TESCO is closing deli and hot food counters in 317 stores and axing the Jack’s supermarket chain in a major shake-up, The Sun can reveal.
Staff were told about the changes that put 130 jobs at risk on a Zoom meeting earlier today.
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The grocery giant is keeping 279 meat, fish and hot deli counters open – but said it had seen a decrease in demand in some of its stores.
Tesco is also ditching its bargain supermarket experiment, closing six of the 13 Jack’s supermarkets.
In 2018, it launched discount store Jack’s in a bid to take on rival retailers Lidl and Aldi, which have quickly gained market share in recent years.
It will convert six Jack’s into Tesco superstores and continue to sell food with the Jack’s logo on it in its Booker corner shops.
The Jack’s closures mean that 130 head office jobs are at risk.
No employees will be made redundant due to the deli counter closures as staff will be offered alternative roles in stores.
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A Tesco worker told The Sun: “None of us were expecting these big changes though, it will have a big impact on all of us.”
“It’s left us feeling totally de-valued over the last year, we’ve worked so hard to try and keep the business going.
“They are trying to cut corners wherever they are.”
Tesco also confirmed it has no plans to bring back 24-hour openings in stores.
The UK’s biggest supermarket chain axed 24-hour opening during the pandemic – but briefly introduced them in the run-up to Christmas 2020.
Daniel Adams, from retail trade union Usdaw, said: “We should not forget the role that key workers have played throughout the Coronavirus pandemic and to receive this news is devastating.”
Tesco boss Jason Tarry said: “We have learnt a huge amount from Jack’s and this has helped Tesco become more competitive, more efficient and strengthened our value proposition, including through the launch of Aldi Price Match.”
“Our Jack’s brand will continue to be sold across Booker and our symbol brands, bringing great value and quality to even more customers.
“We want to thank our Jack’s colleagues for all they have done and taught us. Our priority is to find roles within our wider business for all the colleagues who want to stay with us.”
Founded in 1919, Tesco now has more than 4,000 stores across the UK and Ireland and employs more than 360,000 people worldwide.
Last week, Tesco announced it was expanding its Aldi Price Match promise.
In January 2019, the supermarket giant said it would axe 15,000 jobs as part of a £1.5bn cost-saving plan.
Bakeries were overhauled, with pre-frozen dough used rather than dough freshly made on site.
And there were also plans to shut down hundreds of fish, meat and deli counters in stores across the country.
Staff canteens were reported to be closed and replaced with vending machines.
Later that year, it emerged that 4,500 staff would be made redundant, largely affecting those employed in Tesco’s Metro stores.
And in February 2020, some 1,816 bakery staff were at risk of redundancy as Tesco’s chief executive Jason Tarry warned that retailer needed to adapt to changing customer demand.
Supermarkets have largely had a strong period through the lockdowns of the past couples of years, as one of the few types of retailer which could remain open through the pandemic.
But the industry is still facing major difficulties, including a shortage of lorry drivers, which last year led to empty shelves in some stores across the country.
A CO2 shortage has also added to the grocers’ woes, as the gas is vital in packaging many popular items such as meat and fizzy drinks.
In February 2021, Asda announced a major restructure that put 5,000 jobs at risk.
And in July, it emerged that John Lewis and Waitrose were set to cut 1,000 jobs across the brand’s stores.
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