Co-op cuts price of more than 600 products, including bananas and chicken

The supermarket price war has stepped up another notch, as the Co-op has today cut the price of hundreds of items.

Bananas, mince beef and chicken breast fillets are among 640 products that have been reduced in price.

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Fairtrade bananas have fallen by 16p to 79p, the price of British mince beef has been cut by 50p to £1.89, and baby plum tomatoes have been reduced by 22p to 77p.

The Co-op said the cuts could save shoppers save almost £120 a year on their food bills. It’s estimated the move will cost the company £50m, and comes at a time when supermarkets are competing aggressively for customers.

“We are the most visited food retailer on the high street but competition is tight and we want to keep attracting shoppers through the door. These price cuts are part of our strategy to make Co-op the UK’s number one convenience retailer,” said Jo Whitfield, Co-op Retail’s chief executive.

Food items reduced, and how they compare

Warburtons Toastie Loaf – now £1.05 (reduced by 40p). According to the Mysupermarket app, which compares prices across various supermarkets, this is now the same price as Tesco and Asda.

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Co-op British Medium Free Range Eggs x6 – now 95p (4p saving) The cheapest elsewhere is Asda, which charges 89p.

Co-op British Chicken Breast Fillets – now £3.59 (cut by 20p) This is the cheapest of all the major supermarkets, not including Lidl and Aldi.

McCain Straight Cut Home Chips 900g – now £1.95 (reduced by 34p) This compares to £1.85 at Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

Co-op Mixed Peppers x3 – now 95p (24p saving) This compares to 99p at Asda and £1.10 at Sainsbury’s.

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The Co-op is the sixth largest supermarket in the UK, with a market share of around 6 per cent, according to research firm Kantar Worldpanel. In total there are around 2,600 local, convenience and medium-sized Co-op Food stores in the UK.

Earlier this year, the Co-op announced plans to open 100 new stores in 2018. It is also in the process of taking over the Nisa convenience store group.

Owned by its members

Co-op Food is part of the Co-operative Group, which has an annual turnover of £9.5bn. As well as grocery stores, the group also owns funeral, insurance and legal businesses.

As a mutual, the Co-op is owned by its 70,000 staff as well as millions of other customers. Any profit is shared between its members and towards supporting the local community.

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The Co-op made a pre-tax loss of £132m in 2016, compared to a £23m profit the previous year.

The loss was mostly the result of the mutual handing out more discounts to members and paying a higher amount into community projects.

This article originally appeared in our sister publication, iNews.