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'High-low shopping' trend sweeping grocery aisles

High-low shopping trend reshapes UK grocery habits
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Pooja Shrivastava
By Pooja ShrivastavaJan 20, 2026
Pooja Shrivastava
A passionate journalist with about a decade of experience, Pooja has developed a strong hold on the UK grocery retail sector. From exploring legislative changes, supply chain shifts, consumer buying habits, trends to retail crime, her work is driven by a deep belief in investigating, finding the truth and telling authentic unbiased stories. Be it convenience pathbreakers, wholesale trendsetters or Post Office Horizon scandal victims, Pooja has an equal flair for deciphering industries as well as human complexities. At Asian Trader, she aims to bridge the gap between policy, trade, and the shop floor, always keeping a finger on the pulse of what matters most to retailers.
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"High-low shopping" trend is sweeping the grocery aisle in UK stores wherein Brits are regularly combining premium and everyday food ingredients to elevate otherwise simple meals, further suggesting that shoppers are savvier with grocery shopping.

According to new data from Ocado, almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of UK shoppers are following the approach of regularly combining premium and everyday ingredients to elevate otherwise simple meals. This number rises to three-quarters (75 per cent) of young Millennials looking to make the savviest use of their grocery budget.

The data further shows that ingredients shoppers prefer to splurge on include extra virgin olive oil (35 per cent), butter (34 per cent) and eggs (32 per cent). Premium Tomatoes (24 per cent) also featured highly, as well as honey (21 per cent), whilst proteins topped the overall list with fresh meat (58 per cent) and fresh fish (37 per cent) in first and second place.

On the other end of the spectrum, shoppers are happy to make savings on simple carbs, with pasta (42 per cent), rice and grains (38 per cent) and potatoes (36 per cent) topping the value-focused ingredients list.

Putting the High in High-Low, many of these premium ingredients have been influenced by social media.

Searches for Isle of Wight Tomatoes have risen on Ocado by 92 per cent year on year, whilst sales of Clarence Court Leghorn Whites have more than quadrupled year on year, up 456 per cent.

To give shoppers a dose of High-Low inspo this January, Ocado has partnered with home cook Saff Michaelis to release three recipes that splurge on hero ingredients whilst making savvy savings on others.

Saff's top tips for High-Low shopping:

  • Favour Fats: Fats like butter and olive oil impart and carry flavour so if your fats are of great quality, your flavour will be too. A good olive oil paired with a cheaper garlic will taste better than the other way around, so don’t be afraid to splurge a little here.
  • Quality Through Colour: Invest more in the ingredients that are giving colour and visual appeal to a dish.
  • Cost-Effective Carbs: Carbs should never be the most expensive thing on your shopping list. Cheaper own-brand pasta is often as good or even better than a premium brand, and equally.
  • Budget ‘Back-up Dancers’: Ingredients like soffritto mixes, tinned or jarred pulses, and stocks are all back-up dancers to your star ingredient(s).
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