Price war sham at the checkout

THE supermarkets price war has been shown as a sham, with highly publicised cuts on products being outweighed by rises. A survey of 12,000 items sold by Britain's biggest supermarkets group indicates a net increase in prices in nine of the first 12 weeks of the year.

Tesco reduced the price of 2,983 items during the survey period - but the cost of 2,852 products were pushed up at the same time (see table below).

The scale of the rises, coupled with the fact that they were applied to many big-selling items, meant the net effect was to push up the overall cost of shopping. Details emerged as Tesco was today due to unveil record-breaking profits of more than £2bn for last year.

Tesco insisted that it remains cheaper than its major rivals and that they adopt the same tactics. It said that while Asda cut prices on 2,451 products, it put increases on 2,004 over the same period. Similarly, while Sainsbury's introduced cuts on 2,395 items, it put up the cost of 2,975.

Supermarkets boasted of a price war in January and again last week, claiming prices had been 'slashed'. But one in five products cut by Tesco in the first week of January - a total of 83 out of 413 - went up again by the third week in March.

Some 51 went back up to the original price and 22 were more expensive. For example, Tesco's Healthy Eating Caesar salad was cut from £1.79 to £1.29 in January, but it then went up to £1.99.

David Rae, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, which represents independent grocers, said: 'It is all smoke and mirrors. The big supermarkets are not being directly dishonest, but rather they are very selective with the truth.'

Tesco spokesman Jon Church said: 'There will be things that go up in price as a result of seasonal changes or cost increases. In our case, some products may go back up to their normal price after a lower promotional period.' He added: 'Any suggestion that the cost of shopping has got more expensive is just wrong.'

Asda said its 'rollback' campaign offers big reductions on particular items for 12 weeks. Prices do go up, but not to the original figure. Sainsbury's said: 'We don't play pricing games.'

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