Tesco is aiming to chew a strip off Wrigley by launching its own chewing gum range and even an own label version of new fad breath freshening strips.
Britain’s top retailer is aiming to muscle in on the £269m gum category [ACNielsen] with the new products rolling out to selected stores now.
Tesco is hoping customers will pick its own label versions of Peppermint and Spearmint chewing gum above branded rivals with boxes of 20 sugar-free tablets, made in Denmark,
retailing at 51p each.
But the real surprise for Wrigley will be the decision by the nation’s biggest grocer to launch an own label variant of fresh breath strips less than a year after Wrigley’s revolutionary Extra Thin Ice product hit shelves.
Tesco is undercutting the price of Wrigley’s market leader with the own label version, sourced from Korea, costing 72p for 24 strips - 2p less than Wrigley’s product.
Another similar product, Listerine Actives, also went on sale at the start of the year and retails for around 99p.
A spokesman for Tesco said the own label newcomers, so far only available in 100 stores, had tested well with consumers. “The fresh breath strip was seen to be as good as the Listerine product and better than Wrigley’s,” he said, adding more new products were already in planning.
A spokesman for Wrigley insisted it had no problem with Tesco’s decision to enter the sector it dominates: “Wrigley welcomes competition. This is an attractive business and the acceleration of sales growth for chewing gum has been driven by Wrigley’s new products.
“This has inevitably attracted attention.”
Simon Mowbray
Britain’s top retailer is aiming to muscle in on the £269m gum category [ACNielsen] with the new products rolling out to selected stores now.
Tesco is hoping customers will pick its own label versions of Peppermint and Spearmint chewing gum above branded rivals with boxes of 20 sugar-free tablets, made in Denmark,
retailing at 51p each.
But the real surprise for Wrigley will be the decision by the nation’s biggest grocer to launch an own label variant of fresh breath strips less than a year after Wrigley’s revolutionary Extra Thin Ice product hit shelves.
Tesco is undercutting the price of Wrigley’s market leader with the own label version, sourced from Korea, costing 72p for 24 strips - 2p less than Wrigley’s product.
Another similar product, Listerine Actives, also went on sale at the start of the year and retails for around 99p.
A spokesman for Tesco said the own label newcomers, so far only available in 100 stores, had tested well with consumers. “The fresh breath strip was seen to be as good as the Listerine product and better than Wrigley’s,” he said, adding more new products were already in planning.
A spokesman for Wrigley insisted it had no problem with Tesco’s decision to enter the sector it dominates: “Wrigley welcomes competition. This is an attractive business and the acceleration of sales growth for chewing gum has been driven by Wrigley’s new products.
“This has inevitably attracted attention.”
Simon Mowbray
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