Dave Lewis, chief executive of Tesco is reportedly going to close fresh food counters across all UK stores and to down grade in-store bakeries and staff canteens to have vending machines instead, the Mail on Sunday has revealed.
Lewis is trying to rebuild profits as the supermarket chain has never recovered from the 2014 accounting scandal, that cost the company £250m.
Cutting 15,000 will save the company £1.5bn in their cost base, fishmongers, butchers and bakers from the delicatessen counter will all go across most of Tesco’s 732 largest stores.
Bryan Roberts, global insights director at research firm TCC Global, said to the Guardian, “These counters don’t contribute a lot to sales but the shoppers who do use them typically spend more and are more loyal.
“It’s part of the aura of being a fresh food grocer and you lose something if you take them away.”
Tesco said, “We’re always looking at ways to run our business more simply and efficiently. Whenever we make changes in our business, colleagues are always the first to know.”
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