Anya Ryan is a journalist, writer and critic based in London with a special interest in the arts. Her bylines include 

People are redefining status for themselves using a broad range of factors beyond solely economic ones. This new iteration of status is often based around increasingly niche and local signifiers, and status is becoming a mode of belonging and connection with like-minded people.

Insider Status

If you wander down to your local park on a hot summer’s day, you’re likely to spot the same scene playing out across picnic blankets. They’ll be supermarket tubs of finger food being passed around as friends and families graze their way through a makeshift feast. There are olives, dips, mini sausage rolls, stuffed peppers, crisps and antipasti – an eclectic mix of small bites that has been affectionately dubbed British tapas or ‘picky bits’. 

The Independent

What was once dismissed as a last-minute fridge raid or a quick-pick meal served at children’s birthday parties has become integral to British foodie culture. So much so that 70% of Britons now prefer a picky-bits meal to a takeaway, while 51% of Gen Z prefer a ‘picky tea’ to a traditional meal. 

Liverpool Echo

The Sun

It can be seen firsthand in supermarkets, too, where the aisles are stuffed with everything you could possibly need for a perfect, minuscule picnic spread. Waitrose now has a dedicated ‘picky bits’ section on its website, while M&S and Sainsbury’s directly target the after-work, al fresco ‘girl-dinner-with-tinnies crowd’ to build their own spreads through deli-style three-for-£8 deals. Morrisons has also miniaturised familiar favourites into an abundance of dinky dishes. 

 Much like Christmas or Easter, summer now has its own commercial food culture, one that is built around grazing and sharing. Taken together, this shows that the humble snack has been transformed into a distinct retail proposition – one that encourages shoppers to mix, match and curate rather than simply pick up a single product. Part of the appeal is rooted in convenience: picky bits require little preparation, accommodate different tastes and make entertaining easier. But their popularity also speaks to a desire for affordable indulgence, as people use premium supermarket products to create an abundant, curated experience without having to fork out more for a restaurant meal.

At the same time, picky bits fit neatly into increasingly fragmented lifestyles. As fixed meal times give way to more flexible work-from-home routines and ‘snackification’ blurs the boundaries between meals and snacks, people are looking for food they can eat quickly, at whatever time suits. A picky-bits spread lets people pick and choose what they want, whenever they want. Then there is the visual appeal – grazing boards with carefully arranged spreads are inherently photogenic, making them ideal for social media. As food becomes increasingly intertwined with online identity, the picky-bits spread offers a way for foodies to communicate their tastes with what they serve up. What looks like a casual collection of supermarket snacks is, increasingly, a carefully curated expression of how Britons want to eat, socialise and live.

In 2026, the average spend per eating-out visit in the UK has risen by 5.5% to £18.35, highlighting that dining out is a significant expense for Britons today. 

Lumina Intelligence

 With this in mind, picky bits offer a way to indulge at a more cost-effective price. People can pick up a selection of premium-feeling supermarket products, perhaps within a deal and turn them into a meal that feels special. A few M&S dips, an assortment of deli products, or a grazing box can transform an ordinary evening into an occasion.

Food and drink expert Charlotte Pike MBE sees convenience and indulgence as intrinsically linked. “These types of food are, by their nature, indulgent and the format they are sold in makes them highly convenient, too,” she says. 

Interview with Charlotte Pike conducted by the author

 That combination is key to their appeal: people get the sensory pleasure of trying lots of different things, while outsourcing much of the work involved in preparing them. The format also allows shoppers to create a sense of abundance affordably. A table covered with bowls of olives, dips, cheeses, crackers and other small bites can feel more generous and luxurious than a single main dish, even when the individual components are relatively inexpensive. Variety becomes a form of indulgence in itself, allowing the person to pick and choose exactly what they want. A great example of this is The Graze Box offered by The Little Green Platter Company, which is sold as having “something for everyone,” with a mix of cheeses, fruits, olives and meats for mix-and-match eating. 

The Little Green Platter Company

In an era when foodie culture can feel expensive and exclusive, people can signal their taste through what they select and how they arrange it, rather than how much they spend. The spread becomes a visible extension of personal identity: a carefully chosen combination of flavours can suggest that its curator is adventurous, well-travelled, health-conscious or simply knows where to find the good stuff. Pike argues that these spreads can draw on “influences from many cultures around the world,” reflecting people’s own personal experiences. The resulting abundance can also feel like “an extension of someone’s personality, warmth, generosity and hospitality”. In other words, the picky-bits host isn't just feeding their guests; they're communicating something about themselves. 

