Australian grocer Woolworths Ltd is to cut prices on “hundreds” of grocery products in a fresh salvo against rival Coles. Woolworths managing director Tjeerd Jegen insisted the retailer was “consistently cheaper” than Coles but said the cuts on “essential family items” would give shoppers “new ways to save”.

The company plans to lower prices on brands including Associated British Foods’ Tip Top bread, Fonterra’s Westersn Star butter and Campbell Soup Co’s Arnott’s biscuits. 

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Woolworths said it would be reducing prices by as much as 33%. “We have taken a single-minded focus to delivering savings to our customers, lowering the price of literally hundreds of our most popular products across the store. On average, customers will find between 40 and 50 Every Day Value price cuts in every single aisle,” Jegen said.

He added the new prices would “stay down for at least six months” and claimed the move was “just the beginning” of Woolworths’ commitment to “delivering more savings everyday on essential family items”.

Supermarket pricing policies have attracted considerable controversy in Australia, where suppliers have argued the buying power of the country’s two dominant supermarkets have forced them to accept unfair payment terms. Woolworths did not comment on how the price cuts were being funded or whether suppliers would be contributing to the cost of lowering ticket prices on shelf.

In recent quarters, Coles has reported faster sales growth than its larger rival. In April, after Coles published its third-quarter sales, MD Ian McLeod pointed to the retailer’s extension of its own Down Down price campaign.

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