Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of easyJet, has launched an easyFoodstore supermarket – the first outlet of what may have the potential to grow into a new discount food-retailing chain in the UK – in North London, Mirror.co.uk and TheGuardian.com report.
Haji-Ioannou says that the investment is predicated on a belief that "there is a gap in the food retail market – a niche below some of the current budget operators such as Aldi and Lidl."
The selling point for the supermarket is that it sells day-to-day products for £0.25. Its slogan, which is highly visible in store, is 'No expensive brands, just food, honestly priced.'
Among the items that retail at £0.25 are packets of pasta, tins of beans, packets of coffee, mayonnaise, eggs and chocolate bars. It will not sell fresh produce or meat initially.
"I hope that a commercially viable venture offering affordable food will help many people in need, as well as producing a viable return for the capital employed," Haji-Ioannou said.
"This is another way the easy brand can serve the less well-off. Given my experience in distributing food for free in Greece and Cyprus, this is a more commercial attempt to sell basic food for 25p per item to those unwaged or low-waged living around Park Royal."
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
