I did my ‘big shop’ at Waitrose and M&S – here’s who came out on top

Waitrose vs M&S

It’s shopping trolleys at dawn for Britain’s most aspirational supermarkets. Marks & Spencer – traditionally an also-ran in the grocery league table – has been chipping away at Waitrose’s customer base, so that last month for the first time the two drew neck and neck, claiming 3.8 per cent of the market each.

Yes, it’s a long way from Tesco, which commands over a quarter of the market share, and which with the rest of the big six – Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons – dominates our grocery spend. But M&S and Waitrose are scrabbling for the same middle- and upper-class customer, people who can afford to spend a little more on higher welfare meat and Italian peaches as well as (whisper it) wanting artisan loaves without the hassle of queuing at the bakers.

But while food inflation may be slowing, the effects of the cost of living crisis are still with us. Food prices are 25 per cent higher than they were two years ago. Even Waitrose and M&S shoppers are watching their wallets.

In a bid to deliver “trusted value” for its customers, Marks & Spencer announced price cuts on more than 200 products last October and followed up with a further 65 cuts at the end of January, with an average price drop of 6 per cent. Waitrose started cutting prices earlier this year, and has just unveiled a £30 million investment plan to bring prices of more than 200 lines down by up to 10 per cent, part of its “commitment to offering… customers the best value for money”.

How do M&S and Waitrose compare in price and quality? Xanthe headed to her two large local stores to find out – Andrew Crowley

I’m a fan of both supermarkets, even if I’m not a regular. Waitrose is ever reliable yet can still surprise me with an unusual brand I haven’t come across before, which might explain why I always spend more than I mean to there. In M&S, it’s the cracking quality and quirky interpretations of ordinary goods that stand out, like the wickedly luxurious chocolate hazelnut creme or the brilliant jars of concentrated stock.

But how do they compare in price and quality when doing a regular ‘big shop’? I headed to two large stores local to me in Bristol to find out.

Basics

Orange Juice

Orange Juice

Waitrose & Partners Orange Juice with Bits, £1.95 for 1 litre (19.5p/100ml); M&S Pure Squeezed Orange Juice with Bits, £2 for 1 litre (£20p/100ml)

Both of the mid-range orange juices are not-from-concentrate but they have been pasteurised, and one would think the M&S version has been given an extra blast, it’s so cooked tasting. While still a bit bitter, the Waitrose juice is much fresher tasting.

Winner: Waitrose

Apples

Apples

Essential Waitrose & Partners Granny Smith Apples, £1.80 for six (30p each; £2.50/kg based on the weight of my 730g pack); M&S Food Granny Smith Apples, £2 for four (50p each; £3.33/kg based on the weight of my 600g pack)

It’s late in the British apple season but Waitrose manages to stock seven varieties of homegrown apples in the store I visited; Marks is almost as good, with six. Both have British Granny Smith – until recently a variety only grown abroad. M&S’s are bigger (150g each), Waitrose a less unwieldy 120g, but each is crisp, tangy and not too sweet.

Winner: a draw on flavour but Waitrose pips it for price

Salted butter 

Salted butter

Essential Waitrose & Partners Salted Dairy Butter, £1.90 for 250g (£7.60/kg); M&S Food British Salted Butter, £1.70 for 250g (6.80/kg)

Proper British salted butter to slather on new-season potatoes or spread so thickly on bread you can see your tooth marks. These two have identical salt levels, fat levels and prices – and the flavour, richly lactic, is the same too.

Winner: a dead heat

Sliced bread

Sliced bread

Waitrose & Partners No.1 Triple Malt Sourdough with Seeds, £2.20 for 500g (44p/100g); M&S Food Super Seeded Loaf, £2 for 450g (44p/100g)

The M&S loaf is packed with a good variety of seeds but while it’s made with a sourdough starter it also contains added gluten, soya flour and ascorbic acid, all of which steer it into ultra-processed territory. The Waitrose loaf is a true sourdough, made with just water, salt and flour (plus the seeds and malted grains), and it has a deep wholesome flavour which makes fantastic toast.

Winner: Waitrose

Roasting potatoes

Roasting potatoes

Waitrose & Partners King Edward Potatoes, £1.85 for 2kg (92.5p/kg); M&S Food Maris Piper Potatoes, £1.60 for 1.5kg (£1.07/kg)

Potatoes vary through the year so one that’s good for roasting in spring may not be in autumn. Both of Waitrose’s and M&S’s “recommended for roasting” spuds made ultra crisp and savoury roasties, although M&S’s Maris Pipers were a tad fluffier.

