Since when did Marks and Spencer start calling sandwiches sandos?

[TheAverageJoanne]

I bought a sandwich from Marks and Spencer today. They advertised it as a sando.

Say what?

My first thought was how cringe that they're trying to be all trendy. Then I googled it...

"Sando" comes from "sandoitchi"—the Japanese word for sandwich. Over time, Japan has developed its own distinct sandwich culture around it. The defining feature is shokupan, a particularly soft Japanese milk bread with a fluffy crumb and thin crust.
Unlike many Western sandwiches, the sando is all about balance—texture, filling and presentation working in harmony. The sandwiches are usually served without crusts and assembled with care so the filling is neatly displayed when sliced.

OP - would you say the M&S sandwiches matched this description?

I have heard sandals called sandos but I don't fancy a cheese and onion pair of sandals. 😀

Is it the strawberries and cream one? That is Japanese inspired as @DozyCrow says.

What fresh hell is this?

BTW the Japanese only call sandwiches that because their language doesn't accommodate the sounds we use in our language.

Is it the strawberry and cream one? They look delicious!

Yes I think it’s just the specific on trend Japanese style ones. I had a bog standard M&S prawn mayonnaise sandwich yesterday

They didn't. But they have started selling Japanese inspired sandos, which is a recent food trend

Sando—the cult sandwich from Japan | Kikkoman

I've had this one from Sainsbury's and very nice it was too.

I love the back and forth here between western and Japanese food/words. So this is a western take on the Japanese take on the Earl of Sandwich's take on his local peasants' portable lunches!

They should call them sarnies or, even more classy, butties.

About the same time they started selling picky bits

Like PP said, it’s because they’re Japanese inspired.

I got the posh prawn cocktail one yesterday. It was nearly six quid?! But that was from a weird M&S food that was actually a half arsed branch of WH Smith?!

Sandos look pretty boring to me. Just soft white bread and they put like a chicken schnitzel thing in it? I guess it's just a trend. I'm not keen on the idea of fruit in a sandwich though!

Yes, if it's the summer edition Strawberry & Creme one, I think they only use "sando" in that case. That sandwich btw is gorgeous! Everyone I recommend it to says it sounds minging but it isn't.

There is also a new summer Chocolate, Strawberry & Pistachio Creme sandwich but I've not yet seen it.

There is also a new summer Chocolate, Strawberry & Pistachio Creme sandwich but I've not yet seen it.

I’ve got all the ingredients for that in the kitchen, perhaps I should make one for lunch?

The pistachio cream/ creme was my Sparks free gift last week. The jars were all £2, red stickered down from £4.25. Only 20% pistachios, though, after sugar and oil.
Do not recommend.

They are delicious. I may have eaten a few of them last year...

Trade description- wonder what would happen if you complained to local trading standards.

Love this!

also how are people getting sparks treats? I hate how they’ve changed sparks. Useless!

I would have initially assumed that 'sando' was Aussie slang for a sandwich.

So if the Japanese have their own variation on western-style sandwiches and give them a name that is effectively the same, albeit tweaked to avoid English sounds that are more difficult for native Japanese speakers to say, you can see where the confusion arises.

Why not just call them 'Japanese bread sandwiches' or something similar, or even find an authentic (transliterated) Japanese word for them to become commonly known by?

They certainly aren't selling at my local branch. I'm in there often and every time, so far, the shelf of Strawberries and Cream has sold reasonably well but the Chocolate Pistachio shelf is full (even during the lunch time rush). By the end of the day they're stickered. Not sure why they're persisting.

I'm not keen on the idea of fruit in a sandwich though!

Agreed, I wouldn’t fancy strawberries in a sandwich, but banana sandwiches are lovely!

I bought a chocolate/strawberry/pistachio one recently. I wanted the original strawberry one, but there were none left. It was a bit sickly, to be honest. I didn't know it was called a sando though.

Why not just call them 'Japanese bread sandwiches' or something similar, or even find an authentic (transliterated) Japanese word for them to become commonly known by?

There's probably a trade description based reason for that. 'Sando' doesn't have a legal definition, but if they said 'Japanese Bread' it would probably have to actually be Japanese bread.

Yes, Japanese inspired milk bread. I don’t love ‘em. Give me a hunk of old-fashioned wheat any day of the week

Maybe there's a contract to provide them for a certain amount of time and/or they think demand might ramp up.

But they do seem expensive for what they are -you only get one half of a sandwich. I suppose if you want to try one, and you can get to an M&S in the early evening, it's probably worth seeing if there's a yellow stickered one.

I also wasn't surprised to see the cucumber pots reduced the last couple of times I went in - surely people will think twice before paying £2 I think for a few slices of cucumber and a bit of dressing?

I'm not keen on the idea of fruit in a sandwich though!

I confess, I tried one last year. It's sweetened fortified brioche, so it's actually more like a hunk of strawberry and cream cake rather than a sandwich on bread - I did not like it at all, very sickly.