About The Grocer – Handmade, Restaurant-Quality Food
What we offer
Restaurant-quality ready meals, handmade in small batches
Clean ingredient lists, no artificial additives
A proven retail and restaurant heritage
Restaurant-quality handmade meals
Artisan, small-batch ready meals
Restaurant-quality food, prepared in a professional kitchen
No artificial preservatives, colourings or flavourings
Our food is freshly prepared, handmade in small batches, and built around the same principles you’d expect in a quality restaurant: exceptional ingredients, careful technique, and flavour first. We don’t use artificial preservatives, colourings or flavourings because we don’t need to. Instead, we rely on time-honoured methods, thoughtful sourcing, and a unique vacuum-packing process that protects the food exactly as it’s meant to be.
The result is restaurant-quality ready meals that are honest, vibrant, full of flavour, and made to be served with confidence.
From restaurant kitchens to a ready-meal revolution
By acclaimed restaurateurs Vivienne Hayman & Ashley Sumner
Founders of The Sugar Club, one of London’s most influential restaurants
A pioneer of high-quality, additive-free ready meals
The brand was founded by Vivienne Hayman and Ashley Sumner, the duo behind the internationally acclaimed, multi award-winning restaurant The Sugar Club. First established in New Zealand in the late 1980s, The Sugar Club went on to become one of London’s most influential restaurants, celebrated for its bold, eclectic menus and ground-breaking approach to flavour.
In the early 2000s, their chefs began experimenting with vacuum-packed dishes — originally prepared so meals could be enjoyed at home after service. The quality and integrity of those dishes sparked a belief that ready meals didn’t have to be a compromise.
In 2003, that belief became The Grocer On Elgin, offering handmade, restaurant-quality ready meals, free from artificial additives and presented in clear, vacuum-packed packaging that showed the food exactly as it was.
“The Grocer On Elgin cannot be faulted for the purity and provenance of their ingredients.”
Faye Maschler, ES Magazine
The Grocer On has since received industry recognition from Time Out and continues to do things differently: quietly, carefully, and without cutting corners.
Ingredients first.
Sourced from small artisan producers and trusted restaurant suppliers
Produce grown in our own Oxfordshire market garden
Chosen for flavour, seasonality and integrity
We source ours from small artisan producers, leading restaurant suppliers and our own sustainable, regenerative Oxfordshire market garden, established in 2015. This allows us to grow and select produce with flavour and freshness at the forefront.
From field to fork in the shortest time possible, our ingredients bring depth, vibrancy and balance to every dish without relying on artificial intervention.
Small-batch and proudly so
Prepared by hand in a traditional restaurant kitchen
Vacuum-packed to preserve freshness naturally
London delivery only (for now), with expansion planned
Our dishes are hand-packed in our signature clear packaging, allowing the true colour and quality of the food to speak for itself. Vacuum sealing protects freshness and flavour naturally, without preservatives, while keeping the food exactly as it leaves the kitchen.
Because of this hands-on approach, our delivery area is currently limited to London for the moment. This ensures quality, consistency and care at every stage.
Outside London: We are actively exploring delivery options to extend our reach further afield and expect to expand beyond London soon. If you’re interested in stocking The Grocer On outside our current delivery area, we’d love to hear from you. Don’t worry though, we’ll still be doing everything as we always have: by hand.
Made for those who stock real food
Designed for independent food businesses
Suitable for delis, food shops, cafés and hospitality spaces
Food you can put your name to with confidence
Our wholesale offering is designed for independent food businesses who care about what they serve.
Whether you’re running a deli, food shop or hospitality space, The Grocer range offers restaurant-quality flavour, clean ingredient lists, and a clear provenance story: products customers trust and return for.
This is food made to be served simply, confidently, and without compromise.