Winner: M&S

Everyday

Granola

Granola

Waitrose & Partners Raisin, Almond & Honey Granola, £2.75 for 1kg; M&S Food Raisin, Almond & Honey Granola, £3 for 1kg

M&S’s is oddly pale and raw looking, although whole unblanched almonds and toasted flakes give it some bowl appeal. Waitrose wins for its nice toasty colour, restraint with sugar and scattering of huge, fudgey flame raisins.

Winner: Waitrose

Whole chicken

Whole chicken

Essential Waitrose & Partners Higher Welfare Medium British Chicken without Giblets, £4.50 for 1.5kg (£3/kg); M&S Food Higher Welfare Medium Chicken, £8 for 1.6kg (£5/kg)

Both roasted to an appetising golden brown but the M&S bird, which the label claims to be “slower reared”, delivers firmer, juicier and more richly flavoured meat. It lost less liquid (but more fat) in the oven than its Waitrose counterpart, too. Plus, M&S names the chicken farm it came from – great transparency.

Winner: M&S (at a price!)

Bagged salad

Bagged salad

Waitrose & Partners Baby Leaf Salad, £2 for 120g (£1.67/100g); M&S Food Baby Leaf Salad, £1.70 for 80g (£2.13/100g)

You couldn’t put a sprig of flat leaf parsley between these two: in fact, I’d be amazed if they didn’t come from the same supplier. Both have a few slimy leaves (slightly more in the M&S one which is a day closer to its use-by date when bought). Both fine, but I’ll stick to washing my own lettuce.

Winner: a draw

Streaky bacon

bacon

Waitrose & Partners Higher Welfare 12 Smoked British Streaky Bacon Rashers, £4 for 250g (£16/kg); M&S Collection British Outdoor Bred Dry Cured Smoked Streaky Bacon, £4 for 240g (£16.67/kg)

Both sets of rashers are on the lean side and cook up beautifully with no white liquid leaking. Although the M&S bacon keeps its elegant shape, the Waitrose rasher contracts to a stubby butty-filler. Waitrose wins though, as the M&S one is impossibly salty.

Winner: Waitrose

Salmon

Salmon

Waitrose & Partners 4 Scottish Salmon Fillets, £10.50 for 480g (£2.19/100g); M&S Food 2 Scottish Salmon Fillets, £6.25 for 240g (£2.60 per 100g)

There were no packs of two salmon fillets in Waitrose or packs of four in M&S when I was shopping, but these closely comparable items both come from RSPCA-certified fish farms, and both are firm-textured, clean-tasting and not too oily. The Waitrose fish is paler which I like (the colour of fresh salmon just stems from a dye added to the fish food) and a little more delicate so it wins by a whisker.

Winner: Waitrose

Luxuries

Parmesan

Parmesan

Waitrose Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, £5.30 for 250g (£21.20/kg); M&S 24 Month Matured Parmigiano Reggiano, £4.25 for 200g (£21.25/kg)

Both cheeses have been matured for 24 months but the Waitrose one tastes younger, with a relatively soft texture (more like a cheddar) and a milky, savoury flavour. The M&S parmesan has a firmer texture peppered with crunchy lactic crystals and an intense, complex umami taste. Classic parmesan.

Winner: M&S

Shortbread biscuits

Shortbread biscuits

Waitrose Shortbread Selection, £5 for 450g (£1.12/100g); M&S Scottish All Butter Shortbread Selection, £4.75 for 450g (£1.06/100g)

The Waitrose selection includes chocolate-coated and chocolate-chip versions, and they are very crunchy, like Walker’s shortbread. But the shapes are biscuit-factory standard, while the M&S ones are cutely moulded, like something your Scottish great-granny made. They taste buttery too, with the proper delicate sandy texture.

Winner: M&S

Sushi 

Sushi

Taiko Salmon Futomaki Selection, £4.40 for 202g (£2.18/100g); M&S Food Classic Fish Selection, £5.50 for 167g (£3.29/100g)

One can’t look for authenticity in supermarket sushi, but even so the M&S selection is a shocker: grim, tinned tuna uramaki, flaccid prawns falling off nigiri and third-rate smoked salmon curling drily from claggy, stale tasting rice. Waitrose’s tray from Taiko (it doesn’t do an own-label version and Taiko is only sold in Waitrose) is vastly better, decently seasoned and fresh tasting.

Winner: Waitrose

Finish-in-the-oven pulled pork

Finish-in-the-oven pulled pork

Waitrose & Partners Slow Cooked Smoky Barbecue Pork Shoulder, £5.75 for 430g (£13.38/kg); M&S Food Slow Cooked Carolina BBQ Pork Shoulder, £8 for 570g (£14.04/kg)

The actual meat in the M&S kit weighed 540g while the Waitrose one weighed 360g, so in real terms M&S is better value. The Waitrose version has a good dark and spicy sauce, but the meat is dry compared to M&S’s authentically wobbly, luxurious pork.

