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Tesco shoppers are furious over ‘utterly useless’ change to kitchen staple they vow ‘never to buy again’
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FRUSTRATED shoppers have slammed Tesco's latest innovation - "tubeless" kitchen foil - amid claims it is "impossible" to unroll.
The retail giant launched the product earlier this year in a bid to save 12.5million cardboard rolls - equal to 330 tonnes - from being produced every year.
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It was developed thanks to a new state-of-the-art rolling machine used to package the product without the cardboard in the centre.
But customers have been less than impressed when struggling to unroll the foil and claim it now easily tears in the wrong places, leading to dozens of disgruntled reviews on the Tesco website since March.
One of the comments said: "Thought someone had removed the inner cardboard roll for a joke but it seems this is a new cutback.
"How absolutely stupid!
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"Without an inner roll for the foil to go around it simply gets squashed in the box making it impossible to unravel.
"What a waste of money. Do not buy!"
Another said: "Utterly useless now since the removal of the inner cardboard roll.
"I've always bought this foil in my shop but now going elsewhere for it.
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"If you buy this, you end up wasting half of the foil, as without the tube to protect it, by the time you're halfway through, it just tears."
A third added: "Without a cardboard tube in the middle this foil is absolutely useless.
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"Stored in a drawer, the box of mine got slightly squashed. I had to throw it out, as it was impossible to get any useable lengths from it, the slightest deformation and it just tears.
"I'll be buying foil elsewhere from now on."
And a fourth moaned: "Why remove the cardboard tube? It’s fine when there is plenty of foil but when you get to the end the foil crumples up and it’s impossible to unroll it so you can't use it.
"So you end up wasting half of it.
"We're not buying this again till it has a tube."
A fifth pointed out: "Two or three turns now and the whole cylinder implodes as the strength goes out of it.
"Then you can only peel off useless silver ribbons before the whole thing ends up in the bin.
"I also noticed the reduction in packaging didn't stop the price staying the same."
Others pointed out the cardboard tube was recyclable anyway - and questioned the need for change.
Tesco said it was always looking to provide the best products for customers and appreciated their feedback.
What can I get with Tesco Clubcard?
TESCO'S Clubcard scheme allows shoppers to earn points as they shop.
These points can then be turned into vouchers for money off food at the supermarket, or discounts at other places like restaurants and days out.
Each time you spend £1 in-store and online, you get one point when you scan your Clubcard.
Drivers using the loyalty card get one point for every two litres spent on fuel.
One point equals 1p, so 150 points gets you a £1.50 money-off voucher, for example.
You can double their worth when you swap them for discounts with "reward partners".
For example, £12 worth of vouchers can be swapped for a £24 three-month subscription to Disney+.
Or you can swap 50p worth of points for £1 to spend at Hungry Horse pubs.
Where you can spend them changes regularly, and you can check on the Tesco website what's available now.
Tesco shoppers can also get Clubcard prices when they have the loyalty card.
The discounted items change regularly and without a Clubcard you'll pay a higher price.
These Clubcard prices are usually labelled on shelves, along with the non-member price.
But it's worth noting that just because it's discounted doesn't necessarily make it the cheapest around, and you should compare prices to find the best deal.
You can sign up to get a Tesco Clubcard in store or online via the Tesco website.
The supermarket has redesigned various products in recent years with a view to cutting back on packaging.
Two years ago it launched toilet rolls with double the amount of paper on them, in a move that saves nearly 70 tonnes of plastic packaging each year.
This year it unveiled luxury soft toilet rolls and kitchen towels made from cardboard recycled from home delivery boxes, cardboard tubes from toilet rolls, and corrugated card waste.
The process uses less water and energy compared to paper made with traditional tree fibre.
Since 2020, Tesco has reduced packaging by over 4,500 tonnes.
Tesco isn't the only supermarket to make changes to packaging to help reduce waste.
But not all have been met with enthusiasm.
Sainsbury's shoppers slammed the move to vacuum-packed mince, saying it left the contents in a "revolting" state.
But since then other shops have followed including Asda, Co-op and Lidl.
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Coca-Cola has attached all caps to drinks bottles so that they can more easily be recycled together.
But the change, affecting Coke, Fanta, Sprite and Dr Pepper, has left many struggling with the lids.
How to bag a bargain
SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain...
Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with.
Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks.
Sales are when you can pick up a real steal.
Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on.
Sign up to mailing lists and you’ll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too.
When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use vouchercodes.co.uk and myvouchercodes.co.uk are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer.
Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. Trolley.co.uk app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping.
Bargain hunters can also use B&M’s scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out.
And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you’ll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.