Tesco follows rival in slicing bread and butter prices

TESCO has followed Sainsbury’s in cutting the price of its own-brand bread and butter as supermarkets battle to win customers amid the cost of living crisis.

Britain’s biggest supermarket chain has dropped the price of its most popular bread, Tesco Toastie white bread, from 85p to 75p. It has also cut 10p from other own-brand loaves of white, wholemeal medium and wholemeal thick bread, as well as from its 250g blocks of salted and unsalted butter, which have fallen from £1.99 to £1.89.

Tesco said it would continue to work closely with its suppliers to manage any further volatility in prices.

Ashwin Prasad, Tesco’s group chief product officer, said: “As families continue to watch their weekly spend and budget carefully, we’re pleased to be able to pass on price reductions where we can, and to help with everyday essentials like bread and butter.”

Discounters Aldi and Lidl announced matching price cuts later yesterday.

Tesco’s cuts come a day after Sainsbury’s said it had dropped the price of some of its lines of bread and butter in response to falling wheat prices.

Sainsbury’s and Tesco recently cut the price of milk by at least 5p, followed by Aldi, Lidl and Asda. The price reductions come as grocery inflation leapt by more than 19pc in March compared with a year ago, as energy and supply chain costs were passed on to shoppers.

But recent declines in the cost of raw ingredients for many supermarket staples has led to criticism from politicians, shoppers and farmers who have accused retailers of profiteering.

Despite recent cuts, Sainsbury’s bread still costs 20p more than it did in February last year, according to data from Assosia. The higher price comes despite the fact the wholesale cost of wheat has fallen to lower than it was before the invasion of Ukraine.