Upmarket ready meal maker and retailer Cook has listed its products with a major supermarket for the first time in its 29-year history.
A deal with Ocado Retail sees a range of 29 Cook frozen meals – including one and two-portion meals, family portion meals, and its recently relaunched Kids meal range – available on Ocado.com.
It marks a major shift in strategy for the brand, which had previously only sold its meals via its own website and network of around 130 owned stores, as well as stocking products at about 900 independent stockists and farm shops.
“We believe there’s a strong fit between our brands and Ocado reaches many customers in parts of the country where we have fewer shops,” Chris Portwood, chief operating officer at Cook, told The Grocer. “Together, we see this as a great opportunity to introduce Cook to more people.”
The “carefully selected” range on Ocado is made up of Cook ”customer favourites” including Chicken, Ham & Leek Pie, Moroccan Lamb Tagine, Roasted Vegetable Lasagne and Chicken Tikka Masala.
Despite the major retailer deal, Portwood said for the brand’s existing customers, “it’s very much business as usual”.
”Our shops, website and home delivery service will continue to offer the widest choice, seasonal favourites and the personal service that’s at the heart of Cook,” he said. “We have a number of new shops opening this year and will continue to work with local community partners to have a positive impact in the communities where we have our shops.”
In January, the company reported a “pleasing year” thanks to its focus on new stores, online subscriptions and improvements in its manufacturing capacity.
Overall sales at the posh ready meal maker and retailer grew by 10% to £131.7m in the year to 31 March 2025, according to latest accounts published at Companies House.
Cook, which is part-backed by Associated British Foods, invested £6.7m into its stores and supply chain. Further improvements are underway this year, including a major new project – dubbed Vanilla – to construct a new cold storage store at its Sittingbourne HQ in Kent. The Grocer understands that the project will double the capacity of Cook’s cold storage.
Ocado said the deal with Cook was about ”offering our customers even more choice than before”.
“The frozen range brings an added convenience to meal planning, where you can trust a delicious dinner is always ready when you need it,” said Aimee Zygo, buyer for frozen meal solutions at Ocado Retail.
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