Brawls broke out in a chain of French supermarkets as shoppers fought over cut-price tubs of Nutella chocolate spread.

The Intermarche supermarket chain on Thursday cut the price of a 950g jar of Nutella, so popular in France that it is often served in bars and cafes, to 1.41 euros from the usual 4.7 euros.

But shops were confronted with outbursts of violence between customers fighting to get their hands on the product.

"They are like animals. One woman had her hair pulled. An elderly lady took a box on her head. Another had a bloody hand," one customer told the newspaper Le Progres.

The Ferrero company, Nutella's producer, distanced itself from the sticky situation. The decision was entirely one made by Intermarche and Ferrero regretted it, a company statement said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.