Still trying to avoid the supermarkets? Here are the best grocery delivery services to try (plus tips for getting a good slot)
The spread of Coronavirus might be beginning to slow, but things are far from back to normal. We're still spending more time at home than we ever did before, meaning no fancy dinners with friends, no Nando's and no queuing for an hour outside of the latest trendy pop-up dinner joint. Sigh. Despite us needing more groceries to fuel those long days spent inside, going to the supermarket remains an unpleasant experience - particularly since you have to waste valuable Netflix/yoga/baking time standing in a queue.
Luckily, there are alternatives. If you want a little more freedom than is offered by these healthy meal delivery services, exploring your grocery delivery service options is highly recommended. Boris Johnson actually advised for ordering your food online when he announced lockdown all those weeks ago.
But where to order from? Don’t be put off by the rumours of scarce delivery slots and cancelled orders. Things might be a bit slower round these parts, but they are looking up. And if you’re prepared and know where to shop, you could have all the food and drink goods you need delivered to your door in one fell swoop. Most supermarkets now have reliable stock and more delivery slots being added all the time. What’s more, once you have a delivery slot booked, most companies will let you amend your order.
It’s also worth looking outside of larger supermarkets. Lesser known brands like Abel & Cole, Riverford Organic and Planet Organic all offer delivery of organic produce (including household, meat, fish and pantry products) direct to your door. Abel & Cole are famed for their delicious fruit & veg boxes. They're taking orders from new and existing customers after a little time off. Meanwhile, British Corner Shop can deliver your order of groceries, supplements, books and more as quickly as two days. Riverford Organic have re-opened their service of delicious organic produce, seasonal boxes and meal kits (including vegan meal kits) for new customers (it's all so fresh), while Planet Organic offer next day delivery on certain postcodes. There’s plenty of choice if you know where to look.
Here are the best grocery delivery services to keep your kitchen stocked up throughout lockdown and beyond. You’re welcome.
1. Abel & Cole
Best for: If you want to get your hands on a delivery of organic produce, direct to your door, Abel & Cole is undoubtedly one of the best places to look. You can order fruit and veg boxes (the star of the show), meat and fish, weekly staples and fridge, pantry and bakery produce. Oh, and household products.
Tips on getting a delivery slot with Abel & Cole: Things are largely back to normal for Abel & Cole deliveries, and after a short pause on accepting orders from new customers, both new and existing customers can place orders again. The only change is that boxes are pre-packed now, to keep up with high demand. You used to be able to edit the contents.
2. Riverford Organics
Best for: The boxes of fresh and organic fruit and veg. They're so delicious and defo worth an Instagram snap. They also offer recipe kits, including vegan recipe boxes, which will save you bags of time. On top of their seasonal boxes and recipe boxes, you can order meat, bread, eggs and more. All the essentials, basically.
Tips on getting a delivery slot with Riverford Organic Farmers: They're currently experiencing very high demand, but that shouldn't put you off. After a little time off, they're back open to new customers and are working around the clock to increase the number of delivery slots on offer. Now that's good service.
3. Planet Organic
Best for: Planet Organic delivers everything from fruit and veg to toiletries, baby food, eco-friendly cleaning products and drinks. If you live in London, it should be fairly easy to get a delivery slot.
Tips on getting a Planet Organic delivery slot: Planet Organic releases new delivery slots at regular intervals. For London orders that include fresh and chilled products, they release London Pick Your Day delivery slots every Monday and Thursday for the following week. For UK-wide orders and London orders without fresh and chilled products, we will release delivery slots on a daily basis.
4. British Corner Shop
Best for: British Corner Shop is in a unique position when it comes to delivery groceries directly to your door during the Coronavirus crisis. Instead of using traditional delivery slots like other supermarkets, they use Courier delivery. This means they are not restricted to a limited number of slots. They are taking orders as normal, and are no longer limiting the maximum quantity of each product in the UK.
Tips on getting a delivery slot: Despite high demand, the warehouse team at BCS have caught up and will now only take 2-3 days for your order to be dispatched. What's more, they are receiving supplies daily.
5. Ocado
Best for: The range of products on offer. Ocado are working really hard to get grocery deliveries out to people right across the country. It have even stopped selling heavy bottled water to free up space in vans, which allows it to deliver to an extra 6,000 homes a week! For the past decade, Ocado has been synonymous with Waitrose, but as of September 2020, that partnership will come to an end and the online retailer will begin working with Marks & Spencer. What does this mean? Well, over 5,000 own-brand M&S products will replace the 4,000 Waitrose products currently on sale.
Tips on getting an Ocado delivery slot: The minimum spend on the site is £40 right now, and next-day delivery is usually available, with one-hour time slots between 7am and 10pm. That said, the site is currently experiencing such high demand that they are prioritising vulnerable customers. Which is fair enough, right?
6. Morrisons
Best for: Morrisons are currently directing customers to their food boxes, which are great value. Prices start at just £30 and you can choose a meat, vegetarian or ready-meal food box. There's also a Ramadan food box and a selection of family boxes. There seems to be plenty of delivery slots available as things stand.
Tips on getting a Morrisons delivery slot: There's currently very high demand when it comes to ordering from Morrisons website if you're not ordering a pre-prepared box, and the supermarket has advised that all orders need to be placed as far in advance as possible. There are limited delivery slots, but they have teamed up with Deliveroo to offer a 30-minute delivery system to help those who cannot make it to the shops get essentials. It's available from 130 of its stores across around 70 products, including chopped tomatoes, bread and chicken and ready-meals.
8. TESCO
Best for: Tesco don't really need an introduction - you know exactly what you're getting with this food delivery company. They recently announced that they have expanded their home delivery and click and collect slots by 145,000, and they've also "added more than 200 new vans and recruited another 2,500 drivers and over 5,000 pickers". They're currently prioritising orders to those who are elderly or vulnerable.
Tips on getting a Tesco delivery slot: Their delivery covers most of the UK and there is no minimum spend, which is great. What's more, you can usually opt for same-day or scheduled delivery. That said, in light of the pandemic, there is currently an up-to-three week wait for a delivery time-slot. Keep checking back, because TESCO are set to release more slots in due course.
8. Amazon Fresh
Best for: Amazon Fresh has partnered with Whole Foods, Morrisons and local shops and markets to supply a wide selection of fruit, vegetables, meat and baked goods – including 105 premium offerings from Whole Foods alone. They delivery directly to your door and offer no-contact delivery.
Tips on getting an Amazon Fresh delivery: Delivery is currently very limited on Amazon Fresh, but they do release new slots throughout the day. Although these may be quite far in advance, if you'd like a slot, best practise is to keep checking at regular intervals. It's worth noting that to order from Amazon Fresh you need to be a Fresh or Amazon Prime member.
