Morrisons have become the fourth supermarket to hike the price of their meal deal in recent months. Instead of paying £3 for their lunch time offering, shoppers will now have to pay 50p more for their main, snack and drink from the counter.
The supermarket previously had the cheapest meal deal on the high street, matching Tesco’s clubcard price, but is now in line with non-clubcard prices, and Sainsbury’s at £3.50.
The news comes as a blow for customers as the cost of living crisis continues, with meal deal prices rising for Boots, Co-Op and Tesco in 2022, as well.
READ MORE: Boots shoppers could save nearly £235 by only shopping on a certain day
It is first meal deal price increase in over two years. In 2020, Morrisons cut the price of their meal deals from £3.50 to £3, much to the delight of shoppers. It saved those who buy a meal deal every day up to £2.50 a week, and even more if you consider the individual costs of each item. But two years on the price has hiked once more for their deal, which includes things like sushi, wraps and salads, as well as fizzy drinks, chocolate bars and packets of crisps.
Morrisons has also introduced a new £4 meal deal, which includes sandwiches from its "The Best Sandwich" range for those looking for something a little more luxurious.
Shoppers have been left unimpressed with the price increase, with many taking to Twitter to share their thoughts. Marcus @alarmed_potato said: “Devastated to discover that Morrisons, who were the last bastion of the £3 meal deal, have put it up to £3.50 Someone sort this economy out.”
READ MORE: I tried six supermarket crumpets and a 25p pack knocked the rest out of the park
READ MORE: I pitted six supermarket spaghetti hoops against Heinz - and one tasted metallic
@Xinititty added: “Not sure if I can call myself a Morrisons meal deal enthusiast anymore now that they're £3.50 instead of £3 absolutely outrageous someone get Mr Morrison on the phone.”
Morrisons told the Manchester Evening News: "For the first time in over two years, we have made the difficult decision to increase the price of our meal deal by £0.50. We remain committed to offering our customers great value and at £3.50 our meal deal still offers our customers a potential saving of £2.90 based on the price of individual items.
“We have also introduced a new £4.00 meal deal that includes our range of ‘The Best’ sandwiches". Many other retailers exclude premium sandwiches from any meal deal so this is a very competitive offer.”
But calls have been made to ban popular meal deals in supermarkets in recent weeks. Experts have said they want them removed from shelves in Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury's, ASDA and Morrisons as part of the strategy to reduce obesity in the UK.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show on Wednesday, Dr. O'Shea, the HSE's clinical lead, said these deals almost always include solely unhealthy food options and therefore should be banned.
He said: "Literally, that should be illegal. The industry has the statistics and they know how to prompt and promote consumption, and 70 per cent of people will say no the first time, but if the person behind the counter says 'well are you sure, it's a good offer'. Then another 30 per cent will say 'ah yeah, go on'.
