Premium + Plant Based – Tesco’s vision of the future

Tesco is planning a tenfold increase in plant based ready meals under a new own brand Plant Chef as part of a range of thought-provoking plans to inject growth in the coming years.  Vegan friendly meals have been a big success to date (the Wicked Kitchen range) and Tesco is betting on growing popularity of these items.

The retailer is also considering piloting convenience stores which would focus exclusively on its Finest premium own label ranges – potentially competing head on with the likes of M&S Simply Food and Little Waitrose.

While convenience and discounting are both continuing to grow strongly in the UK market (especially the latter), the future seems less clear for its recently launched Jack’s discount fascia.  Nine stores have been opened since launch in September 2018 but no announcement of future expansion has been made by the company, and the suggestions by some that Tesco could be preparing to take on Aldi and Lidl directly seem wide of the mark.