In spite of the negative sentiment towards Britain’s largest grocer, Tesco still innovates and offers points of difference.

Tesco has come in for a fair amount of bad press lately and some of it may well be deserved. But in an organisation of this size there are generally positives to be found as well as the very obvious negatives that tend to be the focus of media attention.

One of these is to be found in Stansted Airport where Harris + Hoole, the ‘artisan’ coffee chain part