Tesco is to ramp up its price cuts this week targeting the upmarket grocers with heavy discounts on its Finest range.

The supermarket said it will run offers on 200 new Finest products between now and Christmas including panettones, cranachan cheesecakes and strawberry and champagne pannacottas. Other offers are king prawns at 50% off for £2.50 and half price lobster thermidore at £10.

The move will attempt to stem the flow of shoppers to more upmarket grocers as they treat themselves at Christmas.

Richard Brasher, Tesco commercial director, told the Sunday Times: “We know that, despite the credit crunch, shoppers are trading up for Christmas.

“We also know that in the past some shoppers may have felt tempted to go elsewhere for their luxury food. This Christmas we think they will be in for a great surprise when they see what’s on offer.”

Separately, Tesco has indicated that it plans to launch a version of its Clubcard shopper loyalty programme for customers at its Fresh & Easy chain in the US, according to the Financial Times.

The grocer, which updates on its third quarter trading tomorrow, has set out Fresh & Easy as a hard discount format. Head of the US operation, Tim Mason, played a key role in the introduction of Clubcard in the UK earlier in the decade when he was marketing director.