Online supermarket Ocado earlier this year revealed that Itsu and Pizza Express make up the majority of sales of its restaurant-branded ‘fakeaway’ products.
Between the two brands, they account for two-thirds of sales from all restaurant brands sold on the grocer’s website, with customer favourites including Pizza Express’s classic pizzas and doughballs and Itsu’s seaweed thins.
However, as customer demand rises for fakeaways, the two restaurants are no longer the only players in the game.
We caught up with restaurants such as Ottolenghi, Nando’s and Leon to find out their plans for supermarket success.
Ottolenghi
Grocery debut: April 2024
Grocery range: Pesto, sauces, marinades and spice mixes
Supermarket listings: Exclusively in Waitrose
Average price range: £3.95 to £5.00
Earlier this year, Ottolenghi burst onto the supermarket scene for the first time with its exclusive Waitrose launch in a bid to bring its products “to the masses”.
Prior to the Waitrose launch, the 20-year-old restaurant had only operated via its seven delis and restaurants in London.
Its new grocery line includes miso pesto, kalamata olive and harissa sauce, shawarma marinade and a variety of aromatic spice mixes, created by founder and chef Yotam Ottolenghi.
Maintaining the quality of its products was a priority.
A spokesperson for Ottolenghi told Grocery Gazette: “Talking to countless home cooks over the years helped inspire and inform the team to create a range of sauces, marinades and spices that delivered flavour, quality and convenience.
“The idea has been in the works for many years but it was only recently that it became possible to absolutely guarantee the quality of the ingredients in a longer shelf life format.”
“We don’t believe you should compromise on flavour or quality in order to make your products available at scale on supermarket shelves. The Ottolenghi team has experimented with various partners over the years to try and bring products to market that didn’t need to be packed with preservatives or stabilisers to ensure the shelf life required for a range at scale in supermarkets.
While still currently a small part of the wider Ottolenghi business which spans restaurants, catering and cookbooks, since its April launch, the brand says supermarket sales exceeding expectations and 97% up on forecasts.
Standout products include its Pomegranate, Rose & Preserved Lemon Harissa, Shawarma Marinade and Miso Pesto.
While the brand said it is “not in a rush” to expand its grocery product line as it focuses on its current range to “get it right”, it added the Waitrose partnership has shown there “is plenty of space and opportunity to bring the Ottolenghi way to home cooks”.
Nando’s
Grocery debut: 1999
Grocery range: sauces, marinades and dressings
Supermarket listings: All major supermarkets
Average price range: RRP £1.00 to £4.10
Launching as a UK restaurant in 1992, it wasn’t long before the South African chicken chain started selling bottles of Nando’s Pei-Peri sauce in Asda and Sainsbury’s under the name of Nando’s Grocery Company in 1999.
It later debuted a grocery range of marinades, dressings and cook-in sauces in 2004.
Nando’s head of marketing Abbie Hickman says the brand’s inspiration to enter the grocery sector stemmed from a desire to showcase its full range and encourage shoppers to incorporate Nando’s flavours into mealtimes.
Hickman added: “By entering the grocery sector, we wanted to showcase the versatility of our iconic Peri-Peri flavour, inspire our customers to flavour up mealtimes and bring that unique Nando’s feeling into people’s homes too.
“Grocery is an important part of the business where we are constantly testing and developing our product offering.”
Since 2004, Nando’s has expanded its grocery range even further, with the launch of its video on demand campaign, ‘Not Available at Nando’s’, last year that highlighted the versatility of the ‘recreate-at-home trend’ and how shoppers can use different products when cooking.
As for future growth for the grocery category, Hickman says that the restaurant intends to focus on its hero sauce products, however shes adds that fans can keep an eye out for NPD later this year.
Zizzi
Grocery debut: 2020
Grocery range: Pizza, pasta, sides and desserts
Supermarket listings: Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose
Average price range: RRP £3.75 to £4.20
Despite launching in the UK in 1999, it wasn’t until 2020 that Zizzi made its grocery debut with Sainsbury’s.
