Britain’s biggest supermarket chain Tesco apologised to customers for empty shelves where the products would normally be, saying it would not pass on “unjustifiable price increases”.
Kraft Heinz, the American company that owns the Heinz brand, said it was “working closely with Tesco to resolve the situation as quickly as possible” and was “confident in a positive resolution”.
However, Tesco’s reserves of several of the company’s products, including four-packs of baked beans, salad cream and chicken noodle soup, have already sold out on its website and shoppers reported empty shelves in stores.
Last week, the Office for National Statistics reported that higher food costs had helped to push inflation to a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent. It said that shoppers were already cutting back on the amount of food they buy to cope with the increases. Research has found that the price of Heinz products has surged at other supermarkets in recent weeks, with increases for more than 230 of its products at Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda since the beginning of June.
The price of a four-pack of Heinz tomato soup, for example, has gone from £2.50 to £3.50 in Sainsbury’s, and a four-pack of Beanz Snap Pots has risen from £2.50 to £2.99 in Morrisons.
The removal of popular products such as Heinz tomato ketchup is likely to drive shoppers elsewhere, while Kraft Heinz will have to absorb lower sales until the issue is resolved. Which company will win the power struggle remains to be seen. Tesco said: “We hope to have this issue resolved soon.”
