Sainsbury’s goes to battle with Aldi: Supermarket giant to price match rival on 200 staple items in smaller stores – from bread to jam and vegetable oil

Sainsbury’s today revealed it will price match up to 200 Aldi products in its smaller stores as the pre-Christmas supermarket wars continue to build.

The chain said it was the first UK supermarket group to extend a scheme matching the prices of Aldi on hundreds of products into its convenience stores.

Sainsbury’s said its Aldi Price Match scheme would become available in 1,400 of its shops – now including 800 smaller stores in addition to 600 supermarkets already.

The firm said Sainsbury’s Local stores would now carry up to 200 products price matched to Aldi, including milk, bread, butter, pasta, rice, chicken and tuna.

Baked beans, chicken, fresh herbs and vegetables also feature – with Sainsbury’s announcing the move ahead of publishing its first-half financial results this Thursday.

The chain said the scheme was ‘focusing on the go-to items households buy most often’ and also includes jam, peanut butter, honey, steak, potatoes and vegetable oil.

Sainsbury’s – which has a 15 per cent share of Britain’s grocery market, trailing only Tesco – is upping the competitive ante ahead of the key Christmas trading season.

Under chief executive Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s has benefited from a strategy to match Aldi’s prices on over 500 products in its supermarkets.

It has also launched more offers for members of its Nectar loyalty scheme.

The new Aldi price matching replaces the ‘Pocket Friendly Prices’ campaign which was introduced last year to showcase lower prices across its convenience stores. But Sainsbury’s Nectar price scheme will still exist only in supermarkets and not local stores.

Sainsbury’s already matches prices to Aldi on more than 500 own-label and branded products in larger supermarkets and online.

Aldi, a rival German discounter, was named the cheapest supermarket of 2023 by consumer group Which?

Retail expert Richard Hammond, chief executive and co-founder of analytics firm Uncrowd, told MailOnline today that customers would benefit from the move ‘as long as the savings are genuine’.

He said: ‘First up, it does cost the retailer more to sell from small high street stores. They lose economies of scale, and their location costs, things like business rates and rent, are higher than they are out of town.

‘Up to now, it’s been the accepted norm to pass those costs on to us customers. That someone would eventually break with that was inevitable, but it’s been a very long time coming.

‘And I’m not surprised to see Sainsbury’s be the one to do this. They’re the ‘plucky number two’ in UK grocery; motivated and ready to take risks.

‘So long as the savings are genuine, jury’s out on that right now, then the real winner is us customers.’

Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons all price match Aldi on some products in their larger stores.

Sainsbury’s said its Aldi Price Match scheme would become available in 1,400 of its stores

Mr Roberts said today: ‘Since setting out to put food back at the heart of our business four years ago, we’ve invested nearly £1billion in value.

ANALYSIS: It’s been a very long time coming

By RICHARD HAMMOND 

First up, it does cost the retailer more to sell from small high street stores.  

They lose economies of scale, and their location costs, things like business rates and rent, are higher than they are out of town.

Up to now, it’s been the accepted norm to pass those costs on to us customers. 

That someone would eventually break with that was inevitable, but it’s been a very long time coming.

And I’m not surprised to see Sainsbury’s be the one to do this. 

They’re the ‘plucky number two’ in UK grocery; motivated and ready to take risks.

So long as the savings are genuine, jury’s out on that right now, then the real winner is us customers.

Retail expert Richard Hammond is the chief executive and co-founder of analytics firm Uncrowd 

‘Our Next Level Sainsbury’s strategy is about giving customers more of what they come to Sainsbury’s for – outstanding value, unbeatable quality food and great service.

‘In our Sainsbury’s Locals, we’ve worked hard to offer market leading prices on essential items and popular breakfast, lunch and dinner staples.

‘We have also refreshed our Local store layouts and rebalanced space, increasing the number of products in store by 7 per cent and adding more food on the move products – the primary mission of most convenience shoppers.

‘When you’re shopping in Sainsbury’s Locals, you can be sure of excellent value, quality and choice.

‘With Christmas just around the corner, we know that every penny counts and we are committed to helping our customers make the most of the festive season.’

Sainsbury’s did not disclose how much it was costing to extend the Aldi price-match scheme.

A recent study by Which? found that consumers who buy their food at convenience stores could be paying up to a fifth more than at larger branches of the same supermarket.

Loyalty card members of Sainsbury’s could be paying an average of 14 per cent more at Sainsbury’s Local than at larger stores, the survey conducted last month showed.

Which? said price disparities were likely to have a bigger impact on people without easy access to transport or online deliveries, making them more reliant on smaller nearby stores.

It comes after research for BBC News suggested that a frozen pizza is about a quarter more expensive in a convenience store compared with a main supermarket.

Ananda Roy from consumer analysis company Circana told the BBC: ‘What we are now seeing is the growth of convenience.

Sainsbury’s said its Aldi Price Match scheme would become available in 800 smaller stores

‘The challenge is for greater transparency on price in convenience stores, especially where loyalty and promotion prices are not the same as those offered in other stores.’

In September, an investigation by the broadcaster’s Panorama programme claimed that dozens of Tesco products the supermarket price-matched to Aldi were not like-for-like.

Items including chicken nuggets, blackcurrant squash and chicken kievs were found to contain less of their main ingredient compared to their Aldi equivalents, according to the study.

Panorama’s research found that Tesco’s chicken nuggets contained 39 per cent chicken compared to 60 per per cent in the Aldi version, while its chicken kievs had 44 per cent chicken compared to Aldi’s 57 per cent .

Tesco said at the time that it constantly reviewed the quality of its products and had clear processes in place to ensure its price-match products were comparable to Aldi.

Under chief executive Simon Roberts (pictured), Sainsbury’s has benefited from a strategy to match Aldi’s prices on over 500 products in its supermarkets

While Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons also offer Aldi price-matched products, Panorama did not find clear evidence of a pattern of consistent differences in the amounts of main ingredients in their items compared with the discounter’s equivalents.

Last month, Sainsbury’s said it would be hiring 20,000 more shop workers, warehouse staff and drivers for the Christmas period as the retailer prepares for festive shoppers.

Seasonal staff, will be employed for up to three months during its busiest time of year. The UK-wide roles include 18,000 at Sainsbury’s and 2,000 at Argos.

The positions range from shop workers, including restocking shelves, staff in warehouses to pick and prepare stock, and drivers for home deliveries.

Staff will be employed on fixed-term contracts ranging from three weeks to three months.

Hourly pay for in-store and warehouse employees ranges from £12 to £13.50, depending on the location and the role, and between £13 and £14.65 for drivers.