Clive Beddall Sainsbury has slammed Tesco's research findings which claim it enjoys a price advantage over competitors as "fanciful" In a bluntly worded statement as The Grocer went to Press, the Stamford Street multiple said: "Nobody believes they are cheaper than Asda and they are certainly not 8% cheaper than us." And Asda was quick to agree. A spokeswoman said: "We are best value by a mile. Our price surveys show we are 11% cheaper than the average of our competitors, including Tesco. And we hold The Grocer 33 award for Best Value." Tesco has posted adverts on 6,000 billboards nationwide featuring slogans such as "Is your nearest the dearest? Our prices are, on average, 8% cheaper than Sainsbury". The war of words broke out on Thursday when a Sainsbury spokesman said: "We have cut prices by £150m this year. Five thousand products in our stores are now cheaper than they were last year and this year we have already cut the prices of 4,000 products. "We sell extraordinary products at ordinary prices and have pledged to be no more than 1.5% more expensive than Tesco on 9,000 products we both sell, and can, therefore, accurately compare prices on. "We have a low price guarantee on hundreds of everyday items and will double the difference if products can be bought cheaper elsewhere." Meanwhile, an upbeat Sir Peter Davis said that a turnaround in Sainsbury fortunes is continuing. In July, the multiple reported like for like sales growth of 6%, excluding petrol. "We are making real progress. But we are not just trying to improve our like for like performance. We are improving store service levels and availability. We are investing heavily in our supply chain by closing 11 depots and opening 10 new ones and we are changing all our systems in a three-year programme. We are investing in every store in our estate." He added: "Two years ago, Sainsbury and Safeway were not doing as well as Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. "But now the like for like sales performance of all the top five multiples is much closer. "In the last couple of quarters Sainsbury and Safeway have rejoined the front group in the multiple race. And that's healthy for the industry." {{NEWS }}

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