In the 90s, if you were to reach into your lunchbox and pull out a blue and white packet of Tesco Value crisps, you’d cringe and wish your mum had bought literally anything else instead.

Back then, we didn’t know how good we had it when it came to the retailer’s budget range, but amid today’s cost-of-living crisis, those crisps would be a sight for sore eyes.

If you’ve been missing Tesco Value, which was axed in 2012, we’ve got some good news – the iconic blue-and-white striped Value logo is making a major comeback.

But before you get too excited, the crisps and all the other Value products aren’t returning too. Instead, Tesco is reclaiming the Value label in a bid to rival discounters Aldi and Lidl, and it will use the blue and white stripe imagery as part of its Low Everyday Prices campaign.

The campaign has been running since 2020, but this new stage of it will see the return of the retro stripes on all the marketing, but with a modern twist.

Tesco says they’re being used to ‘symbolise value’ and ‘highlight the low prices available on leading branded products’.

As part of this, customers will soon notice a major drop across 3,000 branded product prices, with some now starting from as little as 60p.

Weetabix, Fairy Original washing-up liquid, Heinz baked beans, and PG Tips teabags are all being reduced to ‘consistently low’ prices.

This will start at 60p for a 150g pot of Heinz beans, 90p for a 320ml bottle of Fairy Original, £2 for a 12-pack of Weetabix, and £3.30 for 250g of Lurpak Slightly Salted Spreadable.

These prices are in addition to Clubcard prices and the supermarket’s existing Aldi Price Match range, which features more than 650 items.

Tesco UK chief executive Ashwin Prasad said: ‘Our most-loved brands don’t just have a place in our shopping baskets – they hold a genuine place in the nation’s heart. That’s why we’re committed to keeping prices consistently low on thousands of branded products through our new Everyday Low Prices.

‘So, whether you can’t live without Heinz baked beans, PG Tips teabags or Fairy washing up liquid, customers can be sure that they are getting consistent great Tesco value on the branded items they love to put in their trolleys week after week.’

What happened to Tesco Value?

The Tesco Value range first launched in 1993 amid a recession, but was discontinued in 2012 after shoppers started swerving the ‘basic’ packaging. 

It was then rebranded as Tesco Everyday Value, and the cheaper own-brand items were given a new look with more colour and a different font.

At the time, a spokesperson for Tesco said the range would: ‘Taste better, look better and [be] healthier’.

But Everyday Value hasn’t lasted either and was phased out gradually from 2018 onwards, replaced by several new own-brand lines such as Stockwell & Co. and Hearty Food Co.

It’s been 14 years since Tesco last used the little blue and white Value stripes, and in that time, they’ve had a significant rebrand in the mind of the public.

What was once considered ‘embarrassing’ and ‘basic’, has since become a cheeky emblem of British hun culture, now featuring on everything from T-shirts to tote bags and mugs. We can’t get enough of the nostalgia. 

Tesco even got in on the joke, having previously sold Tesco Value sweatshirts and an own-brand version of an Oodie.

On social media, there’s still plenty of chatter about the range as people love to fondly reminisce about the ‘insane’ prices they wish we could still take advantage of today.

‘Take me back to when you could get Tesco shower gel for 10 f***ing pence,’ proclaimed Nick Perren on TikTok. They also showed off tins of curry sauce for just 4p in their video, as well as a six-pack of sugar-free cola for 78p and 37p for a loaf of white bread.

Others have recalled that Tesco Value clothes used to be available, with jeans for just £3, plus other essentials like microwaves, washing powder and keyboards all for bargain prices.

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