Supermarket Christmas veg price war 'comes at a cost' for British growers

Ten years ago, marketing executives at Britain's biggest supermarket had a brainwave: might slashing the price of basic vegetables tempt people to do their Christmas shop with them?

- Sarah Butler

Tesco, under the then chief executive Dave Lewis, was trying to revive a business reeling after falling sales, five profit warnings and an accounting scandal. That promotion in December 2014, described as its "festive five", offered bags of carrots, potatoes, brussels sprouts, parsnips and a cauliflower for 49p each.

It was to spark a vegetable price war that endures to this day. Tesco returned a year later with a 39p promotion, while the German discounter Aldi went further with its 19p-a-bag "super six" offer.

While consumers have benefited from the discounts, questions are being asked about the toll those prices have taken on Britain's farmers, and whether it has warped shoppers' perceptions about the fair cost of growing vegetables.

Farmers, who have been up in arms since they were told in the budget that some of them would have to pay inheritance tax, have long complained about the imbalance of power in negotiations with the big grocers.