Sainsbury’s expands to-go meal offerings with Kitchen Deli concept

U.K. grocery chain Sainsbury’s is rolling out a new premium to-go meal concept at 100 of its 1,400 stores.

The new Kitchen Deli concept includes sandwiches, salads, and ready-to-eat, heat-at-home meals.

“We are thrilled to introduce customers to Kitchen Deli, our new specialty selection of ready-prepared food that will add to and complement our existing range of own brand ready-meals and food on the go,” Sainsbury’s Fresh Food Director Richard Crampton told The Grocer.

The 13 products in the range include a tuna niçoise salad priced Japanese style teriyaki chicken and rice, and a chicken, pesto, and avocado wrap. Its salads are priced at GBP 5.50 (USD 7.00, EUR 6.37), its sandwiches are GBP 4.75 (USD 6.04, EUR 5.50), and its ready-to-heat meals are at GBP 6.50 (USD 8.27, EUR 7.53).

Sainsbury’s said it plans to expand the menu and the locations where it is available by the end of 2023.

“We’re passionate about making inspiring, tasty food the focal point of how we show up for our customers, and Kitchen Deli will give them a new and convenient way to sample the best of what Sainsbury’s has to offer.,” Crampton said. “We’ll listen carefully to everyone’s feedback in the coming weeks and months as we work to build on and improve the new range.”

Sainsbury’s closed all its manned fish and deli counters in 2020, and in-store cafés in 200 of its stores in 2022.

It has also embarked upon a campaign to replace its plastic packaging with recyclable or compostable paper-based materials.

In its Q1 2024 results, released 24 June, 2023, Sainsbury’s said its grocery sales were up 11 percent by value year over year, with like-for-like sales up 9.8 percent. It announced it has become the first major U.K. supermarket to sell 100 percent Marine Stewardship Council-certified pole-and-line caught canned tuna across its Own Label brand, and has price-matched to Aldi.

Sainsbury’s hired David Parker, the former head of governmental relations for the Marine Stewardship Council,  to serve as the company’s aquaculture and fisheries manager in September 2022.

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