Ocado slashes cost of more than 100 ‘everyday essentials’ - list of items

The reduction covers a number of own-brand, branded and M&S products

Ocado has slashed the price of 100 everyday staples to help people save money. The online-retailer announced it has dropped the price of its own-brand milk, as well as cuts to more than 100 everyday essentials across a range of branded, own-brand and Marks & Spencer items.

The price cuts include dropping the price of four pints of milk by 10p to £1.45 and two pints by 5p to £1.20, Marks & Spencer items, including Lurpak garlic butter, down 25%, 100g of Ocado grated parmesan, down 16%, and own-brand seeded rolls, down 17%.

More than 60 reductions reflect recent M&S price cuts and include products such as Greek-style yoghurt, salmon fillets, avocados, ciabatta rolls and tortilla wraps. The price cuts follow in the footsteps of other retailers including Tesco, M&S and Sainsbury’s who have also cut prices to help shoppers save money.

Retailers are under increasing pressure to pass on wholesale prices to customers. Earlier this week MPs questioned retail executives as food inflation reached 14.6% in June.

House of Commons Business and Trade Select Committee chair Darren Jones pointed out that Tesco’s profits had risen from £1.6billion in 2018-19 to £2.03billion and in 2021/2022. ‘How can it be possible that you are making hundreds of millions of pounds in additional profit?’ he said.

Ocado is cutting the price of more than 100 products

But the company’s commercial director Gordon Gafa said that profits were actually down in most recent financial year, saying the margin was only 4p in every pound.

‘We have not made more profit year-on-year. We have actually made 7% less profit versus our last financial year. It’s important to be clear on that from the outset,’ he said.

Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight, NielsenIQ, said: “Whilst prices are still higher than a year ago, the slowdown in food inflation is welcome news for shoppers, helped by supermarkets lowering prices of some staple goods. And if global supply chain costs continue to fall, we may now be past the peak of price increases.

“However, with most households needing to save money, purchasing behaviour for the rest of this year is still likely to shift towards essential needs with discretionary consumption being deprioritised or delayed.”