Co-op Wholesale is investing £2m to drop the wholesale selling price (wsp) of over 500 tobacco lines, The Grocer can reveal.
The wholesaler, formerly known as Nisa, said the pricing file would be available to retailers from Tuesday 8 July, with the new wsps to go live from Friday 1 August.
In a notice sent to retailers, Co-op Wholesale MD Katie Secretan said the investment was in response to feedback she heard at its first independent retailer and key accounts partner summit last week in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
“We talked openly that partnership is the foundation to the sustainable growth for both our businesses,” she said. “We are focused on delivering a proposition that supports your business and can deliver the margins you require to be sustainable and grow in this challenging market.
“We shared our desire to work together to create service efficiencies and increased sales loyalty as a buying group, which will enable us to reinvest directly back into the proposition for you.
“The feedback I heard clearly from you, was that you need our support to drive higher loyalty and enable growth. You told us that an urgent investment was needed in the tobacco category to make us more competitive. And with this feedback, I commit to a £2m annualised investment into the wholesale selling price of over 500 tobacco lines, from 1 August.
“I understand how important this category is to your business and for the opportunity to grow. This is an investment for long-term growth and one that comes with price stability, acknowledging that government duty and manufacturer pricing movements may always create the need for price changes.”
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