Can supermarkets take on the takeaways?

Walking into the Sedlescombe Sainsbury’s superstore recently I passed a girl in tracksuits carrying a stack of steaming pizza boxes. ‘I didn’t know Sainsbury’s does takeaway pizza,’ I said to my husband. ‘Anniversary dinner?’ (two days away). Why not? 

Sainsbury’s has been toying with made-to-order takeaway food for a few years, while shutting down their butchers, fishmongers and delis. It is opting for fast food in place of skilled, knowledgeable customer service. And it really shows. 

Testing its products wasn’t quite as easy as I’d anticipated. I can’t attest to all Sainsbury’s but the level of disorganisation and incompetence at the Sedlescombe branch on the A21 astounds me. I tried on three different occasions to purchase a hot pizza from their takeaway counter, which is presumably built for convenience and fast service. The first time I went, the pizza counter was closed (although it was 11 a.m., fair enough). I decided to wait an hour until it opened, taking my children off to read Peppa Pig books in the back aisle.