Sainsbury’s loses Tesco price battle

Sainsbury’s took the highly unusual step of asking for a High Court review into the independent review citing issues

(Getty)

Sainsbury’s has lost a High Court battle with Tesco over its price promise scheme, with the former claiming its larger rival was unfairly matching incomparable products.

The supermarket first complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) last year that Tesco was misleading the public by promising to match prices on own-brand products across rivals, claiming its quality was higher and could not be compared accurately.

The ASA threw out the claim but Sainsbury’s challenged it with the independent ombudsman. However, this too was rejected.

Sainsbury’s took the highly unusual step of asking for a High Court review into the independent review citing issues, including comparing, for example, British chicken in its own korma versus non-British chicken in Tesco’s own-brand version.

Tesco said it welcomed the judgment.