Sainsbury’s is to plough a further £50m into keeping prices low by March 2023 in a bid to help customers manage the rising cost of living.

The investment across its daily essentials and fresh produce lines included £15m to fight inflation and safeguard prices on festive favourites, it said.

The cost of a traditional fresh Christmas dinner feeding six, including turkey, vegetables, trimmings and dessert, has been held on the previous year at less than £4 per head.

Sainsbury’s claimed the latest investment was 10% more than the original £500m target it had set out in May this year.

The total £550m figure was the most it had spent on battling price inflation over a two-year period, it added.

Speaking about the latest investment, Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: “We really understand that millions of households are having to make really tough decisions this Christmas and our job is to do everything we can to help with the rising costs of living.

“We are accelerating our commitment to being the best value, investing a further £50m in lowering prices and doing everything we can to fight inflation and help our customers enjoy celebrating this year.”

Last month, after reporting first-half results, Roberts claimed this Christmas was set to be more value-led than any other in living memory, with the retailer’s “absolute focus” on value and the cost of living.  

Low prices on puddings, meal deals and options to save a third on Taste the Difference party food, such as mini crab thermidor crumpets and Christmas tree vol au vents, are among the offers running, while Sainsbury’s continues to run an Aldi Price Match on frequently bought fresh products.

Earlier this year, the German discount chain attracted an extra 1.5 million new customers and was named the fastest-growing supermarket in the 12 weeks to October by Kantar’s most recent market share data.

Last month, Aldi anticipated its “biggest Christmas ever”, predicting it would shift almost 50 million mince pies and more than 38 million pigs in blankets.

  • Get the latest grocery news and analysis straight to your inbox – sign up for our weekly newsletter

Topics

Related Companies