Winner: M&S

Chocolate ice cream

Chocolate ice cream

Waitrose & Partners No.1 Santo Domingo Chocolate Ice Cream, £4.40 for 480ml (91.7p/100ml); M&S Collection West Country Chocolate Ice Cream, £4 for 500ml (80p100ml)

In coffee terms, the M&S chocolate ice cream is like a high-street latte: pale, velvety, mild tasting and crowd pleasing.  The Waitrose version is a flat white in a hipster coffee shop: powerful, slightly sour and complex. Pop a scoop of the Marks one on a banana split but keep the Waitrose to savour on its own.

Winner: Waitrose

Lemon tart 

Lemon tart

Waitrose & Partners Lemon Tart, £3.75 for 300g (£1.25/100g); M&S Food Lemon tart, £4.75 for 400g (£1.19/100g)

Size isn’t everything. The M&S one is a third bigger (both are stated to serve six), but it has a bland, weirdly gelatinous filling, like the base of a packet-mix lemon meringue pie. Faith in patisserie is restored by the Waitrose version, singing with zingy lemon curd and shortbread-rich buttery pastry.

Winner: Waitrose

In-store experience

M&S Cribbs Causeway (which opened in The Mall in 1998), with its satiny black floors and black shelving, looks more luxe. It’s less cluttered too: not stocking much in the way of other brands keeps the displays looking smart. In contrast, Waitrose Portishead (opened in 2003) is a bit scuffed around the edges, with an arguably hectic array of products.

Winner: M&S

Customer service

I can’t find the blocks of parmesan in M&S. I catch the eye of a staff member who is busy checking stock and she jumps up immediately, smiling warmly. In no time she’d taken me to the right shelf (I was sure I’d checked there already), established exactly which kind of parmesan I wanted, before handing me the right cheese. I feel well looked after.

In Waitrose staff members are chatting by the customer service desk when I approach but a friendly staff member immediately springs into action when I ask where the baskets are, dashing off to get me one. She’s obviously clocked me looking at the marked-down fruit and veg and gives me a rundown on where in the store to find more end-of-day bargains.

Winner: both 5-star service

Overall

Marks & Spencer is the king of the after-work shop. The store I visited is easy to navigate, packed with good ideas and delicious quick fixes with lots of healthy options and an excellent wine selection.

Plus, the brand’s traceability standards are impressive: unlike other supermarkets, it names the farm its chicken is from and the dairy the parmesan is made in.

Sure, there’s less choice without the full range of household brands (though you’ll still find staples like Marmite and, bizarrely, Bachelor’s mushy peas) but at its best it feels like a curated selection, and far less stressful than hitting a more mainstream supermarket.

Where M&S falls down is with “big cook” ingredients. Although the basics are there, they are limited: there are dried lentils and black beans but no chickpeas or kidney beans. The range of herbs and spices was more limited than at Waitrose.

Sometimes, I think M&S tries too hard. Kudos for being the first supermarket to introduce charging for plastic bags, but I’m less sure about the latest move, switching to paper bags only at the checkout. Paper bags generally are single-use only and have a higher carbon footprint than plastic; plus they are worse than useless in rain. Marks insists its versions are reusable, sustainable and water repellent, but I still wouldn’t want to risk using one to carry my shopping home in a downpour.

For Xanthe, ‘Waitrose is a real cook’s supermarket’ – Andrew Crowley

Waitrose is a real cook’s supermarket. There are still proper fish and meat counters (the equivalent-sized M&S store I visited doesn’t have one and Sainsbury’s got rid of its entirely). Sure, they’re not as good as an actual fishmonger or butcher’s shop, but one can at least buy the right amount for a recipe. The range elsewhere in the shop excels too: I counted two-dozen different extra virgin olive oils in the Portishead store.

Product availability at both stores was impressive, despite current concerns about shipping, although at Waitrose my original choice of orange juice was unavailable as was smoked streaky bacon (requiring a return trip). Waitrose only stocked my salmon choice in packs of four, while M&S only had it in packs of two.

Some of the Waitrose labelling is not clear. Take the “No 1 for animal welfare” medallion on its meat wrappers – it looks like an award, but when asked Waitrose explained it is an in-house design  justified by a good record for winning welfare awards including at the Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) Awards. When I checked with CIWF it agreed that M&S and Waitrose were the two best supermarkets for welfare, with M&S currently ahead on achieving targets for the Better Chicken Commitment set to be reached by 2026.

Where would I shop after my mystery-shopper-style comparison? Marks is still more expensive but there are things I’d make a point of buying there, such as its shortbread and Parmesan. Waitrose is a stalwart, but it won’t stop me dropping into Sainsbury’s, Aldi and the rest. A bit of healthy rivalry is good news for us shoppers. Long may it last.

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