One shopper said they found it ‘pretty insulting’ to see toothpaste charged at £23
The cost of a tube of toothpaste has soared to an eye-watering £23 in British supermarkets as outraged shoppers slam retailers for ‘profiteering’. Everyday toothpastes including Colgate and Oral-B now regularly command between £8 and £10.
Premium whitening varieties can set customers back as much as £23 for just a single 75ml tube. Oral-B Intensive Whitening was spotted on shelves at Tesco in Sheldon, Birmingham, carrying a £20 price tag, whilst the brand’s Express Whitening variant costs £10.
Adjacent on the same aisle, a 75ml tube of Colgate Max White Ultra bears a £9.50 sticker or £5 for Clubcard holders. Grocery inflation stands at 4.7 per cent this month – falling from the 5.2 per cent figure recorded by the British Retail Consortium in October.
Even with inflation slowing, prices continue to remain elevated, prompting customers to accuse major retailers of profiteering. Builder Paul Hunt, 40, said: “£20 is a bit excessive for toothpaste. To me they all do the same thing so why would you spend £20?”
“Most brands these days do a whitening toothpaste, so to me £20 is a rip off. I usually shop at Aldi but we do use Tesco’s occasionally – but not for toothpaste.”
Nurse Nina Devi branded the £20 Oral-B whitening toothpaste ‘extortionate’. Nina, 23, said: “If you look at the other brands, there’s probably the same ingredients for sensitive teeth that’s in there.
“You can get those toothpastes for about £3, I don’t know what’s special about this product that the value is £20. I’d pay maximum about £2.50 for toothpaste. I do tend to come here as some of the prices are good, I normally get my vegetables from here.”
Another woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It’s ridiculous, I’d rather pay £1.50 or £2 max. Unless this gives you a smile like Simon Cowell it’s not worth it. It just shows how greedy the companies making these products are.
“How can they justify charging £10 or £20 for toothpaste? It’s scandalous. Sadly some people must be buying it otherwise they would simply bring the price down.”
Caroline Hendon, 42, a support worker, said: “I’d probably only spend £5 on toothpaste, £20 is definite profiteering by the shops, it’s too much.
“Not many people have that kind of money now with the cost of living crisis and people losing their jobs. People haven’t got that kind of money to paying £20 on toothpaste. And things are going up and up, but there’s no concessions for the working class people. It’s not fair.”
It is not just supermarkets where dental care prices are eye-watering. A Boots store in London’s posh Farringdon district was flogging Colgate Max White Renewal for £22.
Meanwhile, at a Sainsbury’s branch in Forest Hill, south east London, shoppers faced a staggering £23 price tag for a 75ml tube of Colgate’s Max White Ultimate – which promises an ‘instant effect’. One disgruntled shopper vented: “The price of things is just crazy and shows just how big the gap is between the rich and the rest of us struggling to make ends meet.
“I find it pretty insulting to see toothpaste charged at £23. No wonder shoplifting is so rife, you need a second mortgage to afford a decent shop these days.”
Reddit users have been left gobsmacked by the soaring cost of toothpaste and whitening products. One user remarked: “Over the past several months I’ve noticed random changes to toothpaste prices. Some of them don’t even make sense.
“Three weeks ago this (Colgate Total) was £2 in ASDA. Two weeks ago it was £7.70 Today it’s about £5.”
Another user penned: “I’m fed up of these companies pretending their costs have increased massively when they are making hundreds of millions a year, putting prices up constantly to make more profit. When or how do we put our foot down and say no more? Personally I don’t see it happening but one can dream.”
One user offered some straight-talking advice to those worried about the price surge. They advised: “Toothpaste isn’t exactly a high-tech industry, it’s just fluoride with an abrasive, some detergent and flavourings. Cheaper brands are pretty much just as good. That’s how you put your foot down.”
Costs for whitening toothpaste work out marginally less expensive when purchased online. An Amazon double pack of Oral-B Pro 3D Intensive whitening is priced at £20.
Meanwhile, a 40ml tube of Colgate Max White Purple Serum is available for £10, whilst Dr Dent teeth whitening strips are £16 for a pack of 21. A Tesco spokesperson said: “We have a wide range of toothpastes available at Tesco, with prices starting at just 50p.”
A Boots spokesperson said: “At Boots, we offer a wide range of dental hygiene products, with prices starting from 50p and half of the dental range priced at £5 or under.
“We regularly run promotions on dental hygiene products, including advanced formulation lines such as the Colgate Max Ultimate Renewal Whitening Toothpaste and the Oral-B Pro 3D White Clinical Intensive Whitening Toothpaste.
Source: Mirror
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