Sainsbury's to match Aldi prices in new battle on market share

UK supermarket Sainsbury’s said it was slashing the prices of hundreds of essential groceries to match discount rival Aldi.

The supermarket chain is launching an Aldi price match scheme as the UK’s largest grocers continue attempts to thwart the rapid growth of the German discounter and its compatriot Lidl.

Around 250 products will see prices reduced to match the equivalent items at Aldi, such as meat, chicken, fresh fruit and dairy.

Sainsbury’s chief marketing officer Mark Given told the Press Association newswire the price cuts would be funded by a “significant investment”.

“When we’ve completed research, our shoppers have highlighted our quality and value for money, but with customers who also shop in other supermarkets we need to improve our price perception,” he said.

“We need to communicate this better with customers because the value is there.”

Price reductions will include reducing a kilo of plain flour from 80p to 45p, a kilo of baby potatoes from 95p to 65p and a 21-day matured rump steak from £2.50 to £2.32.

The cuts, which will primarily involve own-brand products, come almost a year after Tesco launched its own Aldi price match scheme to keep its prices in competition with the fast-growing discounters. Sainsbury’s said the price match was the first initiative of chief executive Simon Roberts’ strategy update, announced in November.

Aldi has seen its rapid sales growth fall behind some of its rivals during the pandemic, as its smaller online proposition meant it has not been able to fully take advantage of the booming demand for home deliveries.

Figures from Kantar showed that Aldi sales grew by 5.7% in the 12 weeks to January 24, compared with 12.2% growth across the UK grocery market as a whole.

Sainsbury’s sales were 12% higher for the period after expanding its online delivery capacity, according to the data.