Dozens of Tesco food products contain lower proportions of key ingredients than “price-matched” equivalents at Aldi, according to a report that raises questions over value for money at the UK’s largest supermarket chain.
BBC Panorama said that 38 out of 122 Tesco products it surveyed contained at least five percentage points less of the main ingredient than the Aldi items they had been matched to.
These included Tesco chicken nuggets that contained 20 percentage points less chicken than the Aldi equivalent (with wheat flour making up much of the difference), and squash with 14 percentage points less fruit from concentrate.
Tesco is the UK’s dominant grocer, with a 27.8% market share and rising sales, according to the data company Kantar. However, British-founded supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda have come under increasing pressure in recent years from Aldi and Lidl, two German companies that stock a smaller range of items that are generally set at a lower price point.
Aldi overtook Morrisons’ market share in mid-2022 for the first time, breaking into the top four British grocers. Aldi reached 9.9% market share in the 12 weeks to the start of September, Kantar said.
Price matches have been an important tactic used by the biggest supermarkets to persuade shoppers to stick with them rather than defecting to the German discounters.
Tesco markets the Aldi price match under the slogan “we price match over 500 products, so you can save yourself a trip”.
However, Panorama’s analysis raises questions over whether Tesco’s “price-matched” products provide the same value. It listed the following comparisons:
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Tesco chicken kievs – 44% chicken; Aldi – 57%.
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Tesco cottage pie – 18% beef; Aldi Inspired Cuisine cottage pie – 25%.
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Tesco Hearty Food Co chicken nuggets – 39% chicken; Aldi Roosters chicken Nuggets – 60%.
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Tesco Stockwell & Co chilli con carne – 15% beef; Aldi Bramwells chilli con carne – 27%.
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Tesco No Added Sugar DS apple blackcurrant squash – 6% fruit juices from concentrate; Aldi Sun Quench Double Strength apple and blackcurrant squash – 20%.
The analysis did not include any assessment of the quality of ingredients or production methods.
The figures will add to concerns about “shrinkflation”, in which companies reduce sizes or nutritional content while keeping prices the same.
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A Tesco spokesperson said: “Since we launched our Aldi price match four years ago it has proved very popular with customers. We constantly review the quality of our products, and we have clear processes in place to ensure that the hundreds of products that are included are comparable with those sold at Aldi.”
Panorama said there was no clear evidence of consistent differences between Aldi and the price-matched ranges of Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda. Twelve Tesco products of the 122 surveyed were found to have more of the main ingredient than Aldi’s equivalent. These included:
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Hearty Food Co 10 fish fingers – 64% Alaska pollack; Aldi’s Everyday Essentials fish fingers – 58%.
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Tesco’s Eastmans coleslaw – 57% cabbage; Aldi’s The Deli creamy coleslaw – 47%.
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Tesco Eastmans reduced fat houmous – 62% cooked chickpeas; Aldi’s The Deli reduced fat houmous – 55%.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “We have always said that the full-price supermarkets can try to match us on quality or price, but never both. The only place shoppers can get Aldi prices on high quality products is at Aldi.”