Jul 5, 2022
Tesco squares up to Mars Petcare over price of Whiskas
The UK's biggest supermarket chain has yet to reach agreement with Heinz over revised buying terms for beans, soups and ketchup, and is now facing a similar impasse with Mars Petcare. The privately owned producer of brands such as Whiskas and Dreamies for cats, and Pedigree and Cesar for dogs, has paused supplies to Tesco until agreement can be reached on price, causing gaps to begin appearing on some shelves and on the retailer's website. Tesco reiterated the position it had taken with Heinz, saying that "Now more than ever we have a responsibility to ensure customers get the best possible value, and we will not pass on unjustifiable price increases". Mars Petcare said that while it could not comment on "Individual commercial relationships or situations" its products remained widely available outside Tesco. It is also significantly more profitable than grocery; in the UK, Mars Petcare made an operating margin of 15 per cent in the year to March 2021, about three times what Tesco achieved in the same period.
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