The founder of European low-cost airline EasyJet, has expanded his horizons to open a discount food store, where U.K. customers can now buy everyday food products for a maximum of 25 pence (36 cents).
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has launched pilot "easyFoodstore" in North West London, where Londoners can buy a whole range of groceries including coffee, tomato soup, spaghetti hoops, cakes and pizza for the whole of February, for just 25p. Fresh meats and fruit have yet to be included.
News surrounding Haji-Ioannou's efforts to provide an affordable food service has dated back to 2013, when he said he believed there was a "gap in the food retail market — a niche below some of the current budget operators such as Aldi and Lidl."
Back in 2013, Haji-Ioannou said he was hoping to be able to offer affordable food, with basic "no-brand-name" packaging at "bargain prices."
While details of pricing following February have yet to be revealed in full, the easyFoodstore slogan — "No expensive brands. Just food honestly priced" — highlights the company's overall brand: to provide affordable products to the public.
"This is another way the easy brand can serve the less well-off," said EasyJet's founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou in a statement.
The billionaire founder launched EasyJet back in 1995, and has since grown the easyGroup brand into several sectors including transport, accommodation and more recently food, including brand "EasyPizza."
Haji-Ioannou's latest offering could — if the shop brand expands elsewhere in the U.K. — add additional pressure to the U.K.'s top four retailers: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Wal-Mart owned Asda.
The "Big Four" retailers are already looking at ways to tackle the increasing competition and convenience from online shopping, and cheaper overseas retailers, such as Germany's Lidl and Aldi, which have entered the U.K.'s retail space.