(Jenni of www.jenniepperson.com and Rache of www.mrsawesomeplanet.com)
TESCO, the leader in Supermarkets in the UK, has partnered with SM, the leader in Supermarkets in the Philippines, to distribute Tesco retail products in the country.
Here are the essential things you need to know about Tesco at SM…
1. Tesco’s Sole Distributors
Tesco products range from snacks, sauces, beverages, baking needs, beans, and condiments to personal care, kitchen items, and home aids.
The products will exclusively be available on the shelves of twelve (12) SM Supermarket and SM Hypermarket stores initially, which include:
- SM Supermarket Makati
- SM Supermarket Aura
- SM Supermarket Megamall A and Mega B
- SM Supermarket North EDSA
- SM Supermarket Southmall
- SM Supermarket Pampanga
- SM Supermarket Cebu
- SM Hypermarket Mall of Asia
- SM Hypermarket Pasig
- SM Hypermarket Clark
- SM Hypermarket North EDSA
2. Tesco Product Categories
The most affordable category is Tesco Everyday Value, which is equivalent to the SM Bonus product line.
Next, you have the mid-tier Tesco Quality products, which still offer good value for money.
Last is the Tesco Finest product line, offering high quality items at a still affordable price.
3. Favorite Food Products
Swiss Chocolates.
Digestive Biscuits.
Orange and Cranberry Juice.
Nice Biscuits.
Marzipan!
4. Tesco DIY Baking Products
London is known for its biscuits, scones, and other yummy baked goodies. Thanks to Tesco and SM, Pinoys can now bake these in the comfort of their own homes.
There are various chocolate brownie mixes…
…and other baking products like sponge mix, batter mix, or chocolate cake covering.
Check out the Tesco food wraps, ice cube bags, and food & freezer bags.
The Tesco products are grouped with other items of the same type. You can always ask the sales reps for assistance on where to find the specific Tesco goodies you need.
5. British Condiments
Tesco Finest Sweet & Tangy Balsamic Dipping Oil.
Tesco Walnut Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Tesco Finest’s Dijon Mustard.
Cardamom Pods and Cayenne Pepper.
6. Tesco Breakfast Items
Got some tips from Jenni and Andi on the breakfast items in their baskets.
Muesli and Organic Oat Flakes.
Honey Nut Corn Flakes.
Tesco Coco Snaps.
Tim Horton’s Hot Chocolate.
Tesco Finest Costa Rican Coffee.
But where’s the Bristish Tea? Here’s hoping they bring in the teas from London.
How about some Tesco Baked Beans in tomato sauce?
7. Tesco Household Products
At least we now have Tesco laundry product options like Oxy Power and Automatic Biological Washing Powder…
…Concentrated Fabric Conditioner…
…and Tesco Loves Baby Fabric Conditioner.
We’re not fans of the shampoo line since we use Human Nature at home, but the Tea Tree & Mint and Raspberry & Pomegranate variants look tempting.
Maybe we’ll try the Kids Raspberry Shampoo one of these days.
Should be interesting to try these Granite & Marble or the Stainless Steel Cleaners from the UK…
…or these Air Fresheners, Fabric Fresheners, or Ironing Water.
8. What we think about Tesco in Manila
Thanks to this partnership of two leaders in the Supermarket business, Pinoys can now avail of world-class Tesco products without flying all the way to London. Kudos to SM for continuing to provide more options for us consumers and enhance our shopping experience!
Check out the different Tesco food products like the digestives, muesli, and coffee. The baking options look interesting too and should be great for families who want easy baking mixes to try out at home.
We use natural shampoo and laundry products at home, but it may be worth taking a look at the Tesco options as well. I still prefer supporting locally made products from Human Nature or Messy Bessy though.
I’m not a fan of the Tesco Everyday Value product line since it’s like the SM Bonus line. But we’ll probably try the Tesco Finest products as those aren’t available anywhere else in Manila.
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Disclosure: We attended the launch of Tesco at SM Aura Supermarket, courtesy of The SM Group. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights. Read Our Awesome Planet Complete Disclosure Policy here.
P.S. Congratulations to SM, Tesco, and the British Embassy for this successful partnership!
Hi there! Just wanted to let you know that the images in your blog hosted on Flickr load veeeery slowly here in Manila. It often takes minutes to access them (not the blog itself, just the images), no matter which connection or device I am using. Would probably be better to use Amazon S3 or another service for this.
Nothing like seeing SM monopolizing the entire market! First they swallow up all the local chains like Waltermart, Cherry, bring in small groceries from countries like Indonesia, and now stuff from Britain! What next? Carrefour? Walmart?
Nothing wrong with that, right?
Favourites is spelled wrong.
Would be more credible if their tagline was spelled in British English.
yay!! Love it! loving it!!!….
couldn’t agree less if we still prefer buying locally made products…let’s support more our SMEs here in the Phils so more work to our fellow citizens.
thats great but when are they going to start selling in tarlac city branch
Dang. No Marmite or PG Tips!
