A UK supermarket trend of offering shoppers ready-made three course dinners as an alternative to takeaway food has caught the attention of Australian retail giant Woolworths.
Supermarket dinner deals, which offer time-poor shoppers a main course such as a risotto, bundled with a dessert and a bottle of wine for 10 British pounds - around $20 - have been a huge success in the UK, London-based food marketing expert Professor David Hughes says.
And he says the trend is likely to spread to Australia.
Woolworths has already begun rolling out $9 lunch deals - comprising a sandwich or salad, a snack and a drink - at its Metro stores and is looking at extending its offer to include dinner deals.
"This meal deal has been met with a good response from customers and we are exploring ways to offer these kinds of combination at other meal times, such as dinner," a Woolworths spokesman told AAP.
Prof Hughes, who is based at Imperial College London, visited Brisbane for the recent Australian Food and Grocery Council annual conference.
He told producers and retailers at the gathering that it would only be a matter of time before Australian supermarkets begin to compete as heavily in the meal deal space as the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose.
"It is all about meal deals in the UK. It is so competitive that I just don't know where the margin is," he said.
"In history, Britain has been known for its ready meals. And here we are, with Tesco's finest example, you can get a side dish, main course, dessert and a bottle of wine for 10 pounds."
A Coles spokesman told AAP the company was aware of the meal deals trend and had recently introduced more than 40 new fresh ready-made meals, ranging from salads and soups to curries, quiches, pizza and pasta as an alternative to takeaway food.
Prof Hughes said at Marks & Spencer people can pick up a package dubbed "the picnic" - containing a basket of four common picnic snacks and a bottle of wine - for 10 British pounds.
And on Valentine's Day this year, M&S offered a `Dine-in for 2' meal deal with a scallop starter, beef wellington and vegetables as mains, a box of chocolates, profiteroles for dessert and a bottle of wine for 20 pounds.
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