Marks and Spencer food..

[CurlewKate]

I posed a while ago that I was doing a neighbour’s shopping for a while and she only uses M&S. I’m on my own at the moment, and she told me to shop for myself as well, which I was very excited about-I though posh convenience food would be great in this heat. But I’m actually very disappointed- it all seems a bit bland and samey. So far the things I’ve liked best are some Eton Mess cronuts-sadly I can’t live on them , much though I’d like to! And some delicious blood orange and passionfruit cordial. Oh, and a crab linguini (once I added some chilli and lemon juice) What’s your favorite M&S ready meal?

I really enjoy their food tbh but noticed yesterday the salad I was eating was marked "not for sale in the EU"

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement

The pea, mint and potato salad is my favourite. As are the posh thai fishcakes.

Why is that disappointing? I’m not being goady, I genuinely don’t understand the context. Is it not just a regulatory label they need to use on certain items?

Were you able to identify why? Eg genetically modified ingredients or just simply meat which can't easily be sold in the EU now due to red tape?

No idea, I'm assuming it's to do with welfare standards because ingredients look innocuous

https://www.marksandspencer.com/food/chargrilled-chicken-caesar-salad/p/fdp60479695#intid=pid_pg1pip96g2r25c1

One of the reasons I choose m&s food is because I thought they adhered to EU standards but I see now this was a daft assumption on my part and I need to do my research.

Its not to do with welfare conditions
Brexit: M&S boss says extending Northern Ireland food labelling is madness - BBC News https://share.google/HCLdxYYV45Y93evvW

It is probably as to export to EU retailers must display country of origin.. if different salad ingredients come from different countries they cannot meet this and exclude if from EU sales. Nothing to do with the quality.

Their ready meals are popular with older people because they are small, I think, rather than because they are amazing.

Ready meal crab linguine is mad - just buy a M&S pot of crabmeat and make it!

The fishcakes are good. Also some of the slow-cooked meat because I am not putting the oven on for seven hours in this heat. The fish can be nice too.

I genuinely like the superfood salad. It has loads of quinoa, nuts, edamame, beans, a sesame oil dressing and hummus if you get the bigger sized package. There’s a smaller package that doesn’t have the hummus and that’s located near the fruit and other salads. The bigger version is near the lunchtime options, at least in my store.

oh right! No, it’s nothing to do with that at all. I wondered if your deep disappointment was based on some sort of strong view of regulatory implications 😁

ashbury.global/blog/not-for-eu-labelling-explained/

Their food is crap now and packed with additives and preservatives. Even their single packaged hard boiled egg is no longer free range.

They do some things very well. Like the lunch options are all a bit different rather than the usual ham and cheese so it's nice to have those options.

Basics like meat are of no better quality despite the price tag, you're better off at a butcher. Morrisons meat has often tasted better than M&S imo.

Their hummus is really disappointing, very grainy.

But it's my favourite place for picnic items as that's usually a special occasion so happy to spend a wee bit more.

I expect as pp have said it means they can skip the red tape and paper work rather than any change to ingredients.

As a side note, I went on a local farm tour a few years ago and they do everything as naturally as possible, very much avoid antibiotics if possible, cattle are grass fed year round, natural pest control methods etc but to pursue all the hoops and paperwork to get "organic status" is simply not worth their time.

I know about the crab linguini! But it’s one of my favorite things and it meant I didn’t have to put the cooker on at all, even to cook pasta. My kitchen is at about Dante’s 5th circle this week.

The Gastropub chicken kyivs are lovely, not the standard ones though.

I went into a brand new M&S foodhall near me last night. Now I am no stranger to M&S food, I buy it regularly, but I'm still reeling at one or two of the prices. Fillet steak was £100 a kilo. If you wanted wagyu fillet, that was £126 a kilo.

Now I appreciate prices have gone up, and I've just come back from Spain, which always accentuates how much things are here, but even so. My flabber has rarely been so gasted.

That does not mean that anything is wrong with it, but since Brexit, (thanks Farage you pillock), Our produce, even though it is made to the same standard, no longer qualifies for automatic export to the EU.

Mushroom pappardelle - it is my guilty pleasure food

Their picnic things are nice but they now just put a thin plastic film on it and no lid and so you pretty much have to use it all up or throw it out on picnic if you don't want it to all fall out of the container afterwards. Dips or anything in oil particularly tricky.

I understand they are trying to reduce plastic but you would hope they could have tried something better by now? Or am I being overly optimistic?

Their gastropubs/best ever ranges are our go to for a nice meal. The steak pie is stuffed full of meat, same with chicken ham and leek. The lasagne is the nicest of the ready-made in my opinion. The mac and cheese croquettes with hot honey dip are my current favourite. I also love the "potato products"... parmentier, colcannon mashed potatoes, bubble and squeak cakes and rosti, and the lattice cut ones too.

I agree with you. I had to force myself to finish a whole tub of delicious dip last week... A great sacrifice 😝
But I do agree, better portability would be good. I guess taking along some tupperware for after could solve this.

I am still hopeful that shops get rid of the plastic window on cardboard packaging. It probably does make the food seem more appealing but if it was just done away with all at once it wouldn't make a difference to sales in the end.

I like their deli pots, salads, dips, breads etc.

I never buy ready meals so can't comment on them!

I too don't get all the hype. I find the fruit and veg in our local one to be inconsistent- some weeks it's good, others it's not great. I prefer to use our local market for the fruit and veg shop. Same with the meat, I get better quality and value for money at our butchers.

I did used to like the dine for £x meal deals they did. I feel they have declined post Covid in quality and flavour. We still occasionally get the curries, pizza or the dirty fries but they are not as good as they used to be. I do like the butter and the bread and they have some lovely biscuits.

As a PP has said, I think the ready meals are popular due to their small size and variety -ours have an awful lot of different options. MIL and her DP, my GPIL and my Grandad all buy them and pretty much eat them daily. None of them are big eaters and find been presented with too much food overwhelming. My Grandad is widowed and from the generation where men didn't really cook so when my Gran passed he really struggled with cooking. GPIL are getting to an age where cooking from scratch is hard work for them (arthritis/ shaky hands/ not great at standing for long periods of time). GPIL really got into them when Nana had a bad fall so she was unable to cook for a few weeks, grandpa had to do most of the cooking and he is of the generation where men didn't typically cook so he found it a bit of a challenge until MIL got them the M&S meals that they can microwave or put in the oven. They all also prefer their food on the blander side and find some other supermarket ready meals to be too salty /spicy/ peppery. Whereas M&S seems to suit them.

That salad is amazing, I wish they sold the dressing in bottles, I would use it all the time!

I like the grapefruit and mandarin pots, the St Coq scallop things, dirty fries and strawberries 🍓 😋 their cordials are pretty decent also and the mini Colin the catapillar cakes go down well.