Tesco tightens our belts

It seems only a moment ago that Tesco, Britain’s dominant supermarket, were moving firmly upmarket with a dramatically increased finer wine range (see Tesco – speccing up a bit?). And it was only earlier this year that Tesco was leading Britain’s mass market retailers towards more realistic pricing and less dependence on promotions and discounts.

What a very different place the retail environment is today. Tesco’s wine buyers have been firmly re-directed towards the bottom of the price range and, for example, a new range of litre tetrapaks of Spanish red, white and rosé at £2.89 a litre has...