Asda to spend £10m on revamping cafes amid closures among rivals

Asda will be revamping its cafes as part of a £10 million investment programme at a time of rival supermarkets making sweeping closures.

The money will go toward modernising 180 of its cafes and expanding the menus.

The project, led by catering firm Compass which manages the sites, will begin this month and is expected to be completed by the end of October.

Asda said the upgrades will give a “new look and feel” including introducing digital ordering screens and a table ordering service, as well as having a manned till.

An expanded menu will see new dishes including smashed avocado on toast, katsu chicken curry, topped salad bowls, wraps and a new sharing range that includes nachos and loaded fries.

Pizzas, which are currently served fresh at counters in stores, will also become part of the cafe menu.

Asda’s decision to launch the upgrade programme comes at a time when rival supermarkets have been cutting back their in-store cafes and counters.

Sainsbury’s in-store cafes have shut for good since it announced 61 closures at the start of the year.

The UK’s second-largest supermarket chain said the majority of its shoppers do not use them regularly, whereas in-store food stalls and concessions have grown in popularity.

Morrisons is closing 52 of its cafes and a raft of meat, fish and hot food counters – changes which it said were necessary to “renew and reinvigorate” the chain and invest in areas that “customers really value”.

It also said it was costing more to run the services than it was making from customer spending.

Asda has 205 cafes in total, and has no plans for any closures.

It has recently promised its biggest price cuts for 25 years under returning boss Allan Leighton, in a bid to revive the languishing chain.

Ian McEvans, vice president of commercial food at Asda, said it has “continued to demonstrate our commitment to our cafes over the years” such as with its “kids eat for £1” meal deal.

He added that cafes were “an important part of the shopping experience for any of our customers”.