Tesco has launched its discount brand Jack’s as it takes the fight to German budget supermarkets Aldi and Lidl.
Britain’s biggest retailer will open its first two Jack’s stores today in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, and Immingham, north-east Lincolnshire.
Up to 15 stores will open over the next year, with five existing Tesco properties being repurposed and the remainder being new outlets.
Most products will be Jack’s own brand and the chain will have 2,600 lines.
Chief executive Dave Lewis, speaking in Chatteris, said: “Tesco founder Jack Cohen championed value for customers and changed the face of British shopping.
“He is an inspiration for all of us and that same spirit still drives Tesco now.
“It’s fitting that today, we mark the beginning of Tesco’s celebration of 100 Years of Great Value by launching a new brand bearing his name: Jack’s.”
It comes after the UK’s so-called Big Four supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – have taken a hammering at the hands of Lidl and Aldi.
The German duo have eaten up the market share of the Big Four by offering products at knock-down prices.
Tesco is still Britain’s grocery market leader with a share of 27.4%, while Aldi and Lidl have increased their combined share to 13.1%, according to the Kantar Worldpanel data.
Tesco said that eight out of 10 Jack’s food and drink products will be “grown, reared or made” in Britain.
It will operate a “low-cost business model” designed to keep costs low and prices down.
The launch of Jack’s is part of Tesco’s centenary celebrations which will see the business mark 100 years in 2019.
Jack Cohen founded Tesco in 1919.
In 1924, he created the Tesco brand name from the initials of a tea supplier, TE Stockwell, and the first two letters of his own surname.
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