Main, snack and drink items sold as part of the standard £3.90 meal deal are included in the offer, but products from the £5.50 premium meal deal are excluded.
Own label sandwiches, wraps and salads can be purchased as a main in the meal deal, while main, snack and drink options from brands such as Huel, Graze, Oatly, BOL and NOURISH are also available.
In total, more than 200 snacks and 95 drinks are included in the offer, which is only available at Amazon Fresh stores in Southwark, Holborn, Moorgate, Wood Wharf, Euston, Liverpool St, Monument, Hoxton, East Croydon, West Hampstead and Aldgate East.
Launched on 6 January, Amazon said the offer represents “London’s best value meal deal”.
“From eating healthy to saving money after the festive period, Amazon Fresh is helping Londoner’s beat the January blues one meal deal at a time,” the retailer added.
Amazon operates 21 Amazon Fresh sites in the UK, all of which are located in London with the exception of one store in Sevenoaks, Kent.
The deal is only available in store and not via delivery partners such as Deliveroo.
Meanwhile, customers must pay using the Amazon app and can only take advantage of the offer once.
Amazon should be ‘taken seriously’
In reaction to the announcement, corporate finance director at Rollits, Julian Wild, urged the F&B industry to take Amazon seriously and predicted that the £1 meal deal offer would not be a one-off.
“Clearly this is a limited loss-leader to encourage consumers to sign up for the Amazon app and get them accustomed to using Amazon for food and drink buying,” he told Food Manufacture.
“Amazon are brilliant at what they do and should be taken very seriously in the food marketplace. They are very well-placed to take a significant share over time.
“I don’t think this one-off piece of marketing will have any material short-term impact but it’s paving the way for Amazon to raise its profile in the food space.”
Bid to attract ‘new customers’
Meanwhile, Kirk Brazier, growth director at FMCG price monitoring service ESA Retail, told Food Manufacture that given the huge savings the £1 meal deal affords consumers, the move likely represents an attempt by Amazon to “encourage new customers to take the leap and engage with their app".
“It will be interesting to see the impact this has, especially when there are still a few hurdles to get past in order to take advantage of this offer,” Brazier added.
Shore Capital vice chair Clive Black agreed that Amazon was likely using the promotion to appeal to a new set of consumers.
“I see Amazon’s move as a focused move to seek to attract footfall for a business that simply has not taken off in the UK,” Black told Food Manufacture.
“Like the Asda pricing initiative, it is restricted to January, so a promotion, and I imagine Amazon is funding much of the activity, any supplier contribution likely to be dependent upon volume.
“Hence, the waves of this move are minor in my view, whether or not it extends or builds remains to be seen, if so then maybe a different view is appropriate.”