There is a flip side to this story, TESCO UK is now selling Philippine products 🙂
As mentioned already, the fact that they’ve used the US spelling of ‘favourites’ leaves a fairly rancid taste in the mouth.
If you’re going to brag about British products, use British words.
Correct because English is British it’s our language that other countries choose to use .
The Costa Rican coffee looks interesting
It’s a shame we don’t have it in SM Baguio. Would be nice to have Tesco products in the North too.
I like the root beer and strong bow of tesco….
almost same prices here in UK…well done SM!!! bringing British goods with same prices!
I could think of better things to sell from the UK.
Forget tescos. The prices in these SM stores are 3 times more what we pay in England. We pay less money for the much higher quality branded items than than tesco is charging Filipinos for their budget items. Don’t assume because it’s British it’s of a high quality. The clue is in the name; tesco’s ‘value’ products. Support local Filipino business and avoid tescos.
Where is the CIDER??????
Favourite is the British English spelling, as opposed to the American English spelling “favorite”. So goes with words like colour and odour. Centre for center and mummy for mommy. Check the Oxford dictionary.
By the way, Tesco’s clothing line, F & F is already trading in Ayala Center Cebu.
Hurrrrraaaay…. cereal everywhere… tesco cereal is really good compare to available cereal here… its good that this basic tesco items is now available… this will bring good competition to the market…:)
being English myself and married to a Filipina… whether its Tesco value or not. I feel the prices are still not helping those who can not afford to pay the ridiculous English value as you call it…
were talking about a country who gives there best.. u give them so called value at English prices come on…lower your prices…give the less fotunate a chance to taste English value…
Those price are way too much than here in UK all tesco labelled products here are way cheaper. Don’t get fool by thinking of they’re from UK. Tangkilikin pa din ang sariling atin mas makakamura pa.
Waitrose at Rustan’s and now Tesco at SM. Good to see some variety on the shelves, but it would be so much better if they introduced new product types rather than having yet another brand of shampoo or fabric conditioner, especially when local brands are perfectly adequate. Check out Marks & Spencer instead – a more interesting selection and very good prices on some items, especially baked beans and tea.
You can’t beat the muesli and tea from Tesco. Cheaper than inferior imported items elsewhere in Manila. Landers for example
Hello just wondering tesco sale Aptamil milk ?
hi SM I LIVE IN CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 2 K FROM SM BUT THEY DONT HAVE TESCO PRODUCTS BUT THEY ARE ADVERTISING THEM? SO ILL HAVE TO SHOP AT RUSTING AT AYALA WHERE THEY SELL WHAITROSE PRODUCTS FROM UK THEY ARE THE NUMBER 1 SHOP IN UK AND MARKS AND SPENCER LOVE SHOPING AT SM XXX
Tesco is NOT the leading British Supermarket, they were maybe 20 years ago, and their partnerships in Asia (Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, etc) is part of their corporate restructuring which started in 2013 and has not been successful. They have pulled out of the United States, and in April 2015 they reported a 6.5 Billion pound loss, in fact as of August 2015 they announced that they will be cutting some services primarily overseas, and in Thailand (one of their largest Asian operations/partnerships) they have announced that they will not be expanding and that they will have to re-negotiate the agreement with Charoen Pokphand the operators/partners of “Tesco Lotus (Tesco Thailand”(Tesco UK owns shares in Charoen Pokphand). Tesco Lotus started just like Tesco SM with “affordable British Products” but overtime and with Tesco’s financial problems and push to maximize profits only 4% of “Tesco” products are actually British the rest of the so called “Tesco” products in Thailand are sourced domestically and are just stamped Tesco and actually cost more than other local brands”
What they sell in Tesco SM is TESCO OWN BRAND which is the cheapest budget version of products, not quality products infact the manufacturers/source of these goods are the same companies that supply to Pound stores like Poundland and bargain supermarkets like Bargain Buys.
They cost more if not double or triple in the Philippines.. e.g. Tesco own brand Coffee they sell it here for Php 300+ when in the UK they only cost 2 Pounds or 144 pesos. another example? The Tea Tree and Mint Shampoo costs 109 pesos when it is sold for 80 pence in the UK or 57 pesos!, the Baby Love fabric conditioner costs 209 Pesos here and in the UK it’s only 2 pounds or 144 pesos…… so IT IS NOT ALMOST THE SAME PRICE!!!!!!
Actually British Expats in Thailand (expats living in thailand) will not buy from Tesco Lotus, most of them will either shop at Carrefour or Big C for authentic European and British products at a lower cost than the locally sourced Tesco products. Carrefour is a French Multinational supermarket and shopping company.
Tesco own brand quality is as cheap as bargain buys. Cheap tasteless.
if they are going to sell TESCO OWN BRAND then they should sell it at the bargain end price as they do in the UK.
