Like many folks we’ve been regular users of Tesco grocery delivery since the start of covid, but recently we decided to give Ocado a go. I had read that their food is a lot better, and the prices aren’t that much more. So far we have found Ocado to have a much better selection, especially in “easy meals” we can just throw in the oven. On the other hand, we’ve had a few recurring issues with food going bad much more quickly than with Tesco. For example, I have now twice found my weekly loaf of hovis seed sensations bread (delivered on Saturday) to be moldy by Wednesday. I also had a punnet of blueberries go bad in a few days. Largely because of this we are thinking of going back to Tesco. I’m curious if anyone else has had a similar experience with Ocado?
I get Hovis Seed Sensations, too, (from Sainsbury’s, though) and it seems to be renowned for not lasting very long. Mine goes straight into the freezer and I just defrost what I need. Only takes 10 minutes and is always really fresh in consistency and taste.
Sadly I don’t have access to a freezer at work, and I don’t fancy trying to remember to grab two slices from the freezer every morning on my way in… 
I’ve generally not noticed any issues with quality and how long things last when purchased through Ocado vs other supermarkets.
Blueberries are also something (along with pretty much all fresh berries - Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries) that generally I find from all suppliers, if they’re fresh then use them within a day or so.
Did you find when you purchased the same products from Tesco (the same loaf of bread, the same berries) they did last longer? Or is this the first time you’ve bought them?
The main difference between Tesco (and Sainsburys, Morrisons, Waitrose and Asda) from Ocado is that the traditional supermarkets pack the stuff directly from the shelves of your local branch, whereas Ocado pack and despatch your order from larger central Warehouses dotted around the country.
That could (probably) means a bit of a further last leg journey on Ocado orders compared to the supermarkets where you’ve probably got a supermarket closer to where you live compared to an Ocado warehouse. So, if the delivery van isn’t properly climate controlled, that could impact the life span of your food. Although items stored on Supermarket shelves with the general public getting their hands all over on it could also impact that as well.
Yep I’ve bought the same items for years now - always a loaf of hovis seed sensartions bread and always two 250g punnets of blueberries, always delivered on a Saturday or Sunday. I’ve never had either item go bad before I use the last bit on the next Friday, until I started ordering them from Ocado.
When I lived in London (no car) I shopped with Ocado for like 11 years.
I can count on one hand the number of incidents from minor (substitutions) to late delivery, they are really good. Even during the pandemic they delivered reliably, I remember that awful period at the start where delivery slots were like gold dust but they really got their business together pretty quick to make it work reasonably well given the circumstances.
I stopped because I moved out of the city in late 2020 and got my driving license so just shopped at Tesco instead, but over the last few months I’ve been Ocado’ing again and have similar good experiences, no lateness or substitutions. I’ve not noticed any issues with use by dates. The only thing I kinda miss is I wish they had just stuck with Waitrose instead of partnering with M&S. I like M&S but the essential waitrose range was really good.
My personal experience has always been that Ocado is much better. We’ve tried a few different ones, but most of them had either lots of very inconvenient substitutions, poor dates, poor selection or a combo of all three. I don’t think I’ve ever had a single substitution from Ocado, they have way more items to pick from (particularly vegetarian stuff) that aren’t substituted and we haven’t had any date issues either.
Obv this is just my experience. It may be worse in your area, or you may have had bad luck individually. Though one thing that occurs is, when did you switch? It’s worth thinking about the weather since you switched… Possible that it was around when we started to get much warmer weather, and that might be what’s making the food last not as long.
I remember this, they instiuted the staggered slots thing where some people were only allowed to book at certain times. The queue to get into the site was also very annoying 
I’ve personally not had issues with the quality of the food with Ocado. Recenlty had issues with them delivering on time though. The realibility is one of the main reasons I shop with Ocado.
As an experiment I’ve started shopping with Waitrose online.
Initial observations/thoughts
- I’ve had substitutions on both deliveries so far but they’ve been reasonable
- The drivers have been really friendly, like noticably so, yesterday the guy offered to take the crates into the kitchen for me to make it easier to get everything out (Ocado has the advantage here with the bags instead of having to get individual items out of crates…)
- Price wise is probably about the same, will see how it averages out over a few months
I think I’m gonna stick with it for a bit unless the substitutions get too bad. I did feel guilty about the fact that there isn’t a Waitrose in my city (Nottingham) so I think they drive in from Loughborough or Newark which isn’t great environmentally, but then the other day I found out the Ocado drivers come in from Peterborough or Tamworth which is substantially further…
Tried a few of them, all had pros and cons.
Ocado: Friendliest drivers, everything in bags makes unpacking much quicker/easier, more expensive than others.
Tesco: Better prices, frequent substitions that were not even similar so had to be returned and then means going out to get the original items
Sainsburys: Least reliable, late a few times and twice turned up and half our order was missing, one time it had not been picked and the other time it had been delivered to the wrong customer.
Haven’t tried Morrisons and Asda is so close it doesn’t make sense to pay for delivery
A couple of years back I did a comparison between the 6 services - Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado, put together a ‘standard’ basket and then worked out extra charges like delivery charges, if there’s a monthly pass etc.
There was a £7 difference between the cheapest and most expensive baskets - Morrions was £47, Ocado was £54.
There was a 50p different between Asda and Sainsburys - and Sainsburys was the cheaper one (which surprised me). Also, between Tesco and Waitrose there was just 4 pence between them although Waitrose also had a slightly cheaper delivery charge (£3 vs £3.50 - if I remember rightly though, Tesco do different chargers for different times of the day?)
Also, compared if there were any extra charges if you click and collect instead of delivery as well - Waitrose and Morrisons it was free, other supermarkets charge.
If I can dig out what that basket was, that I used, I might do it again this weekend to see how prices have changed - I’ll be surprised if it came in less than £70 now!
Sainsbury’s do delivery from £1 if you go for a saver slot (usually £2 in reality for me).