So, Tesco Value, the iconic economy private-label launched in 1993, will soon be no more.

So, Tesco Value, the iconic economy private-label launched in 1993, will soon be no more.

After almost two decades as a key feature of Tesco’s shelves, the brand will be phased out and replaced by the soft colourings and 1950s-style graphics of the Everyday Value range.

You can see the logic behind the move. Tesco’s argument was that the Value brand was out of date and related to a time when value primarily equated to ‘inexpensive’.

Its low price protected Tesco shoppers from slipping away to lower-priced rivals such as Kwik Save or Aldi. It was also a key factor in helping Tesco to increase market share and become the UK’s leading grocer in the 1990s.

The recent economic crisis resulted in many shoppers resetting their value expectations. The creeping popularity of hard discounters such as Aldi has led consumers to discover private labels which are cheap, but not nasty. Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and even Waitrose have all invested in relaunching their economy private-label tiers as a result.

While shoppers’ expectations of what an economy private label actually is have evolved considerably, Tesco Value seemed stuck in a bygone age. For many, the brand simply represented cheapness and not much else.

But I will miss the Tesco Value brand. Maybe it’s me being nostalgic, but that plain white background with simple blue bars is instantly recognisable.

Whatever you thought of it, everybody knew what it was and what it stood for. It stood out from the shelves as a beacon of pure white and blue. Will Everyday Value have the same impact?

The big challenge for Tesco in removing such an iconic brand is making sure that those shoppers loyal to the Value brand know what has replaced it.

The more upmarket look of the Everyday Value packaging means it could get lost among the Tesco private-labels that have proliferated in recent years.

Faced by confusion and the unavailability of a brand they have been loyal to for years, could some shoppers instead migrate to rivals in search of a true Value replacement?