In this week’s social media roundup, we’re slicing through the buzz of social media to see what’s happening in the world of grocery.

From an insight into the repetetive monotony of the shop radio to the World Cup of Cheese, the internet’s aisles are packed with chatter. Former E4 regular George Lamb talks regenerative farming with his new Wildfarmed Waitrose debut stirring up sandwich debates, and Aldi takes a cheeky swing at Tesco with the idea of inflated loyalty pricing.

Check out what you missed this week

Retail media groundhog day

@charliekneller1 Tender Tesco Finest Wild Garlic Kiev #fyp #tesco #tescoworker #work #worklife #job #jobs ♬ original sound - Charlie Kneller

Restaurant workers hear the Deliveroo alert sound in their sleep; former McDonald’s workers hear the electronic beeping of a fast food kitchen and have flashbacks; Tesco worker and TikTok user @charliekneller1 hears “tender Tesco Finest wild garlic kievs” in his nightmares. In a series of posts on the popular social media platform, Charlie Kneller shares the mundane repetitiveness of retail media.

There are only so many licensed songs and in-store ads on a playlist the average shopper would hear during their time in store, but our brave essential workers in supermarkets and shops are there for hours hearing the same phases over and over. User @felonymelanie felt the pain and commented: “The next video will just be him rocking in a corner repeating this over and over and over.”

When you go to sleep tonight, spare a thought for Charlie. Perhaps it’s time for Tesco to diversify its in-store playlist, sparing its staff from garlic kiev fatigue.

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World Cup of Cheese

Sport not your thing? UK politics too toxic? Boycotted Eurovision this weekend? Not to worry, self-styled ‘cheesemonger to the stars’ Joe Bangles is known for quizzing celebs on their cheeses of choice. Now, he has united the internet’s obsession with cheese, launching the 2024 edition of his World Cup of Cheese knockout public voting competition. 

Round one, group five ended with 4.5k people voting, with the fan favourite cheddar going on to the next round. With 64 cheeses to get through, which will you put your money on?

Fans of this tournament include X user @Coedwig_fach: “I’m concerned about the number of trips to Waitrose and potential loans I may need to take out to participate in @JoeBangles11 cheese world cup. But I’m all in!” She shared a picture of her recent cheese haul to play along with the competition. @JGEditing replied: “Maybe Waitrose could become the official partner of the 2024 World Cup of Cheese?” 

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Gluten-free Wagamama fakeaway from M&S

@aimeevivian Its another homemade and this time we went to @Marks & Spencer to make a @wagamama Katsu Curry. Let’s face it we all love a cheeky katsu and they have made it super easy for us with all these ingredients #glutenfree #coeliac #shopping #supermarket #homemade #haul #katsu #fyp #marksandspencer #shopwithme #celiac ♬ original sound - Aimee Vivian

Capital radio presenter and Coeliac UK ambassador Aimee Vivian took to TikTok to share how to save some money on costly meals out, and instead get stuck in to a homemade Wagamama-style katsu curry – made from gluten-free ingredients found in M&S.

With rice, katsu paste, coconut milk, broccoli soy sauce or tamari for a gluten-free alternative, as well as M&S’s British Katsu Chicken Tenders or Made Without Chicken Breast Fillets, she wrote: “Let’s face it, we all love a cheeky katsu and they have made it super easy for us with all these ingredients.”

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Regenerative farming: Wildfarmed x Waitrose

Former TV and radio presenter George Lamb talks about how his business with Groove Armada band member Andy Cato began in a nightclub in Ibiza, and is now launching its regenerative farming-friendly bread range into Waitrose. The brand is to roll five bread SKUs into stores from 1 May, followed by baguettes and a duo of flour products in June. The launch would mark “the start of a major disruption in the traditional, stale bread aisle”, Wildfarmed claimed. “By choosing to buy products made from crops grown without the use of pesticides, shoppers could help “bring life back into our dying soil and ecosystems”.

Commenters on the post praised the eco credentials of the new bakery launch but the top comments were, in classic internet style, criticising how Lamb made the sandwich. Instagram user @emilydigests wrote: “I know we should be focusing on you telling us about the bread, but it was really distracting seeing you not butter both pieces of bread! What happened to the top piece of bread!? What’s going on there!” @pleasurecactus added: “What kind of madman slices his sandwich side to side instead of corner to corner? Love what you’re doing anyways.” @gillntonic said: “Pickle always next to the cheese or the ham… never next to the beetroot!”

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Aldi takes a pop at Clubcard Prices

X user @meddlingmike tweeted at Aldi with a typo he spotted in store, listing some Mr Kipling cakes as discounted from £7,147.03 down to just 79p – what a bargain. The ever sharp-tongued social media team behind Aldi’s X account replied: “It’s giving @Tesco x”, taking a swing at the commonly held view that loyalty-based pricing has lead to original listed prices being heavily inflated.

Aldi continued to tease, commenting: “Imagine still getting the discount without needing the reward scheme… oh wait, we don’t have to” and user @liamsmi continued to joke: “I can’t believe I took out a £7,200 loan just to find out they are reduced in price the next day.”

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Charles is The Grocer’s digital and social producer, specialising in trend pieces, profiles and range previews - curating content and shaping The Grocer’s online presence. Charles conducts interviews with industry professionals, providing a glimpse into the personal and professional lives of leaders in food and drink through My Alternative CV profiles, and offering insight into what a career in fmcg could look like for other young people through My Food and Drink Job. They preview upcoming product ranges, especially during seasonal events, highlighting new product launches, trends, and innovations before they hit supermarket shelves. Charles also contributes to analysis pieces covering trends, industry developments and attitudes on social media.View full Profile

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