Tesco customers are up in arms after it emerged the supermarket is selling jars of fruit as a main course rather than a side in its meal offering.
The British supermarket offers a main course, a starter and a drink for £3.90 or £3.40 for those with a Tesco Clubcard.
Typical main courses may include a sandwich or wrap, while a snack is usually a packet of crisps, fruit or a sweet.
An image has since emerged of Tesco offering what could be considered a small fruit bowl filled with berries as the main element of the food offer.
On
Social media users have shared their outrage after an image emerged of a pot of fruit being the top choice in a Tesco food deal.
The introduction of a fruit bowl as a main dish in the offer has surprised many customers who are used to buying fruit as an accompaniment.
Typically, fruit, including Pink Lady apple slices and pineapple chunks, can be purchased along with a sandwich and drink for £3.40.
However, in the updated offer, a sandwich would not qualify for the deal if the berry and grape mix is purchased.
The discovery has caused a storm on social media, with customers arguing the change is “disgusting”.
The new revelation has caused a storm on social media, with customers arguing that the change is “disgusting.”
One said: ‘This is really crazy. ANGRY!’ A second added: “No this is crazy.”
“I bought a slice of mango thinking it was a side and ended up paying £8 for 3 things,” wrote a third.
A fourth said: “The eating disorder culture of the 2000s is back, darling.” Another added: “This is very offensive.”
The British supermarket has burst into the lunch space for office workers since offering its lunch deal.
Addressing
When MailOnline contacted Tesco for comment, a spokesperson said: “We are always looking for ways to expand, improve and update our food offering based on the evolving tastes of our customers.”
‘Over a year ago, we introduced some larger fruit containers (between 230g and 300g) as a main option in response to customers telling us they wanted more main dishes suitable for breakfast.
‘Our smaller fruit pots (between 80 and 145g) are still classed as snacks in our food offerings.
‘In our large stores, customers can choose from more than 10 million combinations of meal offers and in Express stores there are still more than 4 million possible combinations of meal offers.
“This huge variety means there are options for most tastes and dietary needs.”
It comes after Tesco was forced to change its Clubcard logo after losing a multi-million pound Court of Appeal fight over allegations it copied rival Lidl’s yellow circle branding.
Lidl had accused Tesco of trying to “deliberately take advantage of Lidl’s reputation” by using a yellow circle to promote its Clubcard system, and has now been backed by judges after a £2.35m legal battle.
Defeated retail giant Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket company, is not expected to appeal today’s verdict and is understood to be updating its Clubcard pricing logo in the coming weeks.
Social media users took to X to share their thoughts, with one thinking fruit as a main course in the meal deal was “offensive”.
The company has previously said that removing all infringing logos would cost it almost £8 million.
A spokesman for German discount supermarket company Lidl said the grocer was “delighted” with the ruling.
Last year, Lidl won its initial High Court claims for trademark infringement, ‘counterfeiting’ and copyright infringement against the rival chain over its use of yellow circles.
Tesco introduced exclusive pricing for its Clubcard loyalty program three years ago, using a yellow circle cut out on a blue square to promote it.
Tesco denied wrongdoing and last month challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal, arguing there was “no basis” for High Court Judge Joanna Smith’s decision.
But in a ruling today, Mr Justice Arnold dismissed the UK’s largest supermarket chain’s attempt to strike out trademark infringement and “counterfeiting” claims.
Lord Justice Arnold, sitting with Lord Justice Birss and Lord Justice Lewison, said the High Court judge found that the yellow circle with a red outline on a blue background “had become distinctive of Lidl” and that Lidl’s price signs Clubcard would carry the Lidl logo. To the mind’.
He continued: ‘Tesco could easily have used a different sign to promote Clubcard prices. There is no error of law or principle in that reasoning, and the conclusion is one that the judge was fully entitled to reach.’
However, Judge Arnold overturned the previous copyright infringement decision against Tesco.
He said: ‘Any painter will confirm that placing one color in front of another changes the viewer’s perception of both. So is placing one shape inside another.
“Although Tesco has copied the visual concept of a blue square surrounding, among other materials, a yellow circle, that is all they have done.”