Morrisons this week launched the third phase of its Price Crunch campaign by reducing the price of 1,045 everyday products by an average of 18%.
The retailer said, by making the reductions, it was looking to address consumer concerns over rising food prices in the wake of the Brexit vote.
The price cuts have been made on hundreds of core grocery and dairy items. These include a 22.3% reduction in the price of a kilo of 20% fat own-label beef mince from £3.86 to £3, and a 30% reduction in own-label chicken thighs (750g) from £2.25 to £1.57.
The retailer launched the first phase of the Price Crunch campaign in February this year, when it reduced the price of 1,072 lines by an average of 19%, and followed this up in May with a further 847 price cuts.
“We are constantly listening to our customers and know they are concerned about whether food prices will go up following the Brexit vote, especially on imports,” said Morrisons customer and marketing director Andy Atkinson. “Morrisons is unique as a food-maker and shopkeeper and, unlike the rest of the industry, manufactures food, both in our own plants and our 500 stores. We are British farming’s biggest supermarket customer, which means we can better control our prices, and this latest round of crunches demonstrates our commitment to offering the best possible value.”
The move is likely to spark further speculation of a wider supermarket price war. Analysts have widely tipped Asda to make a major move on price in a bid to address its falling sales.
A note by HSBC this week stated: “Morrisons would be impacted by a move by Asda and therefore making its own move ahead of it seems sensible given our mantra that in retailing ‘if you do something first, the customer thinks you have done it for them’.”
No comments yet