Sainsbury‘s has accused Tesco of contradiction in their Price Promise campaign and have launched a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.
The Tesco campaign ‘Love Every Mouthful‘ is attempting to recast the grocers ethical image and fresh food credentials but Mike Coope, Group Commercial Director, attacked Tesco‘s new stance on the Sainsbury‘s official blog.
He said: “Tesco suggest that customers don‘t actually care all that much about the provenance of their food or the ethical aspects of food production. We‘re pretty sure that customers would disagree.”
Coope says that it is not appropriate to compare the prices of Sainsbury‘s basics tea bags with Tesco everyday value tea bags on the Price Promise comparison site. He claims that Sainsbury‘s teabags are Fairtrade and Tesco‘s are not.
He added: “They‘re not the same product. The idea that they are is really rather odd – not least since Tesco boss Philip Clarke recently told the National Farmers‘ Union “customers say they are concerned about the provenance of their meat, and that they want to buy British.
“By failing to compare own brands fairly it is taking power away from customers to make accurate and informed choices about the food they put in their baskets. Worse, it undermines their ability to make a choice based on the values they believe in.”
