Charlie Bigham has launched a range of five premium supermarket ready meals costing up to £30 aimed at Brits unhappy at the ever-increasing cost of dining out.
The entrepreneur’s new Brasserie range was added to the shelves of 70 Waitrose stores today for shoppers willing to pay £29.95 for pre-prepared beef wellington.
The other options in the collection to ‘bring dining out, in’ are a salmon wellington for £19.95, and £16.95 for coq au vin, duck confit and venison bourguignon.
Mr Bigham said the rising cost of eating in restaurants was the motivation for the new meals, which are two to three times the cost of his firm’s existing products.
He said: ‘Dining out has got more expensive – we love eating in restaurants but you look at the bill at the end of the night now and you think ‘ooh, this has gone up’.
‘And that’s not to criticise our wonderful hospitality industry at all. Their costs keep going up. But people do still want the dining-out occasion but are happier to do this in, rather than out.’
The beef wellington is wrapped in mushroom duxelles made with Pedro Ximénez and chicken liver. This is dressed with Dijon mustard and thyme, then hand-rolled and encased in golden puff pastry.
The venison bourguignon uses wild-caught venison shoulder from the Scottish Highlands, including the royal Balmoral Estate.
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The £29.95 beef wellington is wrapped in mushroom duxelles made with Pedro Ximénez and chicken liver, dressed with mustard and thyme, then hand-rolled and encased in puff pastry
The beef wellington is the most expensive dish from the entrepreneur’s new Brasserie range
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Charlie Bigham was set up in 1996 and the businessman has more than 60 meals in his range
The dish is marinated, seared and slow-cooked in red wine until tender, then served with roasted Borettane onions, chantenay carrots, chestnut mushrooms and mashed potato topped with parmesan cheese.
The coq au vin is made up of French-trim chicken legs, marinated in red wine and slowly braised before being served on top of a sauce of roasted chestnut mushrooms, chantenay carrots, onions and bacon – then finished with potato and celeriac dauphinoise.
Meanwhile the salmon wellington sees a sushi-grade salmon fillet layered by hand with spinach, capers and leeks in a white wine velouté sauce.
This is then wrapped in mushroom duxelles, Pedro Ximénez and golden puff pastry.
Finally, the duck confit includes Confit Gressingham duck legs slow-cooked in their own fat with garlic, thyme and rosemary until tender.
This is served on a sauce of lentils, red wine and smoked bacon, finished with caramelised onions and a garlic-parmesan crumb – accompanied by sliced potatoes and a cheddar-parmesan topping.
Mr Bigham hopes consumers will consider his new range to be an alternative to a meal out in a cafe or restaurant.
Hospitality businesses have been forced to put up prices as costs such as labour, energy and tax soar.
At the top end, the new meals will be almost three times as expensive as Mr Bigham’s traditional offerings, which cost around £10 for a two-person serving of dishes.
These include the chicken tikka masala (£9.95), fish pie (£10.50), and lasagne (£9.95).
Despite the cost, Mr Bigham said he expected the range to have broad appeal among consumers.
‘If you think about it, you get a pizza for two delivered for £16. And these are not just eaten by rich people in certain London postcodes.’
The average restaurant meal cost 4.9 per cent more in August than it did a year earlier, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Rising grocery price inflation has also hit consumers hard, with shoppers also increasingly seeing their favourite items altered both by ‘shrinkflation’ and cheaper ingredients.
Mr Bigham said his firm had turned to neither, with portion sizes and ingredients remaining unchanged in an effort to protect its reputation as a higher-quality producer.
He said: ‘Making high-quality food is our mantra, so if we have to make the choice, we’ll put prices up.’
Mr Bigham added: ‘Showstopping food doesn’t always have to mean going out.
‘With the Brasserie range, you can have that same restaurant-quality experience at home – the kind of treat-worthy food you’ll want to take your time over and really enjoy together.’
He also suggested that some of the new meals could be used for Christmas celebrations, and more options could be produced if the initial rollout is successful.
Research commissioned by the company found 86 per cent of couples agree that food is the most important part of a romantic evening, and 48 per cent would rather stay in than go out.
The £16.95 venison bourguignon uses wild-caught venison shoulder from the Highlands
The venison bourguignon is marinated, seared and slow-cooked in red wine until tender, then served with onions, carrots, mushrooms and mashed potato topped with parmesan cheese
The £16.95 coq au vin is made up of French-trim chicken legs, marinated in red wine and slowly braised before being served on top of a sauce of mushrooms, carrots, onions and bacon
The coq au vin dish under the new range is finished with potato and celeriac dauphinoise
The duck confit from Charlie Bigham is on sale for £16.95 and includes Confit Gressingham duck legs slow-cooked in their own fat with garlic, thyme and rosemary until tender.
The duck is served on a sauce of lentils, red wine and smoked bacon, finished with caramelised onions and a garlic-parmesan crumb – accompanied by sliced potatoes
The salmon wellington is available for £19.95 and sees a sushi-grade salmon fillet layered by hand with spinach, capers and leeks in a white wine velouté sauce
The salmon wellington is the second most expensive meal in the new range on sale at Waitrose
News of the Charlie Bigham premium ready meals did not impress some social media users
Every dish is made in small batches in the brand’s London kitchen.
Miriam Tellis, Waitrose head of trading, meal solutions and bakery, said: ‘Almost 30 years ago, Waitrose was the first supermarket to stock Charlie Bigham’s meals.
‘Since then, they have become firm favourites with our customers and we’re incredibly excited to exclusively launch the new Charlie Bigham’s ‘Brasserie’ range in selected Waitrose shops and online from today.
‘This premium range includes delicious restaurant inspired dishes, made from high quality ingredients to create a special dining experience in the comfort of your own home. We’re excited for our customers to try it.’
Charlie Bigham was set up in 1996 and his range of dishes now has over 60 meals made and sold exclusively in the UK, including chicken tikka masala, lasagne and fish pie.
In September 2024, Mr Bigham launched his first cookbook, Supper with Charlie Bigham.
His firm, which employs about 700 people, recorded a pre-tax profit of £7.7million in the year to August last year, up by more than a third. Sales rose by 9 per cent to £144million.
But news of the new ready meals did not impress some social media users, with one tweeting: ‘£30 for a ready meal is absolutely insane. Are we as a society now so antisocial for there to be a market for this?’
Another wrote: ‘Obviously yer man doesn’t target the plebs, but surely even his middle-class market knows that you can get a main course in a local restaurant or pub for £15, even in that there London.’
It comes after Deliveroo said it was seeking to expand in the midweek dinner market as it launched a new family meal offering in collaboration with restaurant brands.
The takeaway delivery specialist said it was working with restaurant partners such as Pizza Express, Wagamama, Bill’s and Dishoom to create bespoke meal formats for the first time as part of the launch.
Deliveroo is partnering with more than 30 UK restaurant brands to offer large shareable meals for up to four people for £25 or under under the ‘Family Dinneroo’ brand.
