Do you have any hero products from M&S via Ocado?

[KittyWithStripes]

So... after a few months of M&S supplanting Waitrose, is there anything that you really, really recommend?

I still wish they hadn't changed from Waitrose. But it is what it is, and the 320g bag of washed young spinach is fucking amazing, I have to admit. Lasts for AGES in my fridge.

Anything else worth getting?

I love their Gastropub chicken and bacon pie, oven chips, hoisin trout and colcannon.

The only thing is the M&S bagged wine. It is decent, and for cooking, I can allocate a bag and not worry about it going of for weeks.

Other than that, pretty dissappointed.

I’m not that keen in general but their Earl Grey teabags are really really bergamotty

No.

Pity - I was hoping to have bought knickers that way, but they've all been taken off the website.

I'm disappointed and really miss Waitrose products.
The only thing M&S do better is a really good fake beef burger.
Everything else is ££££
Also the stock issues are really bad (and this before Brexit...)

the frozen sofritto is chopped smaller which I prefer. Other than that - NOTHING. Even the cox apples which I used to go into M&S to buy are not as good (maybe it's time in the season?) and I think they're keeping the best fruit for their shops
(on which topic - has anyone been into an M&S and seen those miniature tangerines that come in a tub? they're not on Ocado at all)

@Mominatrix

The only thing is the M&S bagged wine. It is decent, and for cooking, I can allocate a bag and not worry about it going of for weeks.

Other than that, pretty dissappointed.

Oh! Bagged wine! The ocado wineboxes are all a bit rubbish and sometimes I just want a glass. The bags don't come up if you search "wine boxes" which is why I didn't see them. There's one in my basket....

No I wasn’t to fussed either way in principle to the M&S swap but in practice it has t worked for me and I’ve abandoned Ocado. Too many Waitrose items don’t have an equivalent at the same price. It was getting ridiculous.

I absolutely hate the change - don’t like the M&S stuff and seem to be problems with supply chain issues. Substitutions have also been terrible and for products twice the price.

I’ve been with Ocado years & have a smart pass but am about to ditch them for either Waitrose or Tesco.

Great thread OP.

@domesticslattern could you tell me which fake beefburger please? I'm trying to find a good one!

Their Scottish salmon fillets are great. They come individually wrapped in a bag of 5 and you can freeze them. They're pricey but a good standby.

Not really.

We like the Cumberland pie which easily feeds three of us for £6.

Another vote for soffrito. Great in casseroles and spag bol.

Nope, nothing so far. But that's OK because most of what I think I might want seems to be out of stock. I've mostly defected to Morrisons now.

"Another vote for soffrito"

That's not specifically an M&S product though. I used to by the Waitrose one before handover, and it's one of the indistinguishable which manufacturer products

I quite like the striped M&S packaging for cream - that's been around for decades!

And maybe having thought about it for a bit longer, M&S liquorice allsorts are the nicest, and I do like their mint humbugs

You can can get the soffrito mix in any supermarket, not enough to keep me with them.

Not really. I've been terribly disappointed to be honest and after 16 years as an Ocado customer, I had my first Waitrose delivery this week. I'm not sure what we will do long term, but I've really noticed the relatively poor quality of some of the fresh stuff, especially meat. The number of items going out of stock seems hugely up too, but generally it is the lack of choice.

It's these ones @Bamboowhoosh
www.ocado.com/products/m-s-plant-kitchen-no-beef-burger-527833011
They even please carnivores. Not cheap though. Nothing is nowadays

Really no, it’s been just about okay enough for me to not switch online deliveries but lots out of stock, certain things I haven’t found an equal match for in the M&S parts, plus my biggest bugbear about M&S has always been the amount of pre prepared / ready meals. I’m always getting offers on this sort of stuff and it’s not something we would ever buy or eat. I just find myself going into Waitrose when I’m passing one. Annoying really.

Regular Ocado shopper but contemplating a move as so much is out of stock now.

I've had my first few Waitrose orders and have been very pleased

Thanks @domesticslattern. I might give them a try. Last time we had Beyond Meat ones. The family liked them but I thought they were a bit 'bouncy' if that's the right word.

I'm really disapointed with M&S at Ocado. In store, I rate their fruit as consistently better tasting, longer lasting, riper and better value than Waitrose. The quality of M&S products has been really hit and miss from Ocado. So many products are consistently out of stock, I've been unsuccesfully trying to buy Roquefort cheese since September, and Ocado seem to have stopped stocking so many products, not just Waitrose items eg garlic puree in a tube.

I wouldn't necessarily rate them as hero products but things I like better than the Waitrose equivalent:

Figs - cheaper, plumper, riper and tastier
Passion fruit pouches - better value than whole passion fruit
The range of own brand basic biscuits is better eg their Jaffa cakes, redcurrant puffs
The double pack of ribeye steak for £8 - tastier and cheaper than anywhere, even Aldi
The salmon steak multipack already mentioned is good value too.
Baby sprouts - £1 for a punnet compared to £1.50 for an individual portion at Waitrose. Nowhere else sells them in big packs and they are so much nicer than normal sprouts.

Oh and their Best Ever (or something like that) Burgers really are the best. They aren't cheap though but they are usually in the 3 for £10 offer.

I'm not happy either. I don't know if it's just that I'm not finding basic equivalent essentials or they're just not there. Cooking ingredients too. And I'm spending so much more.

But that's not what you asked... the M&S posh potatoes are nice...?

Watching. So far I’ve found one thing I thought was better, and I can’t remember what it was. Easy peelers maybe? Everything else has been less good.

I especially miss (in case M&S are reading)

Waitrose 1 cheese range
Espresso coffee pods (the flat kind not the Nespresso kind)
Isigny sur Mer creme fraiche in the glass jar
Sardine Piccanti
Frozen chopped onions (Waitrose ones have a resealable bag and are chopped smaller)
Soffrito (again the bag)
Growing herbs
Essential pizza and fish fingers
Essential rinse aid and dishwasher salt
Pomegranate tub (the M&S one is rubbish in comparison)
Bavette steak - M&S one tastes of nothing

On the other hand, the Ocado software and stock control is streets ahead of Waitrose, who have way more substitutions and missing items, and also don’t have one click or nearly as many slots available. Tricky.