Sainsburys Xmas 21 (2)

Source: Sainsbury’s

Some of the Christmas products being added to the Aldi price match campaign include turkey crowns, gammon joints and potatoes

Sainsbury’s has added Christmas products to its Aldi price match campaign in a bid to attract more shoppers this festive season.

The retailer has launched its biggest-ever festive value campaign, with the pricing changes affecting Christmas staples like turkey, gammon joints, potatoes and sprouts, and a chocolate gateau dessert.

Sainsbury’s turkey crowns, which hit the shelves on Sunday (19 December), are now available for £6.89 a kilo, while a 1.4kg gammon join is now priced at £5.70.

Responsibly-farmed Scottish smoked salmon is now retailing at £4.49 for 300g, and all the vegetable trimmings including potatoes, sprouts, carrots, cabbage, swede and parsnips at 19p a pack.

The supermarket has also launched a beef joint promotion that saw the previous £6-per-kilo price tag of last year drop to £4.50.

Sainsbury’s Aldi price match Christmas campaign runs from 18 December through to 24 December.

“This year more than ever people want to relax and enjoy their festive celebrations with families and friends, but it’s clear times are difficult for many and people need to save money where they can,” said Sainsbury’s CMO Mark Given.

“Everyone who buys their dinner with Sainsbury’s can be safe in the knowledge they won’t find a better value or more delicious Christmas dinner anywhere else.

“Great value at Sainsbury’s isn’t just for Christmas. We’re ending the year as we plan to start 2022 – with brilliant campaigns on our delicious food – and there’s much more to come in the year ahead from Sainsbury’s.”

The grocer’s Aldi price match campaign, which first launched in February this year, is not available in Northern Ireland.

Paul Stainton, partner at consultancy firm IPLC, said that with 15 products added to the campaign for Christmas, “headlines such as ‘Sainsbury’s matches Aldi Prices for Christmas dinner’ are stretching it a bit”.

Seven of the 15 are fresh veg, which both Lidl and Aldi often drop further in price during the final week leading to Christmas, according to Stainton.

The seven types of veg “usually start off at 19p, as they are right now, but [Lidl and Aldi] usually get into a battle to be the cheapest”, he said. “Last year they dropped to 14p.”

He said it was “likely either Aldi or Lidl will drop lower today or tomorrow, as without doubt the big internal discussion today will be how they react”.

A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: “This campaign runs in conjunction with our regular Sainsbury’s Quality, Aldi Price Match, featuring hundreds of products across the store.

“It sits alongside the popular Price Lock promise with prices held on over 1,000 products, and are all part of Sainsbury’s drive to offer customers great value.”