Heinz pulls beans from Tesco shelves in price row

HEINZ has pulled its baked beans and ketchup from Tesco’s shelves in a row over prices.

US conglomerate Kraft Heinz has paused supplies of some products to Britain’s largest supermarket, triggering gaps on shelves and Tesco’s website.

It stems from a dispute between the two businesses over putting up the price of some Heinz products as costs rise in the food supply chain.

Heinz is understood to want to raise prices but Tesco has resisted, publicly defending its decision to protect its customers from “unjustifiable price increases”.

Highlighting Heinz baked beans as one of the products affected, the supermarket told customers to stock up on Branston baked beans or Tesco ownbrand products instead.

The row is reminiscent of “Marmitegate”, which saw jars of the spread disappear from Tesco shops in 2016 as the supermarket resisted owner

‘Now more than ever we have a responsibility to ensure customers get the best possible value’

Unilever’s bid to raise wholesale prices.

A spokesman for Kraft Heinz said the company faced significant increases in commodity and production costs and wanted to provide products at the right price “without compromising quality”.

Like most of the economy, the food industry is battling rising energy costs and disruption to supply chains caused by the war in Ukraine.

Food price inflation hit 8.5pc in May with butter and eggs jumping by as much as 13.1pc and 12.6pc respectively, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Kraft Heinz is now in negotiations with Tesco to resolve the disagreement and hopes to restore its products to the supermarket’s shelves soon.

A spokesman for Tesco said the company was “laser-focused on keeping the cost of the weekly shop in check”.

They said: “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 are sorry that this means some products aren’t available right now, but we have plenty of alternatives to choose from and we hope to have this issue resolved soon.”

A spokesman for Kraft Heinz said: “We are confident of a positive resolution with Tesco.”