Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco are to follow Asda into pound land and slash prices on fresh produce in a bid to regain custom from discounters.
Morrisons is offering selected fruit and vegetables at £1, including 2.5kg of King Edward potatoes, 225g of vine-ripened cherry tomatoes and a pack of seven oranges.
Sainsbury's also plans to expand the number of its low-cost "Basics" products to 630, with half of them priced at £1 or less, and Tesco is believed to weighing up a similar move. Last week Asda announced £1 prices for 300 items, including frozen foods and toiletries.
The trend is a reflection both of the economic crisis and also the trend by retailers trying to imitate the performance of single-price stores including Poundland which is thought to be attracting more higher-income earners than ever before.
Greg Hodge, research manager at the online consultant Planet Retail, said: "Fixed-price retailing has taken the UK by storm in the past six months. Many people thought that the only way Woolies could have survived is if it had turned into a fixed-price store. A year ago, people didn't like to go, but they're not so embarrassed to go to these types of places now."
Andy Garbutt, retail director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "The £1 stores are the new kind of variety stores. When Woolies went bust people said that it was the end of that type of shop, but they've actually been with us and growing since the early 1990s."
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