A MAJOR supermarket has cut the number of items in its cheapest range of essentials in another blow for shoppers.
Asda confirmed it is reducing the size of its Just Essentials budget range from 293 to 269 items.
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Asda launched Just Essentials last year with 293 items, replacing its previous Smart Price budget brand.
At the time, Just Essentials included around 50% more items than the range it was replacing.
But Asda has now axed popular products from the range including dishwasher tablets, mild white cheddar cheese and lemonade.
The items have begun disappearing from shelves and online.
A spokesperson for Asda said: “We launched Just Essentials over a year ago to make sure our customers could get the essentials they needed at great prices.
“Since then, we’ve changed a small number of products within the line up for others to ensure the best choice and value for our customers – by removing some lines and adding others.”
Asda is not the only retailer to have quietly cut down the size of its own-brand budget range.
Research by The Sun has found rivals Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have all reduced their own-brand budget offerings over the last few years.
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The cuts come at a time when households are grappling with the rising cost of living and trying to make savings wherever possible.
Supermarket bosses have come under fire recently over rising food prices and a failure to cater to low-income shoppers in their convenience stores.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s own-brand ‘Basics’ range used to have around 600 items.
But the supermarket phased out the label in 2019 in favour of using several new brands.
In May this year, it relaunched its budget range under one single brand, Stamford Street.
Sainsbury’s confirmed to The Sun this range now includes just 202 products – a third of the size of its former Basics brand.
The supermarket said it also runs an Aldi Price Match campaign, which matches 370 items to budget supermarket Aldi.
But this figure includes 40% of the Stamford Street range, so the two ranges together carry just 491 items.
Sainsbury’s also offers customers who sign up to its Nectar card cheaper prices on some items, but the products included change regularly.
Tesco
Tesco’s Value range of budget essentials ran from 1993 until it began being phased out in favour of 16 new brands in 2018.
At the time, the range encompassed around 550 budget essentials.
But across the new brands, the number of items adds up to just 113, according to Tesco’s website.
There may be some fluctuation in the number of items on offer depending on what’s in stock.
Tesco declined to comment on this figure, but said it currently price matches around 700 items to Aldi.
Like Sainsbury’s, Tesco also offers cheaper prices on some items to customers with a Tesco Clubcard.
Morrisons
Morrisons’ budget Savers range included more than 250 products at the start of this year, according to historic website data.
But the supermarket confirmed it now has just 220 items in total.
Frozen peas and jaffacakes have both been axed from the range, although the supermarket said it sells ‘comparable alternatives’.
A spokesperson for Morrisons said: “Our Savers range continues to offer customers great value on the products they buy every day.
“We’re continuing to invest in the brand and expand the range to meet our customers needs.”
Last month, the supermarket announced it was rolling out its Savers range across its 500 Daily convenience stores.
Supermarkets’ convenience stores are typically more expensive than regular stores and don’t tend to stock their cheapest products.
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