Following the ASA ruling in favour of Tesco for its Price Promise campaign, Sainsbury’s has released a statement suggesting that ‘one big lesson that we should all have learned from the horsemeat scandal’ is that customers want to know the providence of their food.
Sainsbury’s, which also launched a campaign today on the back of the ruling, released the statement, saying: “We believe that not all food is sourced equally and are committed to protecting customers’ right to make fair comparisons based on all important characteristics of a product and not just price.”
Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s commercial director, said: “If there’s one big lesson that we should all have learned from the horsemeat scandal, it’s that customers care deeply about where their food comes from and how it is produced.
“While no horsemeat was found in any Sainsbury’s products, it’s absolutely clear to us that provenance and ethics form a fundamental part of customers’ decision making as they choose what to feed their families.
“We know this because we speak with thousands of customers every day. They tell us that food integrity matters to them just as much whether they are well-off or struggling to make ends meet.
“Well, it is obvious to us, and you’d have thought it would be obvious to Tesco. They have recently begun an attempt at recasting their ethical image and pushing fresh food credentials in a high-profile marketing campaign which encourages us to “love every mouthful”.
“But there's a basic contradiction between this advertising and the way they're operating their "Price Promise". We've made a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about this. The arguments Tesco have used to defend their position include the suggestion that customers don’t actually care all that much about the provenance of their food or the ethical aspects of food production.
“When we originally challenged Tesco on its “Price Promise” advert earlier this year Tesco’s marketing director David Wood wrote: “Although ethical considerations may play a minor part in the customer’s considerations, we do not believe that this would be key to a customer’s transactional decision-making process, particularly in relation to these value products”.
“In other words, Tesco is saying that customers are not troubled by ethical considerations, especially for more affordable products.”