var ezCmpChangeLogId=420223;var ezCmpCacheBusterId=195> >

Campaigner Jack Monroe praises Asda for adding more SmartPrice lines

Campaigner Jack Monroe has praised Asda after spotting an increased number of SmartPrice choices on a recent trip to a supermarket.

The mum had previously criticized the chain after saying a number of options, including peanut butter, appeared to have been removed from the line.

It came as Jack’s research showed budget prices across a “big four” supermarket had seen a sharp increase over recent years.

Jack wrote a series of tweets about rediscovering products from the supermarket’s Smart Price and Farm Stores ranges at their local store, saying it had made it the “happiest shopping experience in over a decade”.

After seeing Jack’s earlier Tweets, Asda said it would stock its Smart Price and Farm Stores ranges in all 581 food stores and online by March 1 to help its customers with the cost-of-living crisis.

All branches will have the full range of 200 Smart Price and Farm Stores lines, the company said.

It confirmed on Saturday that the full range is already available online.

Jack shared photos of products at Asda in Shoeburyness, Essex, that have reverted to their price from a year ago.

In one tweet, Jack showed a kilogram bag of rice that was back to its old price of 45p, after jumping last month to £1 for 500g – a price increase of 344%.

Jack wrote: “I was very quick to vilify Asda for what I saw as a change of direction for their company, and a watering down of their commitment to an entire group of their customers.”

The company promised to “do better”, she said, as she praised the “remarkable” speed of the turnaround.

“The impact that this will have on millions of people, is impossible to overstate,” Jack said, adding that they “cried, quietly, to myself, in Asda” at the development.

They also wrote: “So I guess I just wanted to say thanks to everyone at Asda who has worked really hard over the last few weeks to bring the missing SmartPrice products back.”

Meg Farren, Asda’s chief customer officer, said: “We want to help our customers’ budgets stretch further and have taken on board the comments about the availability of our Smart Price range made by Jack Monroe.

“We are taking steps to put our full Smart Price and Farm Stores ranges in store and online to make these products as accessible as possible.”

For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea

Leave a Comment