Strong sales of Tesco venture brand Chokablok ice cream forced the retailer to pull the brand from its website last week after supplies ran low.

All five variants of the brand, launched last month, were removed from tesco.com in some parts of the UK late last week after high demand left stores short of stock.

"We didn't actually sell out but we will remove a product from the website when stocks are running low so customers can't place an order for it and be disappointed," said a spokesman for the company, which refused to reveal exactly when the product was taken offline. As The Grocer went to press, some variants were still not available to order online in parts of the country.

The retailer said it had been delighted with Chokablok's popularity, and revealed it was looking to expand the range. The brand carries a £3.99 rsp but was on sale at £1.99 for two weeks in June.

This week Tesco rolled out Chokablok to its stores in Central Europe one of the key elements of its venture brand strategy is the development of products that can be sold in the UK and other territories. On its website in Slovakia, for ­example, all variants are being offered for 2.49 on a half-price promotion.