 This makes picky bits a form of democratised luxury, where status is expressed through curation rather than spending. The insider knowledge lies in knowing which products to combine, which supermarket ranges are worth seeking out and how to turn a collection of small purchases into a well-thought-out spread.

The traditional three-meals-a-day structure increasingly does not mesh with the demands of modern life, with 80% of Britons now put off from making time-consuming recipes. 

Good Food Nation

With hybrid working and increasingly fragmented routines, Britons are looking for food that can flex around them rather than dictate the shape of the day. It makes sense, then, that the average Gen Z turns to a ‘snackable meal’ at least three times a week. 

 Picky bits are perfectly suited to this shift: they can be eaten at a desk between meetings, picked at throughout an evening or laid out for friends to graze on at their own pace. Rather than committing to one main dish at a set time, foodies can assemble a meal from many small components. It’s a low-commitment approach to eating that offers both flexibility and control – and it’s particularly useful when different people have different schedules, appetites or dietary preferences.

“[It’s] hard to find a much more relaxed and flexible way of curating and serving food,” says Pike. Unlike a traditional meal, picky bits do not require everyone to sit down at precisely the same time or finish eating together. “Timings can be hugely elastic and do not rely on set meal times,” she says, adding that picky bits “really fit with changing eating habits which are moving away from set meal times.” 

 This flexibility is also reflected in the growing culture of ‘snackification’, where the boundaries between meals and snacks are increasingly blurred. A meal no longer has to mean a single plate of food eaten in one sitting. Instead, people are assembling their own eating experiences with a dip here, a handful of crisps there, a piece of cheese or a stuffed olive when they hear their stomach rumble. Food influencer Maddi Neye-Swift (

 on TikTok) – who has over 622,000 followers on TikTok and is currently working on her own dip brand, Messy Dips – regularly makes snack plate videos. In developing Messy Dips, Neye-Swift has centred the marketing on variety: in their first 

, the pictures featured the dips as well as crisps, small plates of chips, bread and olives.

 on TikTok) argues that picky bits make this grazing culture “easier and tastier”, particularly because the format allows people to “dip in and dip out endlessly.” At a traditional dinner, one person’s dislike of a particular ingredient can dictate the menu for everyone – with picky bits, everyone can choose a meal tailored to their own tastes from the same spread. That sense of personalisation is part of the appeal: each plate looks different, making the meal feel individual despite being shared. As Menon puts it: “Don’t like it? Don’t eat it! Like that stuffed olive? Take 10! You are literally the master of your own destiny.” 

Interview with Shrish Menon conducted by the author

Picky bits are inherently visual; they’re full of variety, colour, different textures and can be laid out in a carefully designed spread. And, in an increasingly online world where food is photographed and shared before it is eaten, their appeal lies as much in how they look as how they taste. The more abundant and eclectic the spread, the more there is to capture and turn into content. With 84% of Gen Z actively trying social media food trends, there is an opportunity for brands to use what goes viral to inspire what appears on supermarket shelves. 

Food and Beverage Magazine

This principle is evident in M&S’s Chocolate, Strawberry and Pistachio Crème Sandwich, which was said to be inspired by shoppers and viral attention. 

The Mirror

 Its visually distinctive combination of flavours reflects an appetite for food that is as photogenic and conversation-starting as it is indulgent.

This is encouraging retailers to think about ‘scroll appeal’ as much as taste. Products need to be distinctive enough to make people stop mid-scroll – whether that means layered, multicoloured dips or unexpected flavour combinations – and then compelling enough to move people from watching to buying. If it works, it creates a feedback loop between social media and supermarket innovation: people spot, share and recreate food trends online and retailers then turn these digital moments into products that can be bought in-store. Once these products reach the shelves, they generate new content and trends online, continuing the cycle. Shrish points to M&S’s Shake-A-Cucumber pots as a clear example of this process. TikTok creator Logan Moffitt popularised the “shake-a-cup” cucumber trend, inspiring countless viewers to imagine recreating the snack themselves. M&S subsequently brought the concept into stores, turning a social media food obsession into a ready-to-eat supermarket product. Now, videos of people taste-testing the 

 are all over social media. “Brands using algorithmic reinforcement to stand out in a saturated world can only be a good thing, as it leads to more innovative and disruptive food products,” says Shrish. 

