Author: Sal
Andrew Turner Slams Tesco For Petrol Promotion
Thursday, 24th July, 2008 at 4:41 pm, Isle of Wight
Island MP, Andrew Turner is not a happy man. Well, not happy with one particular business on the Island.
Everyone is well aware of the increased petrol/diesel prices at the moment and may have heard how some supermarkets have slashed their petrol prices.
Tesco are offering 5p off per litre, but you have to £50 in store first. What Andrew is not happy about it the fact that infant milk formulae is excluded from counting towards the £50 spend.
He said;
I cannot understand why Tesco have placed such terms and conditions onto this offer. Alcohol is eligible for inclusion in the offer but an item such as milk formulae is excluded. At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet it seems to me it is grossly unfair to exclude such items, particularly given their cost. It is these same families who need help most and would welcome such a reduction of their fuel costs but not if it means buying alcohol over infant’s food.
Mr Turner went on to say
I am surprised that Tesco can justify such a move and have not given more consideration to their customer base which no doubt is made up of a large proportion of families. Given Tesco’s tagline of ‘Every Little Helps’, it would appear that this does not apply for families. In addition, I am concerned that there is a contradictory message about the values of the company that seem intent on increasing spend on alcohol as opposed to helping struggling parents.
Email This Story To A Friend
July 24th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
As much as it pains me to stand up for Tesco, Has Mr Turner done any research on this? He cannot understand the terms?
Maybe before writing a press release he should Google “infant milk promotion” to see that there are laws that ban the promotion of infant milk
http://www.unicef.org.uk/pages.asp?page=99
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6933188.stm
I appreciate that some families may have no choice and have to use formula but aren’t Tesco being responsible in not actively promoting it?
July 24th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I think Sainsburys and Tesco are being very cynical about this. As it happens I was in Birmingham this morning and bought diesel at a Shell filling station for 127.9p per litre. This station I have foound in the past to have broadly similar prices to Sainsburys in Newport. When I got back on the island this afternoon I called in at Sainsburys for some groceries (a litle over £40, so not eligible for discount) and diesel was 130.9p. So they are holding the price high to mitigate the effect of the 5p discount. I suspect that both Sainsburys and Tesco are caught in a problem here in that they started their 5p off promotions a couple of weeks ago to quietly take advantage of the drop in price but now there are lots of vouchers in circulation so they cannot drop to match Asda and Morrisons if they are to make a profit. So their cynical ploy leaves then with egg on their face.
Usual stuff of when is an offer really an offer? A few weeks ago Tesco were selling a particular type of scones for 99p buy one, get one free. This week they were selling them for 49p a packet. And fruit and veg offers are a joke. Saying that strawberries are cut to half price when the British ones come into season to replace imported fruit, is not true as they are to my mind a different product …
Incidentally the problem with formula milk is probably that it is in a class of products still subject to price controls which does not allow retailers to make any sort of offer on the price. This would include discounts on fuel, so it may not be their choice. You would be able to tell if that were the case if you don’t get clubcard points on it either. Daft.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
The current laws that prohibit the promotion of formula milk are The Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations 1995
“Restrictions on promotion of infant formulae
19. No person shall at any place where any infant formula is sold by retail—
(a) advertise any infant formula;
(b) make any special display of an infant formula designed to promote sales;
(c) give away—
(i) any infant formula as a free sample; or
(ii) any coupon which may be used to purchase an infant formula at a discount;
(d) promote the sale of an infant formula by means of premiums, special sales, loss- leaders or tie-in sales; or
(e) undertake any other promotional activity to induce the sale of an infant formula.”
July 24th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Let’s be honest this is just the MP grandstanding on an issue he has either no control or ability to influence or as has been shown in the above posts he knows nothing about. His statement seems more Old Labour than New Tory.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
To Bestival Fan: Well that’s strange because a couple of months ago Tesco were offering a well known brand of baby milk at buy two for a tenner. Normal price £6.13 each. So I am confused! As for the petrol, Tesco have refused to pass on the current reduction on the price of a barrel of oil to the customer. Therefore, by “giving away” 5p off a litre for every £50 spent, means that you are actually only getting 2p gross discount. How cynical. Mike
July 24th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
It’s a shame the our MP would rather spend his time supporting issues that he has no hope of influencing -and failing to get involved in current local issues- he just seems to be looking for publicity for himself.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
From my limited research tonight I can see that there is legislation and guidance concerning formula milk - there are currently different rules for milk intended for babies up to 6 months old. Manufacturers and retailers are exploiting loopholes in the legislation which have yet to be closed (which may explain the 2 for £10 offer).
I would expect my MP to have done a bit of basic research (or used one of his reseachers) and be aware that there is legislation in place.
I may not be being fair on Mr Turner as there may be more text in his release which covers these issues. Taking the comments in isolation it appears he, as a legislator, would like Tesco to break the law.
If he wants to “slam” Tesco for anything why not focus on their inconsistent / cynical application of the law or guidance rather than encourage an illegal / bad practice?
July 25th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I’m guessing that any promotion (mentioned by Mike Knowledge) would have been for “follow-on” milk aimed at babies over six months. I queried that with advertising standards when I saw an ad on telly, because I knew there was a ban on advertising formula, and that’s what it turned out to be for (though the ad didn’t make it very clear). At the risk of stating the obvious, the law is in place to encourage breastfeeding.