Supermarket giants Asda and Sainsburys have illegally misled consumers over the pricing of certain products, according to new research by Which?
An investigation by the consumer watchdog Which? into supermarket price tricks found various examples of big “great value” products at both retailers which actually offered less value for money than their smaller equivalents .
The packaging of a triple-pack of Sainsbury’s ‘naturally sweet’ sweetcorn carried the label “Bigger Pack Better Value”. However, Which? found that customers could save 4p by buying three individual tins of the same product.
A 2kg bag of Sainsbury’s spaghetti also had the same slogan, despite the product costing 27p more than two 1kg bags.
At Asda, the Which? investigation revealed that two 400g packs of Cathedral City cheddar cheese cost 22p less than the “Great Value” twin pack 700g version of the same product.
Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said: “Our research shows bigger packs aren’t always better value, so don’t automatically assume that buying in bulk will save you money, and always take ‘special offers’ with a pinch of salt.”
The watchdog said all three examples of misleading offers found at Asda and Sainsbury’s will be reported to Trading Standards officials.
It added that both supermarkets blamed human error and have since changed their prices.
A Which? survey, carried out to coincide with the investigation, revealed that two thirds of supermarket shoppers would be tempted to buy larger/multi-packs that claimed to offer “great” or “better” value.
