Famous for no-frills budget flights, the famous orange signs can now be found above a corner shop, as easyJet looks to revolutionise food shopping.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Where was the EasyJet airline owner born?
2 What groups of people can benefit from the cheap groceries?
3 How much would the same item cost in a local shop?
4 How many children does the single mum have?
5 How big is the range of products on offer?
6 What EasyJet failures are mentioned?
There are no big brand baked beans here and the butter wouldn’t ring any bells but this is budget shopping, Stelios style. The Greek-born billionaire, now a knight of the realm, has taken the business model from his easyJet airline, moving from cheap getaways to cheap groceries too.
People who are, you know, pensioners, unwaged, on low wages moving off benefits into a low-wage job so they no longer entitled to use food banks, this is what caters for them. A small range of high-quality goods very, very competitively priced.
The range isn't extensive just the essentials, but for those whose cupboards are bare this food is affordable.
I think we’re struggling, whether you’re working, even if you're working now lots of people are on low wage and it’s very hard to feed the family, you know.
In the local shops it would £1,97. I’ve got a freedom pass. I come here, I can get eight for that.
Being a single mom on benefits with two little boys is very difficult to pounce the money and be able to get them treats and pounce food. I mean, I know a lot of the vegs is in tins, anything, but it’s still vegs.
There clearly is a market for cheap produce but how successful is this business going to be?
It just doesn't seem to relate to how the market has moved in recent years. I mean, people these days, most people, would want a rather more pleasant store environment and they certainly want fresh fruits, it’s a very important part of the mix at the moment… it's not just … package. I think they’d want a bigger range too, I mean families come in here, pick up a few products, then they gonna go on.
Whether it works in the long run is yet to be seen. For every easyJet success story there’s failures such as Easy Cinema or Easy Car, but with over one million people using food banks last year, affordable food may not be such a flash in the pan.
