Key facts
- Morrisons will match prices on 500 "everyday essentials" against Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Aldi, and Lidl.
- The price-matching scheme extends to fresh items from fishmonger and bakery counters.
- Morrisons reported a £629m pre-tax loss for the year ending October 2025.
- The supermarket's net debt rose to £7.5bn after its £7bn takeover in 2021.
- Aldi's CEO Giles Hurley has criticized loyalty card pricing as potentially misleading.
Morrisons has announced a significant pledge to slash prices on hundreds of essential items, intensifying the ongoing price war among UK supermarkets. The move aims to attract cash-strapped shoppers amid rising living costs and fierce competition, particularly from discounters Aldi and Lidl.
The Bradford-based grocer will match prices on 500 "everyday essentials" against its main rivals, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Aldi, and Lidl. This commitment extends to fresh produce from its fishmonger and bakery counters, signaling a broad effort to regain market share.
This strategy comes as intense discounting across the sector has helped to keep a lid on food inflation, despite earlier warnings of potential price spirals linked to global events. Retailers argue their promotional activities are shielding consumers from broader economic pressures.
However, the supermarket landscape is not without its controversies. Aldi's CEO, Giles Hurley, has publicly called for stricter government oversight on retail discounts, suggesting that some loyalty card schemes may offer only the "impression" of savings. In response, Tesco and Sainsbury's have defended their practices, pointing to investigations by the competition watchdog that have largely cleared the use of loyalty discounts.
Morrisons faces an uphill battle to reverse its recent financial performance. The company reported a substantial £629 million pre-tax loss for the year ending October 2025 and has undergone significant restructuring, including job cuts and the closure of its newspaper delivery service and downsizing of its bakery business. The supermarket's debt pile has also grown, reaching £7.5 billion following its £7 billion takeover by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2021.
Alex Paver, Morrisons' customer and marketing director, stated that customers should not have to compromise on quality for price, emphasizing the "Unbeatable price commitment" to assure shoppers that prices on these selected products will not be beaten.