Which foods are becoming viral hits in the UK’s ‘culinary wasteland’?
That bread has sold out again.
As usual, I popped into the supermarket over the weekend to pick up my “weekly shop”. I headed to the bakery aisle in search of Jason’s Sourdough, only to find the shelf completely bare, save for a white “restocking” label. In just a few months, this is the third time I’ve come up empty-handed.
This sliced loaf, priced at £2, has always been a staple in my kitchen. Why has it suddenly become such a hit?
A quick search on my phone revealed that it’s actually gone viral. Social media is flooded with praise; some users post videos of empty shelves, while others claim that finding a loaf is like “winning the lottery”. Some have even joked that bagging a loaf of Jason’s Sourdough requires treating it like a full-time job.
In 2024, premium olive oils, vinegars, salts, and this particular sourdough became the most sought-after items in British supermarkets. According to the annual food and drink report from the major chain Waitrose, demand for apple cider vinegar grew by 6% last year, while sales of Cornish flake sea salt surged by 79%.
Demand for high-quality extra virgin olive oil also rose by 15%. Despite prices skyrocketing due to a plunge in production in 2024, consumers remained eager to get their hands on extra virgin varieties.
After several years of belt-tightening during the pandemic, consumers seem more willing to spend more on their diet, allocating more of their budget to affordable basic staples like bread, oil, and seasonings.
Behind this trend, people are chasing more than just the food itself. A particular term has appeared repeatedly in social media posts and news reports, pointing to a collective anxiety driving these changing consumption habits: ultra-processed food (UPF).
I. The Anti-UPF Movement
With the ubiquity of industrial food, people have found that many health issues are not closely linked to nutritional content, but rather that the processing methods themselves lead to a loss of control over eating behaviours.
In 2009, Brazilian nutritionist Carlos Monteiro first proposed the NOVA classification system, which categorises food into four groups based on the extent of processing. The final category consists of ultra-processed foods (UPF).
Ultra-processed foods are those with complex ingredients that have undergone deep industrial processing. They often contain industrial additives such as emulsifiers, flavour enhancers, and artificial aromas. While they have a long shelf life and are convenient to consume, they are a far cry from the original raw ingredients.
Since the 2010s, multiple studies have pointed out a clear link between high UPF intake and obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, suggesting they may trigger stronger appetite responses and place a heavier burden on metabolism.
In recent years, ultra-processed foods have entered the realm of public policy and international debate. In 2014, the Brazilian government revised its dietary guidelines to explicitly recommend reducing the intake of ultra-processed foods; since then, countries such as France, Canada, and Belgium have also incorporated restrictions on UPFs into their health policies.
In the post-pandemic era, people are more health-conscious than ever, and the concept of ultra-processed food appears frequently in the media, books, short videos, and consumer reviews. In the UK, an increasing number of consumers have begun to scrutinise ingredient labels, sparking an anti-UPF movement.
The rise of Jason’s Sourdough has clearly ridden this wave. The brand’s sales director once emphasised: “We don’t add emulsifiers, additives, or preservatives. That is the cornerstone of our brand.”
II. Eating Clean or Eating with Style?
Waitrose’s annual survey also shows that 55% of consumers prefer cooking at home, 46% say they cook every day, and many have tried baking their own bread or pickling vegetables over the past year.
According to second-quarter 2025 data released by food giant Campbell’s, the proportion of consumers cooking at home has reached its highest level since the pandemic, with spending in the dining category increasing across all income brackets.
The cooking habits formed during the pandemic do not seem to have faded; instead, they have become further entrenched. This shift has stimulated demand for high-quality basic ingredients, indirectly fueling the popularity of olive oil and sea salt. Rather than ready-made sauces or snacks with miles of ingredients, consumers are more willing to pay for raw staples.
This shift in interest is not just about the palate; it has quietly extended to the realms of aesthetics and identity.
For instance, almost every major supermarket chain in the UK has its own brand of extra virgin olive oil, with 500ml costing around £5. However, the most eye-catching product last year was Citizens of Soil olive oil, which is priced three times higher.
