How Jack Monroe became a hero by taking the fight to retail

Back in January, food writer and anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe ignited a storm after arguing that supermarkets were effectively punishing poorer households.

It started with a tweet. In January, food writer and anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe ignited a storm after arguing that supermarkets were effectively punishing poorer households by raising prices faster on low-cost basic food items.

Asda in particular was in the firing line, accused by Monroe of cutting its value ranges in many stores and online. She pointed to items such as a 1kg bag of rice sold online for 45p being replaced with a 500g pack for £1.

Monroe’s words prompted Asda to commit to stock its entire Smartprice budget range online and in all its 581 supermarkets. It also seemed to help Asda rediscover its original purpose: when it relaunched its value range as Just Essentials, it more than doubled the number of items. It’s been so successful it had to ration sales until last month, while boosting footfall.

The number-crunchers at the Office for National Statistics also took note, evolving their inflation tracker to consider its effect on a wider range of income levels, with a so-called Vimes Boots Index also in the works.