Recent analysis by BBC Panorama questions the authenticity of Tesco’s claims of price-matching Aldi products, revealing significant ingredient discrepancies.
- The analysis showed that certain Tesco products contained significantly less of their main ingredient compared to their Aldi counterparts.
- Tesco’s chicken nuggets contained just 39% chicken, while Aldi’s version contained 60%, highlighting a notable difference.
- BBC Panorama’s investigation involved 122 Tesco products, with 38 showing a deficiency of at least five percentage points in key ingredient content.
- Tesco maintains that a higher percentage of an ingredient does not necessarily correlate with better quality, disagreeing with the findings.
In August, a thorough analysis by BBC Panorama raised doubts about Tesco’s price-matched products, claiming they fall short when compared to Aldi’s offerings. The investigation scrutinised items such as chicken nuggets, blackcurrant squash, and chicken kievs, identifying substantial differences in their primary ingredient content relative to Aldi counterparts.
The most pronounced disparity was observed in Tesco’s chicken nuggets, which contained only 39% chicken compared to 60% in Aldi’s variant. Additionally, Tesco’s chicken kievs revealed a 44% chicken content, whereas Aldi’s version contained a more substantial 57%. Even the chilli con carne exhibited a stark contrast, with Tesco’s offering having just 15% beef compared to Aldi’s 27%.
BBC Panorama’s detailed assessment found that out of 122 varied Tesco grocery items, 38 products were flagged for having at least a five-percentage-point deficit in their main ingredient compared to equivalent Aldi products. However, it was also noted that twelve Tesco items did exceed Aldi’s content in certain cases.
Addressing the findings, Tesco emphasised its commitment to ongoing quality reviews of its grocery items. A company spokesperson asserted that Tesco has robust procedures to ensure comparability with Aldi on price-matched goods. They remarked, “A higher quantity of an ingredient does not necessarily equate to superior quality. 🧐”
The investigation revealed that while competitors such as Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons also carry price-matched products with Aldi, BBC Panorama did not identify a consistent pattern of ingredient discrepancies in their offerings.
The findings prompt a re-evaluation of Tesco’s pricing strategy and its impact on product quality perception among consumers.
