Kepak has reduced the weight of some of its Rustlers lines, citing inflationary pressures, but prices have stayed the same or risen in some cases.
Rustlers’ Mini Beef Burger 101g, for instance, has been replaced with an 89g version, with its price sticking at 95p in Tesco; this is equivalent to a 13.5% price increase per gram of product.
In Morrisons, the price rose 20% from £1 for the 101g version to £1.20 for the 89g version – a 36.2% price increase by weight.
The Essential Cheese Burger 172g, meanwhile, which was £1.50 in Tesco, has been replaced with a 166g version at the same price, representing a 3.6% price increase by weight.
Rustlers Two Flame Grilled Cheese Burgers 264g has been replaced by a 222g version in Tesco, with the price dropping from £2.90 to £2.75. Even so, this represents a 12.8% price increase per gram of product.
Weight adjustments
A spokesman for Kepak confirmed it had adjusted the weight of “certain products” in the Rustlers range.
“As a business our core focus is to deliver for our customers and consumers, ensuring we always provide the best-value products.
“We are currently operating in a challenging market where inflationary pressures are affecting the entire supply chain and raw materials, especially core protein sources.
“In parallel, we are also continuing our reformulation journey to ensure our ranges align with government guidelines.
“Due to a combination of the two factors, this may lead to adjustments in weight of certain products.”
The weight changes coincide with the rollout of “eye-catching” new pack designs for Rustlers’ core range, unveiled earlier this month, which were intended to “boost… on-shelf appeal”, according to Kepak.
Morrisons declined to comment on pricing, while Tesco had not responded to requests by the time of writing.
Beef prices
It comes as a significant tightening of UK beef supply over the past year has led to record-high farmgate prices, which are now translating into higher prices in retail.
Own-label beef burgers 454g (four-pack), for instance, have risen by an average of 9% to £3.37 this month, according to The Grocer’s Key Value Items tracker [Assosia 52 w/e 24 April 2025].
Meanwhile, packs of own-label beef mince (400g-500g) are up by an average of 4% to £4.62 this month, the data shows.
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