We wrote here yesterday about the news that Tesco are cutting prices and removing Irish brands from some of their stores. Conor Pope has an analysis piece in The Irish Times today, where he argues that all this new price cut demonstrates is that Irish consumers have been overcharged for years:
The fact that Tesco was able to cut the price of so many products by so much illustrates just what a raw deal Irish consumers have been getting for years. In a heartbeat, Gillette Fusion razor blades fell by nearly 45 per cent from €14.99 to €8.99. Birds Eye fish fingers dropped in price by 40 per cent from €3.65 to €2, Bite Size Shredded Wheat went from €4.65 to €2.65, a fall of 43 per cent, while 200ml bottles of Aptamil baby milk fell by a similar percentage from €1.19 to 68 cent.
He also talks about the expectation from Tesco executives that this move would be met with praise, instead of grumbling. What do you think? Do you think this change is a positive step towards lower prices in Ireland, or an act of desperation carried out to stop business leaking over the Border?
Wednesday 6 May, 2009 at 4:48 pm
i think we should all avoid tesco where possible.
good irish food is worth spending money on, i do not agree with paying over the odds for anything but i do not either agree with tesco’s practices of putting farmers and producers out of business and selling UK produce in IRISH stores.
personally i find supervalu the best supermarket in ireland, lots of real irish food, artisan products etc.
in saying that i also shop in lidl and aldi.
food is the fuel of our bodies, its worth investing well in the best we can get.
it is also worth supporting our country. i would hate to think the few euro i have a week to spend on food is being wasted on poor quality food and the money going into a pocket in the UK while a large proportion of my friends are on the dole and many farmers and food producers are seriously struggling.
there is a balance here between watching the pennies, feeding yourself and your family properly and supporting irish where possible.
Friday 8 May, 2009 at 11:01 am
Well it’s very nice that you can afford to have that opinion but some of us can’t. A huge number of people in Ireland have lost their jobs recently and our household spending budget has been severely reduced and so we do not have the luxury of being able to worry about the deal the farmers are getting as we are too busy trying to feed and cloth our children on what little money we do have. Tesco’s reductions in price are very welcome in our household where making the next payment on the mortgage is a severe stress.
Friday 8 May, 2009 at 12:37 pm
There is also the argument that Tesco employ a large amount of Irish people. If we boycott Tesco, then there is the distinct possibility of Irish people losing more jobs. Boycotting Tesco solely on the basis of supporting producers is very short-sighted.
Monday 18 May, 2009 at 12:39 pm
In my view Tesco are basically cutting prices on a large majority of their own brand and non-Irish brands. this is a huge concern. The shelf space for Irish brands has been cut dramatically. what about all the Irish jobs in these Irish companies being compromised as a result which is far geater i’d imagine than the amount of staff Tesco hire. Also, on the point about affording to shop in Tesco, other supermarkets have great offers that are MUCH cheaper than Tesco such as the ONLY €1 on each pack of strawberries,peaches apples, blueberries and easy peelers in SuperValu this week. and I would not buy or trust the meat offers in Tesco. I know they aboulutely do not buy 100% Irish meat like SuperValu.