POPULAR Mars pet food including Whiskas, Dreamies and Pedigree have been pulled from shelves in Tesco in a new bust-up over prices.
Manufacturing giant Mars has stopped supplying six brands to the UK’s biggest grocer.
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Brands such as IAMS, Sheba and Crave, are included in the axe.
Inflation has hit a 10-year high, with many manufacturers blaming rising costs as they hike prices for customers.
Shoppers have already spotted gaps on shelves in stores, with others sharing their shock on recent price rises.
One customer wrote on Twitter: “Tesco shop online. In space of a week, cheapest whiskas has gone up from £3.29 to £4.50.
“Cats will have to diet. Is as expensive as sheba, which just gone up to a fiver. Mental.”
Another said: “Tesco ‘every little helps’ Whiskas 12 pack has gone up from £3.29 to £4.50. Inflation of 36%.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We’re laser-focused on keeping the cost of the weekly shop in check, offering customers great value through our combination of Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices and Clubcard Prices.
“With household budgets under increasing pressure, now more than ever we have a responsibility to ensure customers get the best possible value, and we will not pass on unjustifiable price increases to our customers.
“We’re sorry that this means some products aren’t available right now, but we have plenty of alternatives to choose from and we hope to have this issue resolved soon.”
The supermarket giant continues to supply a wide range of alternative branded and own-branded pet food products.
A Mars spokesperson said: “We are aware that some of our Petcare products are currently out of stock at Tesco stores.
“We want to reassure pet owners that their favourite products are in supply and remain widely available in the UK marketplace.
“There are many reasons why our products may be out of stock in certain stores from time to time.
“We cannot comment on individual commercial relationships or situations.”
Last week, Tesco pulled Heinz products from stores in a similar pricing bust up.
Shoppers soon spotted empty shelves in Tesco supermarkets due to the cost stand-off.
The Sun also revealed the full list of Heinz products affected by the price war.
It is not the first time Tesco has pulled items from its shelves following a dispute with a manufacturer.
Products such as Marmite and Pot Noodle were removed from the retailer’s website in 2016 after makers Unilever claimed Brexit had forced them to hike their prices.
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Uniilever are one of the UK’s biggest suppliers of branded foods and households good.
The brands it stopped delivering to Tesco included PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s, Sure and Domestos.
