Tesco Ireland has made major price reductions in 11 border towns to help protect jobs in the region and deter cross-border shopping in Northern Ireland.
In a ground-breaking move, the retailer closed all its border stores on Saturday evening, before re-opening them on Tuesday with major price reductions and extended choices to narrow the price gap with Northern Ireland to its lowest since the break with sterling in 1979.
Among the price cuts were a 33 per cent drop on loose bananas to €0.99 (87p), a 23 per cent slide on a seedless grape selection pack to €2.29, a 44 per cent cut on loose oranges to €0.33, a reduction in the price of broccoli to €0.85 for 360g, down by 20 per cent, and a similar cut on a 750g pack of red onions to €0.79. Rooster branded potatoes also saw a few cents shaved off their price, from €3.79 for a 2.5kg pack to €3.39.
Overall prices on 12,500 goods at the 11 stores are reduced by an average of 22 per cent. The retailer said the new prices are long-term structural changes, and are not promotional prices.
Tony Keohane, ceo, Tesco Ireland, said these changes were a fight back to protect jobs and the economy in the region. “From now on, this is as far north as anyone needs to go to get great value. We are one of Ireland's largest employers and we are making fundamental changes that have reduced our prices significantly.
“This substantial investment will enable us to compete in the long term with prices north of the border and will remove the incentive or the need for consumers to travel, which has been bad for jobs, for local economies and the national economy. "When currency costs and travel and journey times are taken into account, we believe many customers will find it is cheaper to shop in these stores south of the border."
Keohane said the initiative was a first step in a programme to bring new lower prices to Tesco customers across Ireland in the near future. It would be a phased programme, reflecting the scale and operational logistics involved.
“Consumers are feeling the pinch and we are committed to making groceries more affordable, which in turn will drive our trade and support our business and the jobs of our 12,500 employees," he said. "We are starting this in these 11 stores to secure jobs and livelihoods in the border towns.
“It has been a challenging time for everyone following the fall in sterling but now we have changed how we buy and have made significant additional investment, we are able to make these sweeping changes for consumers. As well as retaining a comprehensive Irish range, we have introduced an extensive range of new choices giving shoppers options across good, better and best products and prices.”
Keohane said Tesco remains fully committed to supporting Irish products and indigenous Irish suppliers: “In addition to introducing a wider range of product choices for customers, we have retained all the familiar Irish products and brands, which have proven their popularity with customers over the years. We fully expect these levels of customer support for Irish products to sustain for the future.”
Tesco already purchases €2 billion worth of Irish food annually, including €655 million worth of Irish food exports to Tesco stores worldwide.
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