Heinz bean ban on Tesco

Food giants at war as store says price rise is ‘unjustifiable’

HEINZ baked beans and tomato ketchup have been disappearing from tesco shelves as the UK’s biggest grocer seeks to shield shoppers from price increases.

the food giant behind two of the country’s favourite staples had been passing on what tesco called ‘ unjustifiable’ price hikes.

When tesco said it would not accept the rises Heinz paused its supply of baked beans, spaghetti hoops and ketchup.

A tesco spokesman said: ‘We are laser-focused on keeping the cost of the weekly shop in check. With household budgets under increasing pressure, now more than ever we have a responsibility to ensure customers get the best possible value, and we will not pass on unjustifiable price increases to our customers.

‘We’re sorry that this means some products aren’t available right now.’

A Kraft Heinz spokesman said the company was working to resolve the issue with the supermarket ‘as quickly as possible’.

research by the Grocer magazine, which first reported the dispute, said prices had surged across Heinz products in recent weeks.

the price of a four-pack of Heinz Cream of tomato soup had risen from £2.50 to £3.50 in sainsbury’s, while a single can of Beanz in Asda had risen from 90p to £ 1.20, according researchers at Assosia.

With hard-pressed shoppers in mind, Boris Johnson has also pledged to help bring down food prices including fruit such as oranges and bananas.

Following talks with world leaders, the prime Minister has discussed removing import tariffs on products not grown in the UK.

speaking yesterday at a nato meeting in Madrid, he said: ‘We’ve got food tariffs we don’t need... Do we in the UK need to have tariffs on oranges? We don’t grow many bananas in the UK, I don’t think.’