Not directly BA-related, but since it is the provider of ET food, an article in the weekend FT on how M&S food sales are slumping. Perhaps more interestingly, it argues that M&S is no longer the 'aspirational' food brand which brought the UK new forms of prepared meals that were a cross between frozen meals and 'home made' and introduced ethnic and vegetarian ranges to the British mass public decades ago. The article goes on to argue that M&S is now offering something fairly undistinguished from the UK standard (unlike Waitrose which she thinks has now toppled it as more 'inspirational' for the middle class and the new caterers emerging everywhere) yet more expensive than similar food offered as part of the premium ranges of other supermarkets.
I find the article interesting. I still shop M&S with some reasonable regularity but the experience described by the author of leaving the shop without buying anything after failing to be inspired by anything is actually familiar. By contrast, if I go to Waitrose, which I also do with some regularity, I am far more tempted to buy minute-cut aged meat or fish from the counter than M&S pre-packaged (which costs even more!) and am more excited to try a Waitrose pre-packaged salad of pea shoots and edible flowers than any of the M&S ones which just seem the equivalent of Tesco's at twice the price.
It made me wonder. Has BA chosen to bet on the wrong horse?
https://www.ft.com/content/ad4eca10-...e-a7c1c7c13aab