Colgate products disappear from sale at Tesco

The UK's biggest toothpaste brand has begun disappearing from the shelves at the UK's biggest supermarket - but it's unclear exactly why.

Tesco said in a brief statement Colgate products were in short supply, adding it was well stocked with other brands.

Analysts speculated it could be due to a row over pricing rather than supply disruption caused by driver shortages.

The US consumer products giant Colgate-Palmolive has been asked by email for comment.

The Grocer magazine, which first reported shortages, said many products started becoming unavailable about two weeks ago online and in stores. It also said some products from the sister brand Palmolive were in short supply.

Tesco said in a statement: "We hope to have a full range of Colgate products available for customers again soon. In the meantime, we continue to have strong availability across all the other Oralcare products in our range."

The supermarket declined to explain the reason for the shortages, but appeared to admit in a tweet that products were being taken off the shelves.

A Tesco customer who complained about shortages received a tweet from the customer relations team telling her that the products "were removed due to a supplier issue".

Retail analyst Steve Dresser said the most likely cause of the shortages of some of Britain's most popular brands was a dispute between Colgate and Tesco over pricing.

Tesco price-matches Asda and Sainsbury's, but also discounter Aldi. Mr Dresser said in a tweet that it was likely to be a "furore" over price-matching, where a supermarket monitors rivals' prices and cuts its own to match them.

The news comes amid attempts by supermarkets to keep a lid on prices as inflation soars and customers are squeezed by the rising cost of living.

In an interview on the BBC's Sunday Morning show, Tesco chairman spoke of the challenges, mentioning the supermarket's price-matching with Aldi as part of its strategy to keep prices down.

Last year Tesco was in a dispute with Marmite-maker Unilever over the price of products. The consumer goods giant wanted price increases and halted deliveries. The row was resolved, although the details were not disclosed.

Colgate has yet to respond to a request for comment. Aldi has also been asked for comment, although there is no indication it is part of the Tesco-Colgate row.