Tesco has made quite a few changes in store to help shoppers (Picture: PA)

With the cost of living crisis continuing to impact us all, supermarkets have been doing their best to help consumers feeling the squeeze – whether it’s through special offers, price cuts or discounts for loyalty card holders.

Tesco has introduced a number of changes in recent times designed to help its customers save the pennies.

These initiatives range from improving their signage through to changing the stock at their smaller stores to cheaper alternatives – as well as cutting the VAT on some important items.

Here’s what they’ve been up to…

Swapping out branded products in Tesco Express

Over the past few months a change has come to Tesco Express which has seen them introduce dozens of cheaper products (many from its own-brand range) to the stores to cater to customers looking for more affordable alternatives.

Around 50 have been rolled out, with Tesco claiming some items will end up ‘less than a third of the price of the products they are replacing’.

These include Tesco penne pasta (85p) and Tesco smooth peanut butter (£1.65), being sold at half the price of the previous branded items.

Tesco Express is now stocking a range of own-brand products (Picture: Getty Images)

Tesco frozen garden peas (£1.65) will be stocked in Express store freezers instead of the branded equivalent, while Tesco basmati rice pouches (75p) have also been introduced, costing 30% less than the branded version.

Sarah Lawler, Tesco Convenience Managing Director, has said: ‘We know customers are watching every penny at the moment, so we hope these helpful product swaps will bring down food bills for even more families. 

‘Our Express stores offer unbeatable value on everything from essentials to fresh produce, making healthy food more accessible for the 2,000 communities that we serve across the UK.

Yellow stickers

Yellow stickers are a popular way of saving money in supermarkets – who add them to stock they are reducing in price at certain times of the day.

However, Tesco have taken theirs a step further, showing customers exactly where they can find the reduced stock due to improved signage.

Look out for these signs, and the slogan ‘reduced in price, just as nice’ showing you where you can find them.

Yellow sticker items can help shoppers save the pennies (Picture: Getty Images)

Changes to milk

Tesco has changed the way it packages its milk, swapping the blue, green and red caps – to indicate whole, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk – for clear ones, which are easier to recycle.

They’re also phasing out their huge six-pint bottles in a bid to cut down on waste.

No VAT on period pants

In August the supermarket giant became the first retailer in the UK to cover the VAT cost on its range of period pants.

The cut in price affects all eight lines of Tesco’s own-brand F&F period pants – meaning a three-pack now costs £14.40 instead of £18 while a single pack of pants has been reduced from £7.50 to £6.

It follows an industry campaign calling on the government to axe the 20% tax on the product, which is currently classed as underwear.

Period pants have been subject to VAT as they are classed as underwear (Picture: Getty Images)

Tesco group communications director Christine Heffernan said: ‘We know that the cost of buying essential period products can be a real struggle for many people.

‘And we want to do our bit to help by covering the cost of VAT on period pants, helping to make this more sustainable option more affordable for customers.

Other period products have been exempt from VAT since 2021.

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