Tesco has been quietly trimming the size of its value own-label range in the midst of the cost of living crisis, analysis for The Grocer has revealed.
The lineup included 316 products on 4 August, compared with 339 a year earlier and 422 in 2019, according to exclusive Assosia data.
The retail research firm tracked own label lines on Tesco’s website, breaking them down into premium, standard and value tiers.
It found the value tier, which includes private labels such as Creamfields and Grower’s Harvest as part of retailer’s ‘Exclusively at Tesco’ range, had shrunk every year since 2019.
Meanwhile, the premium tier has grown slightly over the past year, by 10 lines to 831.
Standard own label lines have also fallen year on year, by just over 200 to 5,292.
Tesco said own-label ranges only made up part of its value offering, which also includes many branded products, both in its Aldi Price Match and Low Everyday Prices campaigns. It also pointed to its Tesco Clubcard Prices for loyalty card holders.
Taking in all the products that make up Exclusively at Tesco, Aldi Price Match and Low Everyday Prices, it said the total came to 400 in 2019, versus 2,500 today.
Clubcard Prices were launched in May 2019 and the Aldi Price Match campaign in March 2020.
“Exclusively at Tesco is just one way we’re helping customers with the cost of their weekly shop, and alongside Aldi Price Match and Low Everyday Prices, we have more than 2,500 products in our value ranges,” said a Tesco spokesman.
Ben Reynolds, Deputy chief executive of food charity Sustain, said: “With more and more people on the breadline, it beggars belief that a major supermarket would reduce the size of its value range year on year.”
However, Shore Capital analyst Clive Black praised Tesco’s strategy, saying it was improving its customer proposition by in effect bringing brands into its value lineup through initiatives such as Clubcard Prices. “Tesco has been absolutely on the money in terms of trying to make its SKUs work for the shopper and the business alike,” he said.
Tesco’s spokesman said: “We’ve significantly increased the number of value lines we offer. Whether it’s price matching hundreds of basics to Aldi prices, promising Low Everyday Prices on branded favourites, or offering exclusive deals and rewards through thousands of Clubcard Prices, we’re more committed than ever to providing our customers with great value.”
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