury's boss Justin King, and Coupe says it is undermining customers' ability to buy food that has been sourced ethically.
The commercial director added: 'By failing to compare own-brands fairly it is taking power away from customers to make accurate and informed choices about the food they put in their baskets. Worse, it undermines their ability to make a choice based on the values they believe in.”
