Tesco founder Jack Cohen was an advocate of stamps; he signed up in 1963, shortly after his competitor Fine Fare adopted S&H Pink Stamps, and Tesco became one of the company’s largest clients. But Cohen was a fan of "pile it high and sell it cheap", and in the mid-1970s Tesco faced cost problems associated with not integrating its stores. In 1977 Tesco launched "Operation Checkout", price-cutting aimed at countering the new discounters such as Kwik Save. A decision was made to abandon Green Shield stamps, saving £20m a year and helping to finance price reductions.