Asda is poised to launch a new budget range to help customers weather the cost of living crisis, according to reports. It is thought that around 300 products will be sold at the supermarkets under the banner 'Just Essentials'.
Beans, bread, crisps and biscuits are among the items said to be lined up for inclusion in the range. Just Essentials is also expected to encompass non-food products such as washing-up liquid and powder, LancsLive reports.
The reports come after the retailer attracted criticism from food writer and campaigner Jack Monroe - who complained in January about price rises, saying she could not find the full range of Asda Smart Price products on a visit to her local store. The following month Asda pledged to roll out its Smart Price lines more widely.
The Just Essentials plans were outlined in a presentation to suppliers seen by The Grocer. Asda VP of own-brand Sam Dickson said in the briefing: “Just Essentials by Asda is an extensive new range of over 300 products. It’s a bold, upbeat and positive brand. The plan was to launch this through May, June and July. But we want to do it faster because it’s really important for our customers that we are with them all the way.”
The speed of the planned rollout has reportedly stunned suppliers, some of whom have questioned whether it is possible to carry out such a launch with only a matter of weeks’ notice.
Asda is owned by billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa. The new range is understood to be part of a "price repositioning" by the pair who bought the supermarkets from Walmart in a £6.8 billion deal last year.
