I love food. And, I have a confession. In most countries I’ve visited, I have gone to the supermarket – not necessarily to buy anything, but to see the differences in the foods that are relatively available to purchase as part of people’s every day lives. When I moved here to the UK, I found myself overwhelmed in the full size Sainsbury’s near my temporary housing in Notting Hill. The choice was about the same, if not a little less than in the States. Layout was pretty much the same as the Safeway or Metropolitan Market near my home in Seattle. But, there are some significant differences in the marketing here in the UK. I figured I would talk about the top five things I have noticed in the supermarket retailing here in London.
1. Many different types and sizes of stores – Mostly segmented by Tesco and Sainsbury’s, there are large, medium, small and mini sizes of stores, depending on the type of location – you see more of the ultra large stores outside of the city center of London, with a couple of exceptions – Tesco calls them Tesco Extra, which are similar to a Super Walmart or a Meijer, including clothes, cards, walls of booze and anything you possibly could want foodwise. The medium sized stores are usually just called Tesco – mostly a grocery store with a significant level of choice in other things like soap, health and beauty, and homewares. The small sized stores are usually neighborhood locations with a very small selection. And the mini-stores can be as small as 1000 sq. ft. with just the essentials to purchase – think of a local minimart with less of a focus on booze and more of a focus on food.
2. Segmentation by quality level – You can find any type of food retailer – from the extremely high end Harrod’s food halls (which are mostly there to show the opulence of the Qatari royal family former British Empire, to the everything is frozen Iceland.co.uk stores, you have every range. Marks and Spencer, John Lewis, Selfridges and Debenham’s – High Street Department stores all have food halls as well, but, nothing to the same level as Harrod’s. Within the next level down, there is Waitrose, which is affiliated with John Lewis, but definitely one level above most of the other competitors, both in quality, choice and price. The next level is a competition between Tesco and Sainsbury’s – proper middle class grocery stores that are in most middle class neighborhoods. Then there are the discount retailers where there is a ton of competition: Asda (owned by Walmart), Morrison’s, Aldi and Iceland. Lots of choice in a very small geography.
3. Ready to prepare meals – Yeah, yeah. That’s the stereotypical British meal – a TV dinner as it were. However….. The difference now is that there is a significant focus on the level of quality of those meals. Instead of having an aluminum foil tin filled with unseasoned sliced meat in gravy like you would see in the States, you will see Marks and Spencer’s Gastropub line with Boeuf Bourgignone made with organic, grass fed beef, with sides of a Gratin Dauphinois, and Petit Pois braised with Shallots. All of which are made fresh, not frozen and have to be sold within two days. Homemade soups, Fresh pasta, homemade egg noodles – even a significant amount of sliced vegetables for you to throw together a real Asian stirfry in minutes of getting your groceries home. Often you can get dinner for two and a bottle of wine and dessert for £10. You can’t really eat out for that, and most of the meals are actually really good. Not quite as good as home made, but definitely not anywhere close to Salisbury Steak by Banquet.
4. Grab and Go food – It’s actually unbelievable how much the local supermarket is so focused on grab and go sandwiches, hot food, or meal deals – so much so that Boots, the largest pharmacy has gotten in on this deal too. You can get sandwiches, salads, soups, sides and beverages in normal, non-gargantuan portions ready to eat and in a hurry. Most of these places have very high quality, with fresh portions made every day. There are also lots of cooked foods – fried prawns, chicken tikka cubes, dips – all without a deli counter. Makes it easy to keep things moving in such small spaces.
5. Fresh baked goods, produce and locally grown organic foods – Every grocery store (well, except Aldi and Iceland) have a significant selection or organic or non genetically modified foods that are locally sourced. The requirements for these designations here in the UK make the USDA rules look significantly weak in even the most casual observer’s eyes. There’s no High Fructose Corn Syrup, there’s not much in the way of additives and preservatives, even in breads, soups and prepared meals. They are proud of British Beef, British Chicken, Dover Sole, even Irish Lamb. Baked goods are brought in daily, sometimes even twice a day, with a daily shelf life. Butter is always European style, duh, but, not outrageously priced and definitely high quality. Dairy is highly regulated, too and even branded as from Guernsey or Jersey. It’s magic.
Overall, it’s still overwhelming to shop in some of these environments, because I still don’t have my favorite or regular brands. But, the adventurer in me gets excited about trying new things. Even if it is the difference between the Sainsbury’s Macaroni Cheese and the Waitrose Macaroni Cheese (Pick the Waitrose one, or the Sainsbury’s one and add a lot of black pepper if it is on sale). But, steer clear of any of the ready made lasagnae. Unless you like Bechamel sauce. Lots and lots of Bechamel sauce. (Blech)
American Expat in London 