The largest single purchaser of Irish food and drink, Tesco plc, is set to close its fresh food counters across the UK as it steps up its response to discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.

The supermarket said that around 90 stores in the UK will close their counters, with the remaining 700 trading with either a full or flexible counter. There will be no change to Irish stores.

Less time

Tesco said that customers are shopping differently, having less time, which means they are using fresh food counters less frequently.

This is another move by Tesco to cut costs in a bid to win back customers from discounters and online.

Some 13,000 Irish farms supply Tesco in both Ireland and the UK.

Bakeries

The group said it does not plan to make any significant changes to its in store bakeries this year.

Shares in Tesco closed at £2.21 on Tuesday 19% above the 52 week low of £1.87 set on 28 December 2018.