Homeplus, the Korean unit of the British retail giant Tesco, on Wednesday said it would cut prices by up to 30 percent on 2,450 items sold at its outlets.

The supermarket chain will also support its suppliers’ advance into the Chinese market and other Tesco stores around the globe, said company CEO Do Sung-hwan.

“Homeplus will shoulder the reduced margin estimated at around 40 billion won ($36.5 million), and our suppliers will only benefit from the increase in profit created through growth in demand,” Do said. He said the measure would eventually boost sales by 30 percent for 220 suppliers.

Homeplus slashed the prices of 500 nonprocessed foods in March, which resulted in a 22 percent boost in monthly sales.

In March, Homeplus joined hands with China Resources Vanguard, the largest retailer in China, and arranged for 48 suppliers to sell 150 types of items worth $1 million to Chinese supermarkets by June. The Korean company hopes to boost the figure to 55 companies selling 250 items by the end of the year. Homeplus is also planning to hold Korean food promotions at Tesco affiliates in 12 countries including Hungary, Czech, Poland and Thailand.

The moves came after the U.K.-headquartered supermarket suffered turmoil last year when some of its staff were found to have rigged lucky-draw events and sold customers’ personal information.

The supermarket chain is also under investigation by the Fair Trade Commission on allegations that it forced its suppliers to pay for various promotions designed by Homeplus.

“We hope this will help us regain customers’ trust, leading to better sales for our suppliers,” Do said. “I want to prove to our investors and Tesco that we are right in taking this plan.”

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)