Tesco has made a major change to the way it matches Aldi prices. According to The Grocer the supermarket is now offering 150 fewer items than before after changing the way it works out the products it compares.
Paul Stainton, partner at private label consultancy IPLC told the publication that Tesco has 790 products as part of the promotional offer at its height in August 2024 compared with 645 this week. However Tesco says this is as a result of changing the method used to decide if a product can be included.
It says items will now only be eligible if the claimed matched product can be found in more of its stores. It is understood this means it must be now found in a minimum of 10 of the discounter’s stores compared with five before.
By focusing on the lines more widely stocked by Aldi it hopes to concentrate on the lines most important to customers. However it has meant there are fewer matches.
Tesco’s Price Match came under scrutiny last September when BBC Panorama claimed the matched products were not all like-for-like. It looked at foods to see how closely they matched each other.
Many were alleged to miss the mark including chicken nuggets. The show said the Tesco product contained 39% chicken compared with 60% in the Aldi one.
It claimed that out of 122 products almost one in three (38) had at least 5% less of the main ingredient than the matched Aldi ones. Twelve were found to have more of the main ingredient, reports the BBC.
However Tesco says having a higher proportion of any single ingredient doesn’t not necessarily mean it is of higher quality when taking into account things like individual ingredients and production methods.
A Tesco Spokesperson said: “We work hard to offer our customers the best possible value, quality, and service with every shop. Our powerful combination of Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices and Clubcard Prices ensures we deliver great value for our customers as the UK’s cheapest full line grocer.”
According to the Tesco website it now offers more than 500 products under the Aldi Price Match offer. It explains: “This is a supermarket price match where we have matched the prices of selected Tesco products against comparable Aldi groceries products.
“We match against comparable products at Aldi or identical branded products at Aldi.” It adds: “We check prices in Aldi stores and/or online twice a week. The stores we check are located in England, Wales and Scotland. Aldi do not have stores in Northern Ireland.”