Has Ocado’s switch to M&S worked for you?

100% agree with you Phil.

On 19th December, The Juicy Meat Co. products had been cut to 20 products. Today there are just 15, so not looking good.

They do really thick steaks that will no doubt be replaced by M&S thin steaks that I definitely won’t be buying. I think Waitrose sell Juicy Meat Co. products so will be looking to buy them there instead.

M&S have really undercut other brands on cheese. No doubt as people buy the cheap cheese, there will be justification to get rid of the branded cheeses. Then watch the price of M&S cheese go up.

M&S are top of the brands list, they are often the only brand shown under categories on a product page.

I hate the way M&S are pushing out brands that we have happily bought for years and replacing them with their own brand. Even Ocado branded products seem to be disappearing. I have been a happy Ocado customer for over 12 years, but I don’t like what M&S are doing there.

Another lockdown has shown the idiocy of getting rid of branded products and replacing them with M&S products. There are now many out-of-stock items as M&S cannot handle the supply and demand.

It is fairly obvious from the comments that customers are not happy losing their brands and being forced into buying M&S so it would be sensible to invite branded products back.

Surely the answer is for customers to switch away from Ocado, which has made a major commercial miscalculation – no doubt under financial pressure from M&S who thought they could just buy volume. Their product range is limited and does not appeal to everyone who generally like a mix of branded and own-label products with alternatives in each category.

Sainsbury’s home delivery service has served us very well throughout the last year or more and although we have done a bit of top-up shopping at M&S this has never been for essentials.

A small but significant percentage of what we buy each fortnight is not groceries and provisions [i.e. household, toiletries, health & beauty items] and it is very useful to have a supplier that can offer a wide range of such products to save having to order on-line or go out shopping.

If we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic John, I would agree with you, but at the moment it is impossible to get regular deliveries from other supermarkets as Ocado has been my main food supplier for so long. After a very rocky start and feeling abandoned by Ocado at the start of the pandemic I now get regular deliveries, so am better off than many others.

Ocado Retail Q4 Trading Statements
Customers continue to embrace the full M&S range with the biggest selling lines coming from everyday essentials in the M&S fresh categories
That is a joke as most of the competition has been removed or M&S vastly undercut the prices of branded products such as cheese. M&S are almost the only supplier of many fruit and vegetables.

Melanie Smith, Ocado Retail’s Chief Executive Officer, said:
“We continue to make good progress bringing even greater choice, quality, and value to our customers following the switchover to M&S at the beginning of September. At Ocado Retail we are constantly looking to raise the bar even further and the addition of M&S products to our grocery ranges has enhanced what was already the widest choice of products available online.
That statement can only have come from an M&S person. Ocado might be bringing greater choice, quality and value to old M&S customers, but certainly not Ocado customers who see less and less choice and quality.

To add to my growing list of kicked-out products, my dairy-free mushroom soup has now been axed – organic Auga Champignon Soup with 50% champignons.

I think Ocado are in for a massive shock when it is safe to go shopping again. They are alienating their old faithful customers for what? M&S customers? Pandemic customers? Reviews show M&S products are not as good as M&S think they are.

People are fed up with being stuck indoors and want to go out again which will include going into supermarkets and Ocado are giving them little reason to stay.

I am not convinced that supermarkets are unsafe for customers who take the correct precautions and observe social distancing. The majors have done a lot to protect their customers and expanded their home delivery services to meet demand. Perhaps it is local good fortune, but it has not been difficult for us to get convenient slots with Sainsbury’s and some slots are offered free of charge because of low demand.

Of course, if people panic and over-order then problems will arise.

A friend went to Lidl recently, was very satisfied with the arrangements, was pleased with her purchases, and saved some money into the bargain.

“People are fed up with being stuck indoors and want to go out again which will include going into supermarkets and Ocado are giving them little reason to stay.”.
This is an attitude we have to deal with if we are to get any control of the epidemic. People must control themselves for the next few months and we must, where necessary, enforce the rules.
The question to put to people who refuse to take necessary precautions is “do you want to contract Covid and risk having a lifetime of severe health problem and possibly to die, and do you want to take the risk of doing the same to others including your own family and loved ones?”

I suspect that Tesco introduced online supermarket shopping in UK. It must be about 20 years since my mum, who lived over a hundred miles away, used to phone me with her order and I would order the lot online and it would turn up at her door.

Amazon are now acting for Morrison’s but you can’t expect their usual excellent Amazon next day delivery for their fresh or other foodstuffs. .

