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British food from Tesco is to be sold across Spain in Hipercor supermarkets, part of the country’s major department store group.
As Spain Property Guide will be featuring a price comparison article this month, it is apt to report that one of Britain’s major supermarkets has struck a deal with Spain’s best-known department store to carry British branded food items.
Deal between Tesco and El Corte Inglés
British supermarket Tesco is to supply the Spanish store El Corte Inglés with between 50 and 60 types of British food, ranging from own brand cereals to speciality biscuits. To begin with there will be a trial in certain stores to see which items are the most popular. This will be good news for people living in or near Spain’s larger towns and cities, -most of which have an El Corte Inglés store and supermarket (Hipercor).
British supermarket Tesco is to supply the Spanish store El Corte Inglés with between 50 and 60 types of British food, ranging from own brand cereals to speciality biscuits.
This is a two-way deal, as Tesco will stock Spanish items, such as sherry vinegar, olive oil and Spanish hams, under the El Corte Inglés label in their stores in Britain.
British tastes are changing
The agreement between the two companies is a further sign that the British are more willing to try Spanish foodstuffs, where once they were considered to be of poor quality. The rise in the number of tapas type restaurants across the United Kingdom and the appearance of new up market Spanish restaurants have no doubt contributed to the change in British tastes.
To begin with there will be a trial in certain stores to see which items are the most popular.
The best Spanish food is fresh, simply cooked and uses first class ingredients. Spain is the largest producer of olive oil and recently one small producer won the “best in the world” title. In fact, it is a little known fact that Spain actually supplies Italy with olive oil – which may seem strange since Italy is also a producer of some of the finest oils, but Italy’s production is too small for its domestic and export markets, so Spanish oil is imported.
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British food in Spain
Only in the last decade has British food become widely available in Spain. Prior to that, small specialist shops were the only outlets and prices were very high. Now almost every major supermarket will carry a limited range of food from the UK. There are two British stores present in parts of Spain where many British expats have homes. Iceland and Poundland (called Dealz over here) have several stores and of course there are smaller shops exclusively selling British products up and down the Spanish Costas.
Only in the last decade has British food become widely available in Spain. Prior to that, small specialist shops were the only outlets and prices were very high.
Prices of imported food
You will find that imported food is more expensive in Spain than back in the UK in Spanish supermarkets, though sometimes the difference is small. It will be interesting to see what price the Tesco items will carry in El Corte Inglés, especially their own brand products.
Generally speaking, Spanish equivalents are good value, but of course, there are many things that are quite definitely British and which carry a higher price tag. Spanish supermarkets also offer some Mexican, Italian and French foods, since the British are not the only expats living in the country. Lidl and Aldi have German and Scandinavian foodstuffs too, to satisfy expats from that part of Europe.