It has since rolled out to most leading supermarkets in the UK, and earlier this year ramped up its in-store marketing with Zizzi-branded frozen bays in Morrisons, alongside a new meal deal in 200 of the supermarket’s stores. This has resulted in the brand selling almost 1,000 pizzas a day
Zizzi retail and grocery director Rachel Hendry describes Zizzi’s entry into the grocery sector as a decision made in response to consumer behaviour.
“With the majority of consumers making changes to their spending patterns in recent times due to prevailing economic conditions – rising inflation, ‘cost of living crisis’ etc – one of the key shifts was the desire for many to replicate the eating out experience more affordably by eating at home. Zizzi’s offer of restaurant quality products in the grocery sector enables customers to access the Zizzi brand and great products in this way”
Hendry also says that selling through supermarkets brings a different customer to the Zizzi brand.
“We have seen in our grocery sales data that we attract new shoppers who are incremental to the frozen food category. One of the key strengths of the Zizzi brand is to bring in shoppers who perhaps would not have considered frozen pizza or meals before,” she says.
Leon
Grocery debut: 2019
Grocery range: Nuggets, chips, dips, sauces, salads, coffees and soups
Supermarket listings: Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda and Ocado
Average price range: £2.50 to £4
The first Leon restaurant opened in July 2004, with a mission to provide “healthy, flavourful and fresh fast-food” options to the markets. Over a decade later in 2019, it launched in supermarkets with its first partnership with Sainsbury’s.
Consisting of 14 products, its first grocery range with the supermarket included sauces, breads and dipping oils. In 2022, it expanded its offer with a new line in Asda and Ocado including signature aioli waffle fries, ‘love burger slaw’, dips, sauces and salads.
Earlier this year, it launched a new gluten-free frozen range in Morrisons in May, including gluten-free chicken nuggets, waffle fries and garlic and herb waffle fries. It has since expanded into other grocery categories, including coffee and soups
Leon head of grocery Miriam Rose says it wanted to bring its company ethos into the grocery sector.
Rose says: “We knew that there was a demand for restaurant quality food at home and wanted to bring our ethos of naturally fast food to the supermarket shelves, making delicious everyday products using clean ingredients with no preservatives or additives, using ingredients that you’d find in your own kitchen cupboard.”
She adds that how the brand maintains its identity and reputation in the world of grocery has always “been paramount to keep the Leon brand identity at the heart of our retail range”.
“When we work on NPD there are a few fundamentals in staying consistent and true to the brand’s DNA. From the products themselves, with the cuisines, flavour influences, and clean ingredients, to the product packaging with the colour palates, typography, and the tone of voice we want to communicate.”
Wasabi
Grocery debut: January 2019
Grocery range: meal-for-ones bento, sides and ramen
Supermarket listings: Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Co-op
Average price range: £3 to £5
Wasabi opened its doors in the UK in 2003, but only in 2019 first made its grocery debut in Sainsbury’s.
Two years later, in 2021, the brand appointed Kate Lucas as its first grocery managing director following the success of the 13 products fakeaway range, which at the time saw a 96% year on year surge in value sales to £14.7m.
Popular products include a variety of ready-to-eat meals and sides, such as Chicken Katsu Yakisoba and Sweet Chilli Chicken, while last month the brand’s grocery bento boxes underwent a packaging revamp.
Wasabi head of marketing Annabel Stephens says: “We’re excited to reveal our new packaging design which puts our delicious food front and centre. Our tasty new design is an evolution to strengthen and evolve our visual identity and brand touchpoints whilst staying true to our Wasabi roots.”
Among other changes, the refreshed look features new typography, updated imagery and the inclusion of the Wasabi circular logo and its iconic green colour.
It is set to be supported by a new flavour focused multi-channel campaign later this year in a bid to boost consumer awareness.
