Vegetarian, gluten-free? New online technology promises to help Tesco customers

Customers buying groceries online at Tesco will soon be able to see at a glance which foods work for their diet, whether they eat vegetarian, kosher, halal, gluten-free or paleo food.

From next week, shoppers will be able to filter their food searches, reflecting intolerances, allergies or other dietary requirements when they buy via the Tesco mobile app. The new service, which is powered by technology from Spoon Guru, will be rolled out to the full online platform in the summer.

“We want to make it easy for customers to shop with us online and help them make the right food choices, so we’re really excited to be working with Spoon Guru,” said Tesco chief customer officer Alessandra Bellini. “Adding their technology to Tesco.com is another little help for customers, and we hope it will make a big difference to those with specific diets and tastes.”

Markus Stripf, chief executive of Spoon Guru, said: “We know from our own research that 54% of UK adults followed a diet in 2016. Whether due to a lifestyle choice, allergies or intolerances, Britain’s dietary needs are vast and using technology like Spoon Guru, retailers can make shopping much simpler, easier and a more pleasurable experience.

“From inception our goal at Spoon Guru was to support the millions of people who struggle with intolerances, allergies and specific dietary needs and we are thrilled that Tesco recognises this and is partnering with us to evolve a game-changing solution for the population’s changing dietary needs.”

The move chimes with Tesco’s ongoing Little Helps to Healthier Living campaign, which includes lower prices on hundreds of products, including fruit and vegetables, and helpful ‘little swaps’, many of which contain lower levels of salt, fat and sugar than the standard alternative.

The retailer, an Elite retailer in IRUK Top500 research, also says its move to give out free fruit to children shopping with their parents in store (pictured) has proved a popular one. So far it has given out 20m pieces of free fruit.