Asda has announced price cuts across more than 2,500 household staples as new boss Allan Leighton bids to restore ‘Asda price’ as its winning mantra.
The Big Jan Price Drop will see reductions of an average of 26% on products including in-store and online.
‘That’s Asda price’ was the banner used in the advertising push to announce the changes. Products in the lineup include Cathedral City Mature Cheddar 300g, was £3.75 now £2.50; Asda Chicken Breasts, was £4.40 now £4; Dolmio Bolognese 450g, was £2.50 now £1.50; and Persil Wonder Wash, was £7 now £3.
Leighton was brought in during November to take over at the Asda helm from fellow retail veteran Lord Stuart Rose, and has announced that restoring Asda’s DNA, including bringing back the spirit of Asda price, was his priority.
“We know that as we come out of the festive period, budgets can be a concern for many families,” said Asda’s chief customer officer David Hills.
“Our Big Jan Price Drop aims to ease that burden and make money stretch further for our customers, by reducing the prices of the products they’re buying week in, week out, continuing to offer uncompromising value to all.”
Today’s move comes a year since Asda, under the Issa brothers, became the first supermarket to begin price-matching the discounters Aldi and Lidl, with a scheme across nearly 300 comparable grocery products.
However, Asda was not the first supermarket to launch price cuts this year, with Morrisons yesterday announcing it was kicking off the new year by expanding its own price match with Aldi and Lidl to include over 500 everyday essentials and bestsellers in stores and online.
New additions to the price-matching lineup include olive oil, coffee, eggs, single cream and pasta sauce.
Morrisons said it meant customers could fill their baskets with high-quality products at prices matched to, or cheaper than, Aldi and Lidl.
Morrisons launched its price match in February 2024 with over 200 products.
Whilst Morrisons is widely seen to have outperformed Asda across 2024, it suffered a high-profile glitch over Christmas when technical errors on its loyalty programme forced the retailer to make card loyalty scheme prices “the regular prices” across all stores on the 100 most popular products, following major system issues which have left customers unable to access promotions and discounts.
“We’re starting 2025 by doubling down on value for our customers,” said Gareth Lloyd, head of price at Morrisons.
“Expanding our price match means more of the essentials and brands customers love at the prices they expect, with the quality they trust from Morrisons. This builds on the savings and rewards we’ve introduced throughout the year – from price cuts to better deals for our More Card members. It’s all about helping shoppers get more for their money.”
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