A recent BBC Panorama investigation has identified discrepancies in Tesco products that the supermarket claims to have price-matched with Aldi. The study, carried out last month, revealed that several items, including chicken nuggets, blackcurrant squash, and chicken kievs, had lower quantities of their main ingredient compared to equivalent Aldi products. For example, Tesco’s chicken nuggets contained 39% chicken, while Aldi’s had 60%. Similarly, Tesco’s chicken kievs had 44% chicken versus Aldi’s 57%, and Tesco’s chilli con carne contained 15% beef compared to Aldi’s 27%. However, it was noted that some Tesco products actually had more of the main ingredient.
In response to these findings, Tesco stated that they continually assess the quality of their products and have stringent processes in place to ensure that their price-match items are on par with Aldi’s. Tesco highlighted that a higher proportion of one ingredient does not automatically indicate superior quality. Among the Aldi price-matched products with the most significant variations in ingredient proportions were chicken nuggets, chicken kievs, chilli con carne, cottage pies, and apple and blackcurrant squash.
While Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons also offer price-matched Aldi products, the BBC Panorama investigation did not detect consistent differences in ingredient amounts in their items compared to Aldi’s offerings. A Tesco spokesperson mentioned, “Since we launched our Aldi Price Match four years ago, it has proved very popular with customers. We constantly review the quality of our products, and we have clear processes in place to ensure that the hundreds of products that are included are comparable with those sold at Aldi.” The supermarket emphasised their commitment to maintaining quality and equivalence in their price-match range.