Supermarket giant Tesco has been branded a 'disgrace' by furious shoppers after it doubled the price of one of its most essential items. In a recent price check, MoneySavingExpert found the price of 10-packs of Tesco's Essentials maxi towels has now doubled.
For four years, Tesco, has consistently offered the best value sanitary products since MoneySavingExpert.com launched their Cheap Sanitary Product guide in 2018.
However, in MoneySavingExpert.com's most recent check of prices, it has been confirmed that Tesco has doubled the price of what was once their cheapest product, the 10-pack of Tesco Essentials maxi towels, compared to this time last year.
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The experts teamed up with specialist comparison tool Sanitary Saver to check the information and found that Tesco's product has gone from 2p per pad (23p a pack), to 4p per pad (42p a pack).
MoneySavingExpert.com also worked out that the average "lifetime cost" of buying Tesco Essentials maxi towels (10-pack) has gone from £242 to £441. The price hike has caused a stir online too, with Tesco shoppers furious at the decision as it will likely come as a blow to those already struggling with rising living costs.
One person wrote on Twitter : "Disgraceful, to be honest. Items like these should be free or sold much more cheaply." While another said: "Tesco is contributing to period poverty."
The change means Tesco is no longer the place to go for the cheapest sanitary products, but MoneySavingExpert.com revealed you can instead buy Asda's regular ultra towels at 3p a towel (50p for a pack of 16).
Or, if you're able to use tampons, you could save even more by using Asda's regular non-applicator tampons for just 2p a tampon (70p for a pack of 32).
When asked about the price increase, Tesco said there had been significant increases to the production cost of the maxi towels, and it had taken on these costs where possible.
A spokesperson said: "We know that the cost of buying essential period products can be a real struggle for many people, so we work hard with our suppliers to make these products affordable."
Tesco has also clarified that the change is historic and was actually made in July 2021, but was only uncovered by MoneySavingExpert.com in their annual price guide this week when compared with the prices from their 2021 guide, published this time last year.