Tesco own brand items are NOT quality products in fact their source/manufacturers also produce goods for Pound shops and Bargain supermarkets.
at the Union Jack Tavern Grocery in Festival Supermall 🙂
same prices? they cost more if not double or triple in the Philippines.. e.g. Tesco own brand Coffee they sell it here for Php 300+ when in the UK they only cost 2 Pounds or 144 pesos. another example? The Tea Tree and Mint Shampoo costs 109 pesos when it is sold for 80 pence in the UK or 57 pesos!, the Baby Love fabric conditioner costs 209 Pesos here and in the UK it’s only 2 pounds or 144 pesos…… so IT IS NOT ALMOST THE SAME PRICE!!!!!!
Yes, Tesco send their worse lines and charge prices well over what you pay in UK, typical Tesco. I had hoped when I read about this we would finally see some quality ready meals hit the shelves but no more of what we already have locally but at twice the price, only the locals with more money than sense will buy these items for a short time.
You do know that Tesco is only acting as a wholesaler and it’s SM setting the prices and selling items don’t you?
Waitrose do this with Rustans and they are over inflated. When I lived in Dubai Tesco and Waitrose products were sold by other companies.
Everything imported in the Philippines is always double the price they are scammed by high import duty and greedy store owners.
i saw 700 pesos for english cheese in cebu, cant remember the supermarket name, but was not sm, was another mall in talisay cebu, as i said , this is what food costs in phils, and it is so sad.
these prices are expensive to british people, cause we know the prices in uk, but this is sad to say, the prices in phillpinnes, nothing to do with tesco brands, this is the price of food in phils, been cebu , been pampanga, and dasmarinas, and this is the price you pay, extortionate, filipinos are well scammed , like rest of world are, when it comes to food, as i said in earlier post.
They cost more if not double or triple in the Philippines.. e.g. Tesco own brand Coffee they sell it here for Php 300+ when in the UK they only cost 2 Pounds or 144 pesos. another example? The Tea Tree and Mint Shampoo costs 109 pesos when it is sold for 80 pence in the UK or 57 pesos!, the Baby Love fabric conditioner costs 209 Pesos here and in the UK it’s only 2 pounds or 144 pesos……
Dear SM, I tried your tesco coffee (finest costa rican)… Never again.
Anybody know which sm supermarket sells the Tim Hortons coffee? I was in Aura and its not there ?
i totally agree, but you have to remember sm are expensive and so is phillipinnes, compared to english prices. i was spending 1000 pesos a day in sm, when there, i spent more in 30 days in sm, then i would spend in 6 months on food uk, filipinos are well scammed when it comes to price of food, but so are americans and germans, no where in world can you buy food like we buy in uk, at uk prices, this is the cost of food, rest of world, tesco prices are not expensive, this is cost of food in phillipinnes
yes probably 5 times the price of what filipinos pay hehehehe, what do you class as filipino food , sold in tesco uk
filipino prices are crazy, one pound , for what we pay 20p for or 65 pesos for what we pay 13 pesos for, filipino dont buy tesco brands, you are being well scammed and tesco food is tasteless and i , would not even feed it my dog. tesco are failing and not the leading supermarket, they have let the british down big time, as someone else said they had a major crash a few years ago, now under investigation.
filipinos workin g in sm, are paid like 46 pound a month too, no way they could pay these prices for crap. or like 3000 pesos maybe a little more, my ex girlfriend work there, and i cant remember how much she was paid now, but was not even what a person in uk gets paid daily .
i was in cebu easter 2015 and they wanted 700 pesos for english cheese, for what we pay like 180 pesos for, i bought , just to impress , the girlfriends familiy and locked it away lol, and rationed it, hehehehe.
in hereford , in the naafi.
what drugs you smoking, the prices are 3 – 6 times, what we pay in england
spaghetti sm 75 pesos , uk 13 pesos, how is that almost same price?
bottle water 2 litre uk, is 11 pesos, how much in phils?
they use american english in phils, not english
i was in my opticians over day in england, and shouted the receptionist and said” am i in america now not england, she said why , i said cause your using darn american spell checker not english”
the above picture, say’s it all really.
Unless the store is part of a vertical setup like Aldi, they don’t control prices – their partner, SM a local business, in this case, usually would have that power. My guess is that global supply conglomerates like Nestle control prices via what would be banned in the West as ‘anti-competitive trade practices’. SM used to sell cheap conflakes – ‘Magictime’ if I remember correctly – only 100 p for 500gm but it’s disappeared from the SM stores. Why???? It’s great that tesco in offering products that are almost impossible for ex-pats to find. Please restock Tesco ‘bran flakes’ ASAP as that’s about 1/3rd the price of local filipino health shop ‘bran’ and on par with the price of Australian bran.
Please bring in the flavored sparkling water
Why all the whinging about spelling and as for the pries well that’s simple if you think its expensive don’t buy it, as for me i will get some things now and then its just good that there is a choice and like all choices you have the option to choose or not.
Hi, would like to ask where can I send my complaint on a Tesco product bought at SM Philippines? I checked online but only found the website of Tesco in the UK. Cannot send my feedback there as it requires me to register including a UK mobile and zip code. Appreciate any help on how to reach them. Thanks.