The Co-op has announced plans to invest £50 million in cutting the price of grocery staples amid “tight” competition on the high street.
This would see some of the retailer’s product costs slashed by more than 40 per cent, with more than 600 products now 14 per cent cheaper on average.
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The grocery and convenience store retailer said the price cuts to fruit, vegetables, bread, fresh meat and ready meals as well as household brand names could help consumers save almost £120 a year.
“We are the most visited food retailer on the high street but competition is tight and we want to keep attracting shoppers through the door,” Co-op retail chief executive Jo Whitfield said.
She added that the ongoing price cuts were part of a strategy to “make Co-op the UK’s number one convenience retailer”.
Some of the price cuts include 40p off the price of a £1.45 Warburtons Toastie Loaf, a 4p cut to six own-brand British medium free range eggs, a 16p cut to Fairtrade bananas to 79p per kilogram, and 24p off three mixed peppers to 95p.
The news comes as the Co-op recently revealed that it doubled its sales growth over the crucial Christmas trading period, with a 6.2 per cent jump in like-for-like sales over the two weeks to January 1 compared with 3.5 per cent in the same period a year prior.
The retailer also plans to invest an additional £160 million to open 100 new food stores this year, creating 1600 new jobs.
The Co-op is also set to acquire rival grocery group Nisa, which has more than 3200 stores, in a £137.5 million deal that is pending approval from the Competition and Markets Authority.
The Co-op currently has 2500 shops across the country and, like Nisa, is owned by its members.
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