Sainsbury’s has made a major change to its meal deal – and shoppers can now choose a low alcohol or 0% beer for their drink option.
Some of the drinks you can choose as part of your supermarket meal deal include Lucky Saint Unfiltered Lager 0.5% and Corona Cero. It comes after sales of alcohol-free beers rose by 15% to £320million last year. Sainsbury’s popular lunchtime meal deal – which consists of a main, snack and drink – costs £3.75.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told The Sun: “We are committed to offering customers choice and have a wide variety of options within our meal deals. This includes two alcohol-free beers – Lucky Saint and Corona Cero. These are just two of over 300 drink options available in the meal deal offer, including hot drinks and freshly squeezed orange juice from the in-store juicer.”
It comes after announced plans to shut its 61 in-store cafes, claiming the majority of its shoppers don’t use its cafes regularly. Sainsbury’s will also close its remaining patisserie, hot food and pizza counters, and will axe head office jobs over the next few months, resulting in the loss of about 20% of its senior management roles.
In total, all these changes will result in more than 3,000 jobs being cut, which represents about 2% of the 148,000 people that currently work for Sainsbury’s. It comes after Sainsbury’s warned that tax increases from the October Budget would hit it with an extra £140million in costs, warning that the changes would also lead to higher prices for customers.
The rate of National Insurance paid by employers will rise from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025, while the earnings threshold for when employers start paying National Insurance will also be lowered from £9,100 per year to £5,000.At the same time, minimum wage will rise by 6.7%. For someone aged 21 and over, minimum wage will rise from £11.44 an hour to £12.21 an hour, while those aged 18 to 20 will see their rate rise from £8.60 an hour to £10 an hour. If you’re under 18 or you’re an apprentice, minimum wage is rising from £6.40 an hour to £7.55 an hour.
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