TESCO bosses are considering making a major change to hundreds of stores and shoppers won’t be happy.
The major supermarket is said to be thinking about closing the remaining fresh food counters in 279 stores.
It comes as the chain earlier this year announced it would be closing 317 deli and hot food counters in a major shake-up.
But, according to The Sunday Times, the bosses are now considering shutting the remaining counters too.
The move is reportedly meant to take place in the new year.
Many of the counters are said to have had their opening hours scaled back over the last year due to a lack of interest from shoppers.
Tesco declined to comment.
The move could potentially put hundreds of jobs at risk.
Although, during the last round of cuts Tesco said no employees would face redundancy and would be found new jobs in stores.
As competition between major supermarkets like Tesco and Aldi increases, retailers are looking for ways to keep costs low.
Most recently, the supermarkets have been squabbling over prices, with a race to offer the cheapest fresh turkeys and festive vegetables.
Founded in 1919, Tesco now has more than 4,000 stores across the UK and Ireland and employs more than 360,000 people worldwide.
In January 2019, the supermarket giant said it would axe 15,000 jobs as part of a £1.5billion cost-saving plan.
Bakeries were overhauled, with pre-frozen dough used rather than dough freshly made on-site.
And there were also plans to shut down hundreds of fish, meat and deli counters in stores across the country.
Staff canteens were reported to be closed and replaced with vending machines.
Later that year, it emerged that 4,500 staff would be made redundant, largely affecting those employed in Tesco’s Metro stores.
And in February 2020, some 1,816 baker staff were at risk of redundancy as Tesco’s chief executive Jason Tarry warned that the retailer needed to adapt to changing customer demand.
The entire industry is facing difficulties at the moment due to soaring inflation leading to increase food prices.
The war in Ukraine has also led to food shortages across the country.
This has led to rationing rules being brought in for certain items.
