Wholesalers have accused Asda of muscling into their territory and trying to turn itself into “Britain’s biggest cash & carry”.

The retailer was selling multipacks of shower gel at prices they couldn’t compete with, they claimed, citing Asda’s promotional deal of six 250ml bottles of Radox shower gel for £4.

“Either Sara Lee is giving Asda an amazing deal or Asda is selling below cost,” said one wholesaler of the promotion, which is part of Asda’s promotional blitz on health and beauty and is being advertised in national newspapers.

“It’s absolute madness. You can’t make the product for less than they are selling it, so they must be making no money.”

Its display in cardboard pallets made the promotion look even more like a C&C deal, he added, warning: “The sector must be careful or supermarkets will tear the heart out of it in the same way they have the dairy industry.”

Another wholesaler was angry with Sara Lee. “Mults have been putting own-label head-to-head with brands, but the independents are brand champions. This is the kind of offer they should be giving to cash & carries,” he said, adding that he hoped Unilever stopped selling multipacks to the multiples if its 1.3bn bid for Sara Lee’s health and beauty arm was successful.

But an Asda spokeswoman denied it was selling below cost. “This is a one-off pallet deal that we negotiated to give our customers unbeatable prices.”

A Sara Lee spokeswoman said the offer was temporary. “Sara Lee reserves the right to support our products via tailored promotional activity,” she said.

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