Demand for meat products made without added nitrites is gathering pace, with Waitrose expanding its range after sales increased by 34% over the past year. The retailer is now taking the trend beyond sliced and roasting ham, launching two new products it describes as supermarket firsts: a Free Range British Unsmoked Gammon Joint and British Smoked Bacon Lardons.
The move reflects a wider change in how shoppers are reading food labels. Ingredients that once received little attention are increasingly becoming part of the purchasing decision, particularly among consumers looking for simpler recipes and fewer additives in everyday food.
Waitrose has doubled the size of its ‘Made Without Nitrites’ range during the past year. Its British Roast Ham and British Honey Roast Ham, launched in May, have recorded a 70% increase in sales since their introduction, while sales of its Made Without Nitrites Unsmoked Back Bacon have risen by 22% over the same period.
The significance for supermarkets is that the demand is moving beyond a niche health-conscious shopper. Gammon and bacon remain familiar household products, but retailers are increasingly being asked to offer versions that fit changing expectations around ingredients without forcing consumers to abandon products they already buy.
Lizzi Shearing, Pork Product Developer at Waitrose, said shoppers are becoming more conscious of food processing and are looking for simpler ingredients while still expecting familiar taste and quality.
For ISN Magazine, the interesting development is not simply another product launch. It is the speed at which ingredient transparency is moving into mainstream grocery.
ISN Magazine believes the next stage of the clean-label market will be decided at the shelf, where shoppers increasingly compare not only price and promotions, but also what they are actually buying.
With Waitrose now extending its nitrite-free proposition into gammon and bacon, the question is whether other supermarket chains will see the same consumer signal and follow.
