Tesco customers are up in arms after it emerged that the supermarket is selling fruit pots as a mian dish rather than a side in its meal deal offer.
The British supermarket offers a main, snack, and drink for £3.90 or £3.40 for those with a Tesco Clubcard.
Typical mains might include a sandwich or a wrap, while the snack is often a packet of crisps, fruit, or a sweet treat.
Btu an image has since surfaced of Tesco offering what might be considered an unsubstantial fruit pot filled with berries as a main within the meal deal offer.
Taking to X, a customer shared an image of the updated meal deal with a grape and berry medley as a main, and said: ‘Fruit pot as a main, bring the general election forwards.’
Social media users have shared their outrage after an image surfaced of a fruit pot being classes as a main option in a Tesco meal deal
The introduction of a fruit pot as a main in the offer has come as a shock for many customers who are used to purchasing fruit as a side.
Typically, fruit, including sliced Pink Lady apples and pineapple chunks, can be purchased alongside a sandwich and drink for £3.40.
However, in the updated offer, a sandwich would not qualify for the deal if buying the berry and grape medley.
The discovery has caused a storm on social media, with customers arguing the change is ‘sickening’.
The new revelation has caused a storm on social media, with customers arguing the change is ‘sickening’.
One said: ‘This is actually mad. MAD!’ A second added: ‘No, this is wild’.
‘I got mango part of it thinking it was a side and ended up paying £8 for 3 things’, a third wrote.
A fourth said: ‘2000s eating disorder culture is back, baby.’ Another added: ‘This is so offensive’.
The British supermarket has stormed the lunch scene for office workers since offering their meal deal
Taking to X, the user shared a picture of the meal deal offer and said: ‘Fruit pot as a main, bring the general election forwards’
When MailOnline contacted Tesco for comment, a spokesperson said: ‘We’re always looking for ways to expand, improve, and update our meal deal offering depending on the evolving tastes of our customers.
‘Over a year ago, we introduced some larger fruit pots (between 230-300g) as a main option in response to customers telling us they would like more mains that are suitable for breakfast.
‘Our smaller fruit pots (between 80-145g) are all still classed as snacks in our meal deals.
‘Across our large stores, customers can choose from more than 10 million meal deal combinations and in Express stores there are still more than 4 million possible meal deal combinations.
‘This huge choice means there are options for most tastes and dietary requirements.’
It comes after Tesco is being forced to change its Clubcard logo after losing a multi-million-pound Court of Appeal fight over claims it copied rival Lidl’s yellow circle branding.
Lidl had accused Tesco of trying to ‘deliberately to ride on the coat-tails of Lidl’s reputation’ by using a yellow circle to promote its Clubcard scheme – and has now been backed by judges after a £2.35million legal battle.
Defeated retail giant Tesco – the UK’s largest supermarket firm – is not expected to appeal against today’s verdict and is understood to be updating its Clubcard prices logo in the coming weeks.
Social media users took to X to share their thoughts, and one thought fruit as a main in the meal deal as ‘offensive’
The company has previously said that removing all the infringing logos would cost it almost £8million.
A spokesperson for German discount supermarket firm Lidl said the grocer was ‘delighted’ by the judgment.
Last year Lidl won its initial High Court claims of trademark infringement, ‘passing off’ and copyright infringement against the rival chain over the use of yellow circles.
Tesco introduced its unique Clubcard loyalty scheme prices three years ago, using a yellow circle cropped onto a blue square to promote it.
Tesco denied infringement and took a challenge to the ruling to the Court of Appeal last month, arguing there was ‘no basis’ for the decision by High Court judge Mrs Justice Joanna Smith.
But in a ruling today, Lord Justice Arnold dismissed the UK’s largest supermarket chain’s bid to overturn the claims of trademark infringement and ‘passing off’.
Lord Justice Arnold, sitting with Lord Justice Birss and Lord Justice Lewison, said the High Court judge found the yellow circle with a red outline on a blue background ‘had become distinctive of Lidl’ and that the Clubcard prices signs would bring the Lidl logo ‘to mind’.
He continued: ‘Tesco could easily have used a different sign to promote Clubcard prices. There is no error of law or principle in that reasoning, and the conclusion is one that the judge was fully entitled to reach.’
However, Lord Justice Arnold overturned the previous finding of copyright infringement against Tesco.
He said: ‘Any painter will confirm that placing one colour against another changes the viewer’s perception of both. So too does placing one shape within another.
‘Although Tesco have copied the visual concept of a blue square surrounding, among other material, a yellow circle, that is all they have done.’
