Pricewatch queries: Tesco defends hot chocolate price hike

Maeve was shopping in a Tesco outlet in Galway recently and was "astonished" when she saw a 220g jar of Options hot chocolate selling for €6.39, a price she believes to be inordinately expensive.

"Initially I thought I was seeing things that 'the healthier option' was so expensive," she writes, "but I took a photo of it on my phone and discussed the issue with the manager on duty and told him I could buy the product when it is on offer in Lidl for €2.49."

She says 400g of Cadbury hot chocolate costs €3.49. The per-kilogram price of the Tesco Options is €29.10, whereas the Cadbury version is just €8.90, which means Options is about three times the price.

"I wonder why, or is this just Tesco overinflating their prices, which I have observed a lot lately. I tried to do a price comparison with Dunnes and SuperValu but so far neither supermarket stocks the Options product."

We contacted Tesco. A spokeswoman sent the following statement: “We work hard to offer our customers clear, fair and transparent pricing, however occasionally we have to pass on cost increases from suppliers for particular branded products.

“In this case, the supplier increased the recommended selling price to €6.39 from February 5th as a result of manufacturing cost increases. Our buying team work hard with suppliers to ensure that, where there are legitimate cost increases, these are kept to a minimum to minimise the impact on customers.”

Blame the EU for ban on baby formula promotions
Eamonn Haran from Sligo contacted us about SuperValu and baby products. "I was thankful to receive three €5 vouchers recently for any purchases I made for €25 or over," he says. "But I was horrified to see that milk formula for babies was excluded and could not be included in the €25 purchase price. Dunnes Stores has the same policy.

He points out that neither store excludes alcohol from its voucher system. “Do you not think this a bit miserable on the part of SuperValu? As a first-time dad and one who signed up to its baby-scheme group, is this not a contradiction in policy? Where is the help for new families?”

He would also like to know why there is never any nappy offers for 1-2 size brackets in the supermarket. “I bought 30 nappies yesterday, size 2, for €7.50. All other age brackets had special offers, and 90 nappies were selling for €14. It is about time SuperValu, as an Irish-owned company, gave a fairer deal to new families.”

In a statement Supervalu said simply that "infant formula cannot be included in promotional offers. This is prohibited by law." It also said that it runs "promotions on nappies throughout the year. Like any offer, these run for a specific promotional cycle. We recently ran a promotion for Pampers New Baby Jumbo nappies, sizes 1-3, at €12.99 over a two-week period."

Supervalu is correct to say that formula cannot be included in promotions. EU rules state that “point-of-sale advertising, giving of samples or any other promotional device to induce sales of infant formula directly to the consumer at the retail level, such as special displays, discount coupons, premiums, special sales, loss-leaders and tie-in sales, are prohibited.”