M&S Expands 'Only... Ingredients' Collection with Mixed Results
Marks & Spencer has significantly expanded its popular 'Only... ingredients' food range, introducing twelve new products that now include meat items for the first time. The collection, which originally launched last year focusing on bread and cereals, now features pork sausages, chipolatas, beef burgers, meatballs, yoghurts, porridge, and condiments alongside its established offerings.
The new lineup includes 'Only 6 Ingredients' pork sausages and chipolatas, plus 'Only 3 Ingredients' beef burgers and meatballs. Additional products joining the range are steel cut porridge, raspberry and rhubarb yoghurt varieties, olive oil mayonnaise, and ketchup. This expansion represents M&S's commitment to providing minimally processed options for health-conscious consumers.
Testing the Premium Range: Value Versus Price
As a passionate product tester, I selected several items from both the established and new selections to determine whether their premium pricing could be justified. The sampled products included the mayonnaise and ketchup alongside the Only 5 Ingredients Bran Flakes, Only 4 Ingredients White Sliced Toasting Loaf, Only 3 Ingredients British Beef Meatballs, and the standout Only 3 Ingredients Avocado Oil Crisps.
Bread and Cereal Assessment
The Only 4 Ingredients White Sliced Toasting Loaf contains just four components: multi-flour, water, salt, and yeast - remarkably similar to homemade bread ingredients. While the texture proved excellent with a tender centre and crusty exterior, the flavour seemed somewhat muted compared to breads incorporating butter or warm milk. At £2.25, the convenience of pre-sliced bread was appreciated, but the cost seemed excessive when homemade alternatives are significantly cheaper.
The Only 3 Ingredients Bran Flakes feature a refreshingly short ingredients list of wholegrain wheat, barley malt extract, and sea salt. This represents a cleaner option compared to many supermarket cereals with extensive additives and sugar content. However, at £2.50 for a small box - £1.50 more than M&S's budget version - the premium seemed difficult to justify despite pleasant taste and quality ingredients.
Standout Success: Avocado Oil Crisps
The Only 3 Ingredients Avocado Oil Crisps emerged as the clear winner in the range. Containing just potatoes, avocado oil, and Mediterranean sea salt, these crisps delivered exceptional quality and flavour. The satisfying crunch and superior taste profile made them worth their £3.75 price tag, with one bag lasting well over a week. While initially shocked by the cost, the premium ingredients - particularly the expensive avocado oil and quality salt - justified the investment for a weekend indulgence.
Condiment Conundrum
The tomato ketchup, containing tomato puree, agave syrup, water, vinegar, salt, and ground spices, offered good flavour but leaned heavily toward tomato puree in both consistency and taste. At £2.25 for 250ml, it sits at the pricier end of supermarket options. M&S's standard sauce contains a preservative but costs just £1 for nearly 500g, making the premium version difficult to recommend for regular purchase.
The olive oil mayonnaise proved particularly disappointing. Containing six ingredients including olive oil, egg yolk, white wine vinegar, water, sea salt, and dried mustard, this £4.50 250g jar ranked as the most unpleasant mayonnaise I've ever tasted. Overly salty and overwhelmingly rich even in small quantities, it failed to impress even when mixed with tuna.
Meat Products: Quality Versus Cost
The Heritage Gold Pork Chipolatas contain just six ingredients: pork, water, sage, black pepper, sea salt, and natural sheep casings - a significant reduction from typical supermarket sausages featuring over twenty components. These proved absolutely delicious with detectable superior quality, though the £4 price tag for twelve sausages felt steep. The reduced shelf life due to minimal processing meant freezing became necessary for longer storage.
The Only 3 Ingredients British Beef Meatballs offered convenience for quick meals with excellent flavour and texture that paired beautifully with spaghetti. However, at £3.75 for twelve rather petite meatballs, the value seemed questionable when homemade alternatives using mince prove significantly more economical.
Overall Verdict: Selective Purchasing Recommended
While I appreciated the entire selection's commitment to minimal processing and quality ingredients, the premium pricing proved difficult to justify across most products. In today's challenging economic climate, affording these alternatives represents a luxury rather than everyday practicality for many consumers.
The avocado oil crisps and chipolatas stand out as genuinely worth their extra cost, delivering exceptional quality that justifies their premium positioning. Other items, while pleasant, don't offer sufficient value differentiation from more affordable alternatives. For those reducing ultra-processed food intake, selective purchasing of the standout items makes sense, but wholesale adoption of the range proves economically challenging for most households.
