Supermarkets are cashing in by selling standard own-label products that are apparently identical to their value range.
An investigation found no difference in the ingredients or nutrition between the two price tiers across a range of products.
Honey, corned beef and UHT milk were all affected – while there was also no meaningful difference in taste between standard and value packs of mild cheddar.
The only way to tell the lines apart was the packaging – and the fact that the price of standard lines is much higher. A probe by Channel 4’s Supershoppers programme found in some cases the standard and value products come from the same factory.
It’s not that the medium stuff is more expensive, it’s that the cheap stuff is cheaper.
Sure, it’s price discrimination, market segmentation. But they do it by making the labels on the cheap stuff garish – and equally, obvious to all that someone is buying the cheap stuff. Those who care more about money than appearances thus get the deals.
This is something we wish to complain about, is it?