The UK’s supermarkets have fought over prices and pay for years. Now, they’re fighting over lunch.
Meal deals – once a simple single-filling sandwich, crisps and a drink – have become a new battleground as retailers, forecourts and even FMCG brands compete for a bigger bite of the food-to-go market.
From poke bowls to novelty sandwiches, and from Halal-certified wraps to breakfast bundles, the category is seeing more innovation than ever before.
And it’s a sector that continues to grow, with data from IGD forecasting that the UK food-to-go market is expected to see real growth (year-on-year sales value increase excluding inflation) of 2.5% this year, and to rise to £27bn by 2027 – over 26% higher than its pre-Covid levels.
We sat down with Asda food-to-go buying manager Amy Wotherspoon to discuss Asda’s new launch, while taking a wider look at how supermarket food-to-go offerings have evolved in recent months and which new players are heating up the competition.
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Earlier this month, Asda fired the latest shot, unveiling its first-ever fixed-price Meal Deal at £3.74. Available nationwide in supermarkets, Express stores and online, the deal offers a main, snack and drink from more than 132 mains, 336 snacks and 222 drinks, without the need for a loyalty card.
Wotherspoon says the timing of the launch was prompted by Asda’s new tech capabilities as its Future Project – its four-year £1bn IT upgrade, which was delayed by over six months – finally drew to a close.
“It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time, but we’ve never had the tech capability to be able to do it. We were obviously going through the Future Project and that’s kind of completed now, which has been able to align to the rest of the market.”
However, the new range doesn’t just “align to the rest of the market”, but instead places Asda apart from its rivals due to its shoppers not needing a membership card to access low Meal Deal prices.
“We saw that many other supermarkets were relying on membership or loyalty apps to unlock value,” says Wotherspoon.
Asda has debuted its first Meal Deal range, priced at £3.74
“At Asda, we believe great value should be available to everyone, with no app or membership required. And with a big range of products to choose from, there’s something for everyone.”
The new range replaces Asda’s three-for-two deal and, according to the retailer, undercuts rivals such as Tesco (which recently raised its prices to £4.25 without a Clubcard) and Sainsbury’s (£3.95). Even Morrisons, which pitches its loyalty offer at £3.60, charges £4 for non-members.
Asda’s new launch also contains branded items, such as the supermarket chain offering Yo Sushi in its meal deal for less than its competitors.
“I think brands play a huge part in the disruption in the food-to-go fixture”, says Wotherspoon. “There’s a space for that. We currently already have Yo Sushi in our meal deal, which is in premium meal deals at a premium price point across all the other retailers.
“We are the only retailer at the moment that stocks Yo Sushi in core price meal deal. So it’s cheaper here, than everywhere else.”
Pricing was central to the launch of the new Meal Deal range, says Wotherspoon. “We knew we had to undercut the rest of the market.”
“We wanted our customers to have great value, great quality and great price. So that’s what we really focused on.”
Beyond the Sandwich
The definition of a meal deal is broadening fast. While supermarket staples still sell strongly – Wotherspoon says Asda’s cheese & onion sandwich shifts more than 50,000 units a week – shoppers increasingly expect more adventurous offers.
Novelty lines, such as strawberries & cream or “birthday cake” sandwiches, have grabbed headlines this summer, but bowls of sushi, burritos and globally inspired wraps are also growing in chiller space.
Alongside the supermarket offers, food-to-go operators are also innovating. Earlier this month, Greggs launched its £5 meal deal, and Food-to-go giant Pret a Manger is even trialling its own meal deals across around 70 stores, offering a breakfast bundle (coffee + pastry for about £5) and a lunch deal (sandwich, crisps and a drink for £6–£7). For a chain long resistant to bundling, the move underscores how important this space has become.
Meanwhile, earlier this year FMCG Heinz debuted into retail grab-and-go with its Heinz Brekkie range, launching in more than 80 WHSmith locations (a retailer that debuted its first own-brand food-to-go months before). The line-up includes wraps and subs built around its signature sauces, all evidence of FMCG brands pushing directly into territory supermarkets once dominated.
M&S’ ‘strawberry and cream’ sandwich went viral this summer, prompting fellow retailers to launch their own variants – both genuine and tongue in cheek. Aldi social media.
At the same time, forecourt operators such as bp are sharpening their offers, hoping to win a share of the commuter and traveller spend.
Elsewhere, one of the quieter shifts in food-to-go has been the rise of more inclusive options.
Co-op Wholesale this year introduced a Halal-certified range via Express Cuisine, featuring items like chapli kebab wraps, chicken tikka sandwiches and falafel wraps. All are certified by both the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) and the Halal Food Authority (HFA).
Asda says inclusivity was a factor in designing its new deal too. “We’ve worked hard to make sure there’s something for everyone,” Wotherspoon explains. “We focused on world flavours, bringing in some summer profiles.
“For example, Korean barbecue, Greek chicken wrap and a lot of limited edition seasonality. It’s had a really strong performance. And of course, we made sure all options were HFSS compliant ahead of the new rules.”
A new kind of supermarket war
For years, the supermarket “wars” were about price: who could knock pennies off of the weekly basket shop. In recent months, competition has also heated up between the grocers over employee pay, with every retailer attempting to outdo the other. However, today, its appears meal deals are the new frontline.
With inflation still squeezing margins, retailers face a delicate balancing act: stay competitive on price, but also deliver variety of options and flavours to keep shoppers coming back.
This balancing act has already seen the category split into two tiers; on one hand, low-cost deals fighting for value, and on the other, premium bundles targeting shoppers willing to spend more for sushi, poke bowls or plant-based innovations.
We are determined to be the very best on price and the very best on quality
Looking ahead, Asda predicts it will sell more than 700,000 meal deals in its first week alone, suggesting demand for accessible value is strong.
But with Pret, Heinz and Co-op muscling in, and with forecourts and supermarkets all upping their game, competition is only set to intensify.
For Wotherspoon, that’s no bad thing. “It does not impact us what other retailers are doing. We are just determined to be the very best on price and the very best on quality. That’s what this new meal deal is about,” she says.
However, she acknowledges: “Different retailers obviously have different strengths. So I think we don’t really focus on the competition that much in some respects. We just think it [the new range] should be available for all people, without the need for a loyalty card.”
The launch of Asda’s £3.74 Meal Deal shows that both value and variety are now central to the supermarket food-to-go battle, spurred on by shoppers having more options than ever to choose where they grab their lunch.
With traditional rivals adjusting their offers, FMCGs testing grab-and-go formats, and new premium and dietary options appearing, Asda’s new Meal Deal range debuts in the midst of a new era of innovation at lunchtime.
