Tesco has come under fire from shoppers after hiking up the price of some of its period products to double the amount.
According to MoneySavingExpert, the 10-pack of Essentials maxi towels originally retailed for 23p, making an individual pad worth just 2p. Now, the price has been raised to 4p per pad.
When worked out, the average ‘lifetime cost’ of buying Tesco Essentials maxi towels (10-pack) has now gone from £242 to £441.
The price rise follows a series of supermarket essentials becoming more expensive due to the cost of living.
Tesco had previously consistently been the cheapest supermarket to buy period products from for the last four years, since MoneySavingExpert.com launched its Cheap Sanitary Product guide in 2018.
The price increase, which quietly got increased in July last year, means that Tesco’s period products are no longer the cheapest available in the UK, much to the anger of some customers.
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Instead, Asda tops the list with two of its ranges being the cheapest period products available. Coming in at first spot, its regular non-applicator tampons (32-pack) retail at 70p per pack, making one tampon worth just 2p, whereas Asda’s 16-pack of regular ultra towels followed in second place, retailing at 50p, with one pad being priced at 3p.
Morrisons 24-pack maxi towels cost 85p, with each pad costing 4p.
As a result of the price rise, many customers have taken to social media to criticise the Big 4 grocer.
One user tweeted: “Tesco contributing to period poverty”
@Tesco contributing to period poverty!!…Tesco no longer cheapest for sanitary pads after it DOUBLES price – here's where to find the cheapest now https://t.co/FYeXdRmMVK
— Joanne_Phillips (@AGirlWorthMore) March 16, 2022
Another user branded the move as “disgraceful” and pleads for sanitary products to be “free or sold much more cheaply”.
Disgraceful tbh. Items like these should be free or sold much more cheaply.
Tesco no longer cheapest for sanitary pads after it DOUBLES price – here's where to find the cheapest now https://t.co/wCbZBISgck
— Rich Stanley (@TiredRich_) March 16, 2022
This is disgraceful.https://t.co/HpcqCsqz4f
— teamonkey (@herbalbug) March 16, 2022
A Tesco spokesperson told Grocery Gazette: “We know that the cost of buying essential period products can be a real struggle for many people, so we work hard with our suppliers to make these products affordable.”
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1 Comment. Leave new
life time cost is for a pack of 10 pads? you are not thinking about women who have periods that are heavy and need more pads daily for other related conditions to periods like PCOS. we don’t use 10 pads we use tons more and they are not 23p per pack essentials for scant periods they are more like incontinence pads because the bleeding is so heavy. we don’t get any help with that for payments or much from the NHS either.