Two months after Heinz and Tesco locked horns over prices, the baked beans giant is looking like the winner – at least in terms of sales.
Exclusive data obtained by The Grocer shows commercial damage to the Heinz brand was minimal.
Over the four weeks to 2 July, when the dispute took place, its sales only fell £1.1m – a 2.2% drop – to £48.5m [NielsenIQ].
Then, over the following four weeks, its sales rose 1% to £49m.
The Grocer was unable to obtain unit sales data for Heinz. So it is not clear how much of the value Heinz maintained over the period in question was thanks to rising prices, rather than steady volume sales.
However, in a further blow for Tesco, it has also had to concede some price rises. Although prices of bestselling SKUs such as 4x415g packs of beans and 915g Squeezy Ketchup bottles have remained stable, research by The Grocer using Assosia data shows over half (51%) of Heinz’s range currently stocked in the retailer (excluding babyfood) has risen in price since the dispute.
The Grocer has approached Heinz for further comment.
Ged Futter, director of The Retail Mind, suggested the high-profile pricing dispute ran the risk of “driving shoppers to go somewhere else” rather than Tesco.
For instance, Futter said: “Before the dispute, Aldi didn’t sell four-packs of Heinz beans – now they do.”
Heinz isn’t the only brand to fall out with Tesco over price increases this year.
A mass of toothpaste category leader Colgate’s products disappeared from its shelves in February.
More recently, Mars faced off with Tesco over rising petfood prices, leaving shelves empty of its brands.
“Tesco keeps having these battles. It’s been three or four disputes with big-branded suppliers this year,” said Futter.
“There has to be a better way of doing it.”
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