Beryl – there was a degree of irony in my description of life on the ward. Some of the scenes and episodes were ghastly.

No grapefruit, nor any other fruit while in hospital, I’m afraid. The ban on visitors means there is no way of getting supplies. Otherwise the food was good.

I agree with you CC Hogan. Before last September, Ocado made their customers feel wanted, but now I just feel used – to line the pockets of M&S. They price-matched Waitrose to start with, but put many products up 5% within a month.

Hawksmoor steaks are the Juicy Meat Co. rebranded and given a 25% price increase. Hawksmoor had the same Dovecote Park address when it launched on Ocado but was changed to the expensive London restaurant later probably to justify the huge price increase. I wrote to the company who gave me some of the info.

One delivery, Ocado substituted Juicy Meat Co. ribeye with Hawksmoor and although there is less packaging, otherwise there is no difference in quality – they are both 400g 35-day dry aged. £15 for a rib-eye was bad enough and they are large enough to share, but there is no way I am paying £20. The Juicy Meat Co. was often available for £10 a steak so it just goes to show what a rip-off it now is.

Dovecote also produce the Waitrose own label beef, supply Tom Kerridge, Hawksmoor, and even Burger King! I have come across them several times. They are typical of the type of producer who creates a particular product offering for each client.

Davidstow do it too. They not only produce their own brand and produce for Waitrose and M&S, but they also produce exclusive cheddars. Till recently, those were only sold to people like Roux or Stein, but now you can buy it online from Davidstow direct. Actually, considering how amazing their 60-month cheddar is, it is not badly priced at £22 /kg (plus delivery, sadly.) They occasionally do it cheaper and it goes out of stock. But wow!

I don’t have a problem with high priced goods that are actually worth it, but when one company sells farmed seabass for twice the price you can get it at Aldi, then that makes me grumpy!

I learnt a lesson from my local farmshop. I wanted some flanken beef ribs (short ribs) for a bbq. What they supplied me were 6 inches long, 4 inches deep, and came in a packet of 4 for £7. And this is Angus.

“Why so cheap?” I asked. Two tiny ones at Waitrose were more than that.

The butcher blinked. “You have to order them in advance, because otherwise they go into the mince. So why would I charge you more?”

I am eating Davidstow (extra mature) from Waitrose at the moment, one of my favourite cheeses along with Castello Tickler. I see Davidstow is available on Ocado again so might add one to my next order.

I didn’t know you could buy cheese directly from Davidstow and a 60-month matured would be interesting.

Although M&S source their branded cheese from Davidstow, I hate what they have done to Ocado, so only buy their products if I have no other choice which has become more frequent as the competition is removed.

The 10p charge for single-use carrier bags was introduced in May: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/10p-plastic-bag-charge-introduced-in-england

I placed an order with Waitrose when my car was unwell and they reminded me to have my bags ready to save time when unloading the crates.

Hi ocado_shopper, nice to know I’m not the only one to have noticed.

Em, I suspect M&S are more shrewd and taking Ocado in a new direction as I didn’t think Waitrose had much of say in how Ocado was run.

As I checked out an order earlier, I was warned of an incomplete buy 2 for £4 offer. I clicked on the offer to see I did have two of the offer items in my trolley. I fell for this trick once before. One of the items was put in my trolley when it was on offer for £2 then I added the other after the offer changed. If you are not on the ball, you pay full price for both items.

I looked for runny honey and sorted it into Price Per: Low to High. First are Ocado and M&S, then another up in price then the price drops below the Ocado price. It only does this if you are logged in.

Red diamond strawberries have now been discontinued and as the fresh section in my trolley was not showing any, I added the Ocado ones that have mostly been quite good. But the red diamond strawberries were still in my trolley and had moved from the fresh section to the food cupboard section. Had I not noticed I would have received a substitution for the discontinued strawberries and ended up with 2 lots.

Many products are no longer in their correct categories when you look at your trolley. But they are in the right place on your invoice. That means they have gone out of their way to define products with more than one product category on their system. Why would they put items in different categories if it is not to confuse you into buying more than you want?

Ocado no longer stock many of our favourite products, too many brands have been replaced by M&S, booze is cheaper elsewhere, so I also get deliveries from other supermarkets.

The Hawksmoor Rib-eye (rebranded Juicy Meat Co at £14.99) has just been put up another £2 and is now £22. That is a whopping £55 per kilo.

Tesco Finest 35 day Aberdeen Angus Ribeye Steak is just as good at £35 per kilo!!!!