Tesco copies Asda's cut-price beer move

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 10-Oct-08, 08:55

LONDON - Tesco has been bombarded with shoppers snapping up £15 crates of Carlsberg lager for £5 each, just days after Asda was accused of encouraging binge drinking after selling four Skol cans for 90p.

Tesco shoppers can pick up a crate of Carlsberg Export premium lager for £5 until this Sunday.

As there are 18 bottles per crate, each one works out at just 27.8p per bottle.

Staff at the supermarket chain said the crates, which normal retail for £14.99, were selling at a rate of up to 100 every hour. Some stores had to limit customers to buying just two crates.

Earlier this week alcohol campaigners were accusing Asda of encouraging binge drinking by selling four cans of Skol lager for just 90p, which works out at just 22.5p for a can.

Prof Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians and chairman of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance, told the Daily Telegraph he was astonished at how irresponsibly the supermarkets are behaving.

He said: "Reports prove that price is a major factor in consumption and harms the young people and heavy drinkers."

In February of this year, Tesco said it would be willing to back possible legislation to adopt "responsible pricing" for alcohol products as part of wider measures to address the UK's binge- drinking culture, particularly among young adults.

However, as yet, no price restrictions have been made.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "We know from our Clubcard data that the vast majority of alcohol bought at Tesco is bought as part of the family shop and buying patterns tell us that this sort of promotion is used by customers to stock up and not to drink more."

Comments

Jonathan Godson - 10/10/2008

Absolute rubbish from the Tesco spokesman. It's the Stella in the fridge scenario. If it's there you're going to drink it. If it's not you're not. It's human nature and what serves retailers so well in pushing BOGOFS, 2 for 1's and other promos. Having a greater quantity of something means that most of us are more likely to consume more of it more frequently than we would otherwise do so.