I’ve always thought of Waitrose md Mark Price as a pretty straight-talking kind of guy so I was disappointed to hear that at yesterday’s IGD conference he delivered only a corporate sales pitch extolling the benefits of working for the John Lewis-owned supermarket.
But the chubby grocer couldn’t resist chucking in a couple of digs at less upmarket rival Asda (even though he didn’t actually name them).
First he laid into Asda’s Dom Perignon promotion last year, which left customers miffed after it turned out there was only enough of the discounted champagne for around two bottles per store.
“A great coup for the PR department; not great for long-term customer service,” quipped Price.
Then, whilst explaining how cutting costs and cutting prices could create a vicious rather than a virtuos circle, he asked: “Ultimately, where do you get with this? The 2p sausage.”
Waitrose’s least expensive sausage, you might like to know, comes in at 16p.
