Supermarket group Asda has joined rivals Ocado Group PLC (LSE:OCDO) and J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) in trimming prices to help households squeezed by the cost-of-living crisis.
Following price reductions of 9% on 200 own-label items in July, Britain’s third-largest grocery chain today announced that it will cut prices on a further 425 products by an average of 11%, costing the company £23 million.
The branded and own-label products that will become cheaper as of today include nappies, infant follow-on milk, bread, cheese, pasta, fish fingers, and chicken breasts.
Yesterday, Sainsbury’s announced an expansion of its Aldi-price match campaign, while Ocado dropped prices on 200 items.
Although families are still under significant strain from the high cost of living, food inflation is finally showing signs of easing, with recent figures from Kantar revealing grocery price inflation fell by 2.2 percentage points to 12.7% in the four weeks to 6 August.
“While the headline inflation rate may have eased slightly last month, our own data tells us that many customers are continuing to struggle with rising living costs,” commented Kris Comerford, Asda’s chief commercial officer.
“We have targeted this latest price investment on the products that our customers buy week-in and week-out, to help their shopping budgets stretch further.”
Asda also said it will extend its ‘Kids Eat for £1’ café meal offer for the rest of this year.