The brand champions concepts such as regenerative agriculture and female producers, but what truly makes it stand out is its designer bottle—reminiscent of a wine bottle—and its pouch-based refills for recycling. Elegant, eco-friendly, and Instagrammable, it seems to satisfy every consumer’s imagination of “good olive oil” and has become a new way to showcase one’s taste.
*House & Garden* magazine reports that a stylishly designed bottle of olive oil is gradually replacing wine as a new choice for gifts when visiting friends. A similar trend can be seen with tinned sardines.
Although supermarket own-brand versions cost only about £1, the fashionably packaged yellow tins from Ortiz, priced at £6, remain highly popular.
The wave of premiumisation seems to have spread to every corner of the kitchen. From tinned fish and beans to vinegar and salt, the basic staples once tucked away in the depths of the cupboard, serving as mere background, are undergoing a glamorous transformation: they are becoming more beautiful, more narrative-driven, and more expensive.
Social media and algorithms have played a decisive role.
According to the Waitrose annual report, 18-to-34-year-olds have long since stopped relying on traditional recipes; instead, they search for #WhatToEatTonight on social platforms, where short-form videos and imagery are reshaping their standards for what they “should” eat.
Under popular hashtags like #eatingclean—linked to the rejection of ultra-processed foods—countless food and lifestyle bloggers provide the answer through a curated display of similar ingredients and aesthetically pleasing condiment jars.
III. Resisting Ultra-Processed Foods Also Requires a Reflection on the Food Industry Itself
For many others, ultra-processed foods remain the cheapest and most accessible daily staples. Latest data from The Food Foundation shows that the cost per kilocalorie of healthy food is more than double that of unhealthy food.
The UK government suggests a healthy weekly diet costs approximately £9 per person per day (about 87 yuan). For the lowest-income households, this would mean spending 45%–70% of their disposable income. In reality, therefore, low-income groups spend only about £4 per person per day (about 38 yuan) on food—less than half of the government’s recommendation.
Furthermore, the movement against ultra-processed foods was originally a critique of the modern food industry: a rejection of the proliferation of additives and a call to return to the essence of food, ultimately aiming to make eating healthier, simpler, and more equitable. However, through rapid commercialisation, this initiative for de-industrialisation has instead reinforced a more covert and sophisticated industrial structure.
Take sourdough, for example. More and more brands emphasise natural starters and the absence of additives, which indeed distinguishes them from the ‘fake sourdough’ found in supermarkets; yet, they still rely on automated equipment and standardised processes. Under the guise of packaging and marketing, they appear infinitely close to artisanal baking, while in reality, they are simply finding a balance between efficiency and brand narrative within an industrial system.
Moreover, there are no universal labels or standards for ultra-processed foods, and there are discrepancies in how different groups understand the NOVA classification.
For instance, ‘Wholemeal Ciabatta’ and ‘Tiger Rolls’ from the Jason’s range were classified as ‘ultra-processed foods’ by the open food database Open Food Facts, sparking some controversy among consumers.
In the absence of universal standards, some brands—responding to consumer expectations for ‘clean’ and ‘low-additive’ products—have quickly linked ‘clean health’ with elements such as limited provenance, premium craftsmanship, and sustainable packaging. In this way, foods that meet basic nutritional needs have been transformed into higher-priced, more beautifully packaged lifestyle products that signal social status.
Fuelled by the influencer economy, consumer choices remain concentrated on a handful of ‘viral’ products. Far from distancing itself from the industrial system, this trend has instead reinforced a new hierarchy of food consumption through a form of cultural capital.
It is also a systemic issue concerning the food industry, social equity, and cultural imagination, requiring us to learn how to identify ingredients, understand nutrition, and reflect on our consumption.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/ultra-processed-foods
https://www.johnlewispartnership.media/news/johnlewis/28112024/waitrose-food-drink-report-2024
https://foodfoundation.org.uk/publication/broken-plate-2025
https://uk.openfoodfacts.org/cgi/search.pl?search_terms=Jason%27s&search_simple=1&action=process
Editor: Ze En