Asda’s first-ever meal deal set to shake up lunchtime market

Asda is shaking up the lunchtime market with its first-ever fixed-price meal deal, offering a main, snack and drink for less than £4.

Priced at just £3.74, the new offer marks the grocer’s punchy entry into the UK’s competitive meal deal space, just weeks after Tesco hiked its meal deal prices by as much as 10% due to inflationary pressures, and high street giants Pret a Manger and Greggs launched their own lunchtime deals. 

Replacing the previous three-for-two offer at Asda’s food-to-go counters, the new deal offers customers savings of up to 50% when compared to buying the items individually. 

Available in-store and online, including at all 478 Asda Express stores, no membership or loyalty app is required to access the savings, making Asda’s deal the cheapest non-member supermarket meal deal available. It undercuts Tesco (£4.25), Sainsbury’s (£3.95) and Morrisons (£4) on non-loyalty prices. 

Sainsbury’s, previously the cheapest non-member option, has already hiked its meal deal price several times this year.

However, Morrisons’ meal deal is cheaper when a loyalty card is used (£3.60) and, outside of the major supermarkets, Co-op’s meal deal is even cheaper, at £3.50 for members.

”Great value should be available to everyone,” said Asda’s food to go buyer Amy Wotherspoon, emphasising the new deal is “completely open to all customers – with no app or membership required, and a big range of products to choose from so there’s something for everyone”.

Customers can mix and match from a wide range of own-label and branded items, with all products in the food-to-go fixture included in the set price. With 132 mains, 336 snacks and 222 drinks available, the deal offers over 690 possible combinations. 

Asda has said it expects to sell 700,000 meal deals in the first week. Its bestselling main is the classic Asda Cheese & Onion Sandwich (£1.42), which currently sells over 50,000 each week.