Sainsbury’s will increase sandwich meal deal value by 25p to £3.75
- Sainsbury’s meal deal up to £3.75 in first rise since £3.00 to £3.50 in May 2021
Sainsbury’s has provoked fury among customers this week by increasing the price of its popular lunchtime meal deal from £3.50 to £3.75 across all its stores.
The rise of 25p or 7 per cent on Monday was blasted by shoppers who claimed it showed ‘the country is past the point of any repair’ and ‘this is Starmer’s Britain’.
This is the first price rise on the deal by Sainsbury’s in three years since it went up to £3.50 in May 2021. Prior to that it had been at £3.00 since at least 2014.
The deal includes a ‘main’ such as a sandwich or wrap; a ‘snack’ such as crisps, a chocolate bar or olives; and a drink such as an Innocent smoothie or Coca-Cola.
There are more than 100 mains, 300 snacks and 300 drinks in the deal – and millions of possible combinations for people to still save up to more than half the usual price.
Boots was the first retailer to sell a meal deal back in 1985, but supermarkets later followed suit with similar offerings and it is now a highly competitive market.
Sainsbury’s is understood to have felt compelled to increase the price due to the rising cost of ingredients in recent years despite overall inflation starting to ease
The rise means Sainsbury’s meal deal is now 35p more than the cheapest version of Tesco’s offering which is £3.40 for Clubcard holders but £3.90 for everyone else.
Sainsbury’s has no discount on the deal for Nectar card holders, but it also has a ‘premium meal deal’ which launched in 2022 at £5 and has not changed price.
Among the customers reacting to the rise on social media was Jed Wagman, who said on X: ‘The country is past the point of any repair. The Sainsbury’s meal deal has gone up to £3.75.’
Another, Chris Lockyer, tweeted: ‘Sainsbury’s meal deal going up to £3.75 is a complete abomination.’
And a third, Tom @tprowntree, said: ‘Your warning that a Sainsbury’s meal deal has gone up to £3.75. Don’t choose anything but the premium options.
‘Don’t give them the satisfaction of an Egg and Cress. Brothers, sisters, Brie, Bacon and Chilli Chutney is your right. Coronation Chicken shall be the feast of the proletariat.’
Also commenting on the rise was retail expert Richard Hammond, who said it was a potentially risky move – but shoppers would still value the discount it offers on the full price of all three items.
Mr Hammond, chief executive and co-founder of analytics firm Uncrowd, told MailOnline: ‘Any time a retailer messes with a beloved institution like a meal deal it carries risks, but while Sainsbury’s have battled rising ingredient and transport costs for quite a while something did have to give.
‘We believe they won’t lose out though because they’ve done an impressive job in boosting savings elsewhere linked to their Nectar card.
‘Prices are very apparent headlines in a store, but savings tend to stick in the conscious of customers more deeply than rises do. Salisbury’s have earnt the headroom to do this now.’
Sainsbury’s is understood to have felt compelled to increase the price due to the rising cost of ingredients in recent years despite overall inflation starting to ease.
The increase took effect on Monday at all of the chain’s supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations. There has been no change to the products included in the deal.
A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman told MailOnline: ‘We want to make good food affordable and accessible to everyone and so we have kept the price of our meal deal the same for over three years.
‘We continue to offer one of the best value meal deals around, with millions of delicious possible combinations which could mean customers save more than half off the usual price – whether they’re grabbing a hot bacon roll, a fruit pot and a coffee for breakfast, or a lunchtime sarnie with crisps and a smoothie.’
In comparison, the Co-Op meal deal is £4 or £3.50 for Co-Op members, while Morrisons charges £4 and Poundland recently started selling them for £3.
Boots has meal deals for £3.99 in most of the UK or £3.60 with an Advantage card, but in London the prices rise to £4.99 and £4.50 respectively.
Asda’s meal deal offers three items for the price of two, with the cheapest free, and Waitrose has a deal for £5.
Greggs offers various options including a cold sandwich and a drink from £3.75, or a hot sandwich and wedges with a drink from £4.95.
Data from Kantar released on June 18 revealed supermarket prices are 2.1 per cent higher than a year ago, slowing for the 15th month in a row from May’s 2.4 per cent.
