Morrisons unveils price cuts on 200 'everyday items'

8th Jun 2015 10:12

Supermarket chain Morrisons has unveiled plans to cut prices of 200 "everyday items", including bread and milk, by up to a third.The group, UK's fourth largest supermarket, said the price of four pints of semi-skimmed milk will drop 11% to 89p, while selected bread brands will be 21% cheaper.Along with Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda, Morrisons has been hit by the emergence of discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl and by the growth of online shopping, which in turn has seen supermarkets embark on a bitter price war as they seek to attract customers.David Potts, the group new chief executive, said the cuts would mean prices for "cupboard essentials will be amongst the lowest on the market".In 2014, Morrison saw its profit plunge to the lowest level in eight years after suffering a decline of approximately 50% from the previous year, driving the company to announce a £1bn investment to lower prices over the next three years.However, Morrisons was not the only chain to implement a price-reduction strategy, with Sainsbury's investing £150m to reduce the cost of 1,000 items, while Asda committed £300m to lowering prices in the first quarter of 2015.