Tesco has launched its US private label brand Fresh & Easy in its UK supermarkets, introducing the first in a range of products that will use the American branding from its loss-making US chain. What is the motivation behind this launch?

The first Fresh & Easy SKUs have been spotted in the vegetable category, with SKUs such as prepared carrots, vegetable roasting trays and chopped casserole vegetables. We understand that this launch will be followed by the introduction of chilled convenience foods and ready meals that will also use the Fresh & Easy brand name.

Tesco has recently overhauled its produce departments with an emphasis on service and availability, and the Fresh & Easy brand name will help accentuate the improvements already seen in fresh categories. Similarly, the ready meals category is in the midst of a major refresh, with this week seeing the relaunch of Italian meals to complement the recently overhauled Chinese and Indian ranges.

The impending addition of the Fresh & Easy brand to the ready meal category may well be a mixed blessing. The prepared meals range at Tesco is already creaking under large numbers of private label brands (healthy eating, kids etc.) and I’m unconvinced that another brand will do much for clarity or navigation from the shopper’s point of view. That said, the Fresh & Easy brand is an attractive one with fairly positive connotations, but the merchandising of it will have to be carefully implemented to avoid creating confusion.

The motivation for the launch is less than clear. As I’ve mentioned, the branding is attractive and conveys some winning attributes, but Fresh & Easy has no brand equity in the UK and there are no synergies in terms of sourcing, packaging or marketing (unless there are hordes of Californians or Arizonans living in the UK that I don’t know about).

My cynical side would therefore conclude that there might be other, more pressing motivations at play. The well-documented travails at Fresh & Easy have seen breakeven at the chain pushed back several times and there is real urgency for Tesco to prove that the business can eradicate its losses sooner rather than later.

Now, this is purely idle speculation on my behalf, but I really wouldn’t be surprised to discover that the US operation was receiving a financial contribution from its UK parent company in recompense for using the Fresh & Easy brand. To use a popular marketing strap line, every little helps when it comes to the US chain making a profit.

Bryan Roberts, director of retail insights, Kantar Retail

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