Food
Protecting the magic and modernising the rest
M&S Food sells sustainably sourced products of exceptional quality and value. Over the past two years, we’ve been reshaping our Food business to broaden its appeal. Our strategy has been to protect the magic of M&S – fantastic quality, high levels of innovation and close relationships with our suppliers – while modernising our supply chains and the way we sell to our customers.
We’re modernising our Food business by:
Doubling down on innovation
Product expertise and close connections with our suppliers drive high levels of innovation within the Food business. Over the past year, we created over 1,900 new lines to ensure we’re always relevant to customers in areas ranging from healthy eating to options for all of the family.
We’ve also launched a Food Innovation Hub, a dedicated team concentrating on new trends, cutting-edge consumer insight and the latest technologies. The Hub will also develop new sustainability solutions, including reducing plastic packaging and soya-alternative proteins for plant-based foods.
Making our stores bigger and better
Our Food Renewal stores are larger, more inspirational stores which showcase our fantastic Food offer. Renewal stores combine the efficiency of a supermarket with the experience of a fresh food market, and we now have over 20 stores in this format. These stores allow customers to see the full breadth of our fantastic fresh offer and have an increased focus on ambient, grocery and frozen.
Offering the full M&S product range on Ocado
M&S launched a transformational partnership with Ocado in September 2020, allowing consumers to have their favourite M&S products delivered as part of their weekly shop. The partnership marked the first time the entire M&S Food range has been available to buy online, bringing together M&S’s high quality, great value food with Ocado’s best-in-class online delivery experience.
The Ocado Retail Partnership performed strongly in 2020. Higher than normal basket sizes and reduced marketing costs delivered a strong improvement in profitability. Customer response has been positive and M&S ranges consistently account for over 25% of the average Ocado basket, and around half of Ocado’s fresh category sales.
Giving our customers unbeatable value everyday
M&S Food should always deliver great value. We’ve continued to expand our Remarksable Value range, giving customers everyday essentials for their fridge, freezer, and cupboards for a great price. The Remarksable range now includes over 340 products, including sliced bread with added fibre and vitamin D for 65p. Value perception of M&S Food is now at its strongest level for three years.
