Ocado launches Simple Ingredients aisle with 350+ products free from artificial additives
Ocado has launched a Simple Ingredients online aisle that features a selection of products made only with ingredients customers are likely to recognise.
The aisle includes more than 350 branded products made with recognisable ingredients and no artificial additives such as colours, emulsifiers, stabilisers or flavours.
Subscribe to TRBAvailable all year round and updated seasonally, it includes items such as frozen pizzas, burgers and ready meals, ketchup, salad dressings and sauces, breads, cereals and baked goods, and ice cream, snacks and treats.
The aisle will also feature products from the M&S Only range, which are made with eight or fewer ingredients and free from artificial colours or preservatives.
Ocado said the move will simplify shopping by making it easier for customers to identify products they might use in their own kitchen.
The supermarket cited research by Clariti showing that almost two thirds of shoppers say shopping would be easier if they could quickly identify foods with fewer added ingredients. It also found that 51% find it difficult to know what ingredients have been added to the foods they buy.
The research shows that almost three in five consumers (57%) are looking at ingredient labels more closely than they were a year ago, and almost half (48%) have changed what they buy based on information about ingredients.
Social media was found to play a particularly prominent role among younger shoppers with almost two in five Gen Z consumers (39%) admitting to using it for information about food ingredients, more than double the national average of 19%.
Ocado’s own search data reflects the growing interest, with searches for “unprocessed” up 178% year-on-year, “wholefood” up 133% and “natural” up 59%.
Charlie Parker, senior nutritionist at Ocado Retail, said: “Customers increasingly want to know what is in the food they buy, but navigating ingredient lists can be difficult and time-consuming. We have checked the back of every pack so customers do not have to, bringing together products made with recognisable ingredients in one dedicated aisle, while leaving them to make an informed choice about what works for them as part of their overall diet.”