Of course, some may argue that following algorithms and food trends isn’t inherently positive, so there has to be a balance between embracing discovery and maintaining personal choice and authenticity. However, Menon thinks that the visual element extends beyond social media and the products themselves. “Tablescaping and capturing the aesthetics of your spread is huge right now – food is visual self-expression,” they say. 

 A carefully curated picky-bits spread, therefore, becomes more than a meal: it’s a way to communicate taste and personality, both to those you’re feasting with and to those watching online.

Picky bits are popular because they give people freedom: freedom to choose what they eat, how much they eat and the combination. Brands that win will lean into this and design products as interchangeable building blocks that can span multiple eating occasions, rather than as fixed-format meals or snacks. This means creating interconnected ranges – think dips, add-ons and pairings – that encourage shoppers to experiment and put things together rather than buying one single product that is supposed to do it all. As Pike explains, “There is certainly the opportunity to upsell within mix-and-match packages and there is also the opportunity to increase margins within mix-and-match packages, too.” 

 Sainsbury’s does this well: The supermarket chain launched a three-for-£8 Picky Bits promotion, which embraces this style of thinking. 

National World

 Customers can choose three products from across the range, potentially combining foods inspired by different cuisines and cultures and bring them together into a mixed-up spread.

Design for ‘always on’ but low effort hosting

Picky bits are making hosting feel more accessible. “You don’t need to be Type A, a great cook or hyperorganised to host anymore. All you need is an excellent purveyor of picky bits in the vicinity and Bob’s your uncle,” says Menon. 

 Brands should therefore focus on the idea of instant hospitality and reducing the friction of spontaneous gatherings. This could be done with pre-curated hosting kits such as a ‘no-cook hosting board’ or a ‘film-ready spread’. Something Waitrose channelled in their 2026 summer advert, which talks specifically about “skiving cooking duties.” 

Waitrose

 Retailers could take this even further with pack sizes designed for incremental sharing – from small “just arrived” portions to top-up and refill formats that allow hosts to build a spread as guests arrive. The emphasis for brands should always be on ease.

Indulge in the era of repeatable food personas

It’s clear that picky bits has given Britons a new way to express themselves through what they eat. This creates an opportunity for brands to help people hone recognisable grazing styles they can return to and adapt to the occasion. As food and drink TikToker Shrish explains, the format’s “choice element” means people can curate a spread around their own preferences, while its broad range could even appeal to high-protein or high-fibre diets. Brands could therefore create distinct ‘grazing worlds’ for different people or events. For example, the indulgent luxe grazer might choose something mini but caviar-topped, paired with creamy dips, while a clean wellness-style eater might opt for a more fruit– and veg-focused spread. Rather than promoting one-off recipes, brands should encourage repeatable ‘signature spreads’ – giving people the products and pairings that work together, to help them develop a unique grazing style of their own that they can return to again and again.

 of Britons now prefer a ‘picky bits’ meal to a takeaway

In 2026, the average spend per eating-out visit in the UK has risen by 

The average Gen Z turns to a ‘snackable meal’ at least 

Britons are using picky bits to express their tastes and personalities

Brands can use viral social media food trends to inspire supermarket innovation, turning them into products that people are excited to discover and buy

Picky bits are becoming a defining British eating occasion, combining affordable indulgence with the freedom to graze, share and socialise with minimal effort

Charlotte Pike MBE is a food and drink expert with over a decade of experience. Her work includes writing, consulting and speaking. Her work was honoured with an MBE for services to food writing and food education in The King’s Birthday Honours, 2024.

Charlotte is the author of seven cookery books – some of which have won and been shortlisted for leading International and UK-based book awards. Her sixth book, 

 was published by Hamlyn in November 2024 and her seventh, 

 was also published by Hamlyn in September 2025.

As one of the UK’s leading independent cookery teachers, Charlotte taught cookery classes at schools around the UK for a number of years. She is Founder and Director of Field & Fork School, a food education social enterprise.

, is a TikTok content creator. Her content and reviews feature picky bits and restaurant reviews in the UK.

United Kingdom

Eating and Drinking

Britons are turning to picky bits for a variety of reasons – from affordable indulgence to flexible grazing and low-effort hosting. But as the format evolves from a casual snack into a defining eating occasion, what does its popularity reveal about the changing nature of British food culture?

Analysis

Anya Ryan

Charlotte Pike

Shrish Menon

Related Macro Behaviours

Insider Status