SOME 350 Irish products have been removed from Tesco’s shelves since it began a price-cutting strategy in stores near the Border, according to the retailer.
Tesco, which yesterday extended its price reduction programme to stores in north Dublin, said products were removed only where they were selling poorly.
It has removed 3,000 “slow sellers” from the shelves to make way for 7,000 new products, many of them sourced directly from the UK rather than through local distributors. Some 2,000 of the removed items were international products and 700 were own-brand items, a spokesman said.
About 70 of the 350 Irish products which were removed have since been put back on to the shelves in response to consumer demand and other factors, he added.
The company said yesterday shoppers could save up to one-third, or €50, on a typical week’s shopping as a result of the price drops it has introduced. It said the average reduction across all lines was 15 per cent.
The cheaper prices under the “change for good” strategy are now available in nine Dublin stores north of the Liffey, while other Dublin stores will be added to the programme over the next fortnight.
The strategy will be further extended to cover all 116 Tesco stores by August, according to chief executive Tony Keohane.
The move will put further pressure on Tesco’s rivals, some of whom have responded with price cuts but they are unable to match the size and distribution network of the State’s biggest retailer.
Tesco claims an additional 25,000 customers have been visiting its Border stores each week since prices were cut there in early May.
It estimates that spending in the North by shoppers from the Republic will fall by €200 million once the strategy is fully in place.
Mr Keohane described the extension of the strategy to Dublin as a “great day” for consumers and for Ireland. “Without these price reductions, there would be more leakage from the Republic at a time when the country can ill-afford it and it is allowing retailers here to win back trade.”
While some suppliers have criticised the new strategy for squeezing the space available to Irish brands, Mr Keohane said the multiple remained committed to selling “all the Irish products that people want to buy”. Depending on the season, 40 to 50 per cent of sales were of Irish products.
Mr Keohane acknowledged, as reported in yesterday's Irish Times, that some prices had increased in Border stores since the launch of the strategy.
However, he denied that prices were creeping up and said any changes would be from a lower base as a result of the “massive repositioning” of the company’s price structure.
