Comment: Sainsbury's Mike Coupe on picking a fight with Tesco

We’ve all got rather used to supermarket price wars. But there’s a new fight we’re going to pick.

One that’s absolutely fundamental to the way we want to do business, and to what consumers have the right to know about the food they buy. It’s an argument about the value of values.

It’s a debate we started earlier this year when we challenged Tesco about the position they’re taking when comparing some of their products with some of ours. These products may have the same price, but they also have very different values behind them.

We asked: Is it right to say you’re comparing bananas with bananas when one is Fairtrade and the other isn’t? Is selling bottled mains water the same as selling water from a mineral-rich Yorkshire spring? Is British-sourced ham the same as ham from some unspecified country in the EU?

Tesco made their position crystal clear when we challenged them on some everyday products. They told us that they believe ethical considerations “may play a minor part in the customer’s considerations in purchasing these products” but went on to say they did not believe that these would be a key factor “particularly in relation to these value products”.

Really?

Our experience is that people who have less don’t care less. It’s why values – as well as value – are a big part of our basics range from Fairtrade basics tea to Marine Steward Council certified basics fishfingers. It’s also why our basics beef burgers are made with beef that is 100% British.

We feel pretty strongly about this and so when Tesco didn’t listen, we complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, and then to an Independent Reviewer. We haven’t succeeded so far but we’re not giving up and we are taking this to Judicial Review.

Research published today shows four out of five people say where and how their food is produced are “important factors” in their buying decisions. Some 86% of those expressing a view say grocers should clearly state whether they take ethical production standards into consideration when matching prices, and 83% say the same for country of origin.

So, yes we’d like to win the Judicial Review.

But what’s more important is what our customers think.

We think they’ll reach their own verdict.

Let us know what you think on Twitter using #valueofvalues

Mike Coupe, commercial director, Sainsbury’s