Food that sparked M&S success

From custard to curry, we’ve enjoyed their fare for 130 years.

‘This is not just any clothing sales downturn, this is the seventh clothing downturn in a row’ is how Marks & Spencer fortunes were recently described.

But it seems shoppers may have turned their interest from tunics to teeny fruit and chinos to Chinese street food as analysts predict a 1.6% rise in M&S food sales this quarter.

In fact, many of the foods we now take for granted were pioneered by the high street giant.

The retailer’s food technology department is now celebrating its 65th anniversary. And they’ve taken us from the days when oranges were ‘so exotic’ they got a window display to themselves to the wonders of convenience cooking and “strange foreign food”.

Those trends and many more have been catalogued and documented by the company archive.

“We have a collection of more than 70,000 items about M&S history from 1884,” says archivist Hannah Jenkinson.

“It reflects the development of consumers’ tastes and spending habits and provides a fascinating insight into the social influence of food.”

Here’s a glimpse at the changing tastes through the decades.

PRE-1920s

“The first foods we sold were in the 1880s,” says Hannah. “They were things like biscuits, confectionary, flour and custard all sold in packets on the one penny market stalls.”

1920s

Loose biscuits and different type of cake were sold along with sweets and chocolates by weight. Sandwiches and ice cream were available at counters in store.

1930s

The M&S Food Department opened in 1931 across all stores, selling canned goods, fruit and vegetables. “Really creative window displays were set up encouraging people to eat more fruit,” Hannah explains.

“One of the memorable ones was for oranges with the slogan ‘The Stairway to Health’. It was like a very early forerunner of the ‘five-a-day’ fruit and vegetable campaign messages.”

When grapefruits were sold for the first time customers assumed they were a kind of orange so they were then sold with instructions on how they should be prepared and eaten.

1940s

Our shopping habits were changed forever in 1948 when self-service food shopping was introduced for the first time to a country still in the grip of post-war rationing.

Customers were given leaflets advising: “Please collect all the items you wish to buy in the wire basket provided and take it to the Cashier, who will extract the necessary points and payment for your purchases.” The same year saw Marks become the first retailer to appoint a chief chemist and set up a Food Technology Department.

“It was a big step forward in introducing standard products and applying hygiene laws,” says Hannah.

1950s

Swiss Roll, the first own brand cake line, was introduced to shelves in 1952 but the big shock was the arrival of avocados in 1959.

Virtually unseen in Britain, they were a real mystery to shoppers, especially as they were labelled “avocado pears”.

“We had complaints, including one from a lady who said she’d peeled them, removed the stone, stewed them and served them up as a dessert with custard,” said Hannah.

To prevent any further problems the word pears was dropped and leaflets were issued to anyone buying one.

They explained that they were intended as a salad and offered preparation advice.

1960s

Similar confusion reigned in the 1960s when new-fangled pistachios hit shelves and instruction leaflets had to be issued again after people ate the nuts with their shells on.

One of the big changes, brought about by the food technology experts, was having fresh chicken available in the chiller section.

1970s

The decade saw huge change.

Frozen foods were trialled in 1971. Within two years 100 stores had peas and fish and convenience foods like lasagne, pizza, fisherman’s pie and savoury pancakes.

But as more affordable package holidays meant people experienced new cuisines, Chinese sweet and sour chicken and Indian chicken korma and pork vindaloo were introduced.

“An increasing number of women were going out to work in the 1970s and they were looking for things to make their life easier,” says Hannah.

“They still wanted nutritious food but with convenience, hence the introduction of boil-in-the-bag meals.”

Again customers had to be educated with leaflets promoting “no messy pans, no cooking smells”.

The decade also saw the introduction of sell-by dates, as well as the first Wine Department launch in 1973 with just eight wines and four sherries.

1980s

Freshly-made sandwiches were launched in five stores to start the decade. Prawn and mayonnaise was the biggest seller in 1981.

Vegetarian main meals were introduced in 1985 with lasagne and moussaka among the early favourites. Ever more exotic fruits on the shelves included papayas and mangoes.

And sushi made an appearance in 1988.

1990

Thai cuisine tickled the nation’s tastebuds with Thai Satay and Thai chicken curry winning fans. The famous Percy Pigs were sold for the first time. Now more than one billion a year

2000s

The gastropub meals customers were used to eating out were replicated with a range including rump steak stroganoff and cottage pie with cheesy mash.

Additive-free pre-prepared meals were launched. “There are just so many things that we now take for granted that are actually only fairly recent developments,” adds Hannah.

“The beauty of this archive is that we are able to document and track every change.”

THE FUTURE

The retailer’s technology experts’ latest creation, the recently-launched runny poached Scotch egg has gone down a storm.

Popular Chinese street food like steamed pork buns is being introduced. Weight-watching consumers will be able to tuck in guilt-free from this summer with the first low-fat double cream, which has 75% less fat than standard.

Grains and pulses are also being introduced widely for the health conscious. And after baby bananas, mini melons and even tiny tangerines, more teeny fruit is promised.