Families who eat together... with different meals

TUCKING into a supermarket dinner for one used to be a singular affair.

These days, it doesn’t have to be. More often than not, entire families are sitting down – every one with a different meal of their own.

Tesco believes individual portions will play an increasingly important part in the food market.

So it has unveiled a range that caters not only for the rise of single diners but fussy families who can’t or won’t eat the same thing.

Shoppers will be able to pick up a single quarter-pounder beef burger or a pack of four meatballs – perfect for one.

Almost half of meals eaten in UK homes are eaten alone as more of us are squeezed for time and fussy eating is on the rise.

Tesco said its new single serving range would help shoppers cut back on waste. It also caters to families which have varying dietary requirements so are unable to eat the same meals. Or just the plain fussy who turn up their noses at the family meal.

Other products in the range include mini bags of potatoes and other vegetables, pizzas for one and smaller loaves of bread.

Kate Ewart, Tesco’s director of product development, said shoppers increasingly wanted something ‘that’s just for them’.

‘ Families might be eating together but they want that meal for themselves. This gives you everything that allows you to put a meal together with no waste,’ she said. ‘It’s about choice. Typically some people might sit down once a week for a big family dinner but then if people come back late from work or early from school it gives you that flexibility.’

The new range is part of a major overhaul of Tesco’s food business as it tries to win back customers from German competitors Lidl and Aldi. More of us have been shopping at the discounters, enticed by their simple approach and ultra low prices. The supermarket has also opened its first cashless store where shoppers can pay only by card or mobile phone.

The Tesco Express store is at its staff headquarters in Welwyn Garden City but is open to the public. The average time a customer spends in the express store has been slashed from 90 seconds to 45. Chief executive Dave Lewis said in some stores only 20 per cent of sales were now paid for in cash.