Morrisons makes key change to its freezer aisles that will impact prices for shoppers

Morrisons has said that significant cost savings will enable it to cut, hold or promote prices in convenience stores and supermarkets across the UK over the long term.

The retailer is among the first UK to take action in the -15°C move coalition, completing its first concrete step on August 1.

Ruth McDonald, Morrisons group corporate services director, said: “Industry standards today are based on safety, science and convenience.

“The standard temperature for the storage and transport of frozen food today looks like it is simply a convention from nearly 100 years ago.

“We now have vastly better freezers and modern technology and monitoring that gives us a precise picture of frozen food temperatures throughout the supply chain.

“We applaud the move to -15°C movement for their original thinking and willingness to challenge a long-accepted standard and in doing so, identify a significant opportunity for positive progress for both the environment and the food industry.

“So on behalf of our customers, our carbon commitments and the planet we are enthusiastically embracing the opportunity and putting together a concrete plan and timetable to increase the freezer temperatures across our stores and frozen supply chain by 3°C.

“As we execute our plan, we will be encouraging our suppliers and partners to do the same.”

Ms McDonald said that there would be no risk to food safety by increasing the temperature of freezers.

Thomas Eskesen, chairman of the Move to -15°C initiative, said: “We are delighted to welcome Morrisons to our Coalition, and we are excited that they are taking action.

“In order for us to be successful with making the change to -15°C, it is essential that we have representatives and support from every stage of the frozen food supply chain, so to have a large UK retailer like Morrisons on board is an important step forward for us.

“By raising the temperatures of its freezers in 10 of its stores across the UK, Morrisons is demonstrating that change is possible and we know that this seemingly small change can lead to a significant, positive, environmental impact.”

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It comes as the retailer announced it will be expanding its partnership with Just Eat, with more than 380 Morrisons stores now offering its services.

The supermarket aims to "deliver everyday items conveniently for every customer moment".

It continued: "Morrisons has expanded its partnership with Just Eat to include groceries from its supermarkets as well as deliveries from its cafés and Morrisons Daily convenience stores.

"The partnership was initially rolled out to Morrisons Cafés in 2022, followed by 60 Morrisons Daily convenience stores in December 2023, and today serves almost 700 Morrisons Dailys."