Supermarket Iceland is taking proactive steps to remain competitive in the grocery market by reducing the prices of 500 essential items and offering multibuy deals on one-third of its product range.
Among the price cuts, customers can expect significant savings on products like a 15-pack of Youngs Fish Fingers, which will now be priced at £2 instead of £3.50, Nescafe Coffee 200g at £4.50 instead of £6.50, Anchor Spreadable Butter 400g at £2.50 instead of £3.50, and four cans of Heinz spaghetti in tomato sauce at £3.50 instead of £4
Iceland Foods executive chair Richard Walker said: “Families are struggling more than ever as the cost-of-living crisis worsens.
“That’s why we’ve invested millions – and will continue to do so – to keep prices low across key weekly shop items.
“We know we have a responsibility as a business to support our customers in any way we can and offer great value when people need it most.”
This move by Iceland comes in response to a trend among various grocers who have recently announced substantial price cuts, passing on the benefits of falling commodity costs to consumers.
With food price inflation taking a toll on consumers in recent months, supermarkets are facing mounting pressure to share the savings they are experiencing on wholesale items with their customers.
The competition watchdog is closely monitoring the situation and is expected to release a report soon, investigating whether any lack of competition is contributing to higher-than-necessary grocery and fuel prices for consumers. This scrutiny aims to ensure fair pricing practices and protect consumers from potential price abuses in the market.
Announcing the investigation in May, the Competition and Markets Authority said it had not seen evidence pointing to specific competition concerns in the grocery sector “at this stage”, but it was “important to be sure that weak competition is not adding to the problems”.
Food inflation decelerated for a second consecutive month to 14.6 per cent in June, a relatively significant drop from May’s 15.4 per cent and below the three-month average of 15.2 per cent, according to the BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index.
Fresh food inflation saw a significant slowing from May’s 17.2 per cent to 15.7 per cent as retailers dropped the prices of staples including milk, cheese and eggs.