Tesco is understood to be working on a high-street takeaway-food chain, The Guardian newspaper has reported.
According to analysts cited by the newspaper, the UK’s largest retailer is putting the finishing touches to a new format called ‘Tesco Express food to go’ which would compete with market leaders Pret à Manger, Eat and Greggs.
Steve Dresser of Grocery Insight said the supermarket was targeting as many as 80 outlets in London as it looked to tap into the lucrative lunchtime take-away market.
Tesco have yet to comment on any of the media reports.
Expanding into both eat-in and takeaway food forms part of Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke’s turnaround plans. It has revamped its supermarkets to offer takeaway food areas and begun opening in-store restaurants through investments in restaurant chain Giraffe and New York-style diner Fred’s Food Construction, which recently opened at its Tesco Extra store in west London.
Rival Sainsbury's pulled the plug on a similar concept called ‘Fresh Kitchen’ in 2012 after it struggled to find the right formula for a high footfall store in central London.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
To sign up to ESM’s weekly e-zine newsletter, send an email with the subject: ‘Subscribe ESM news’ to [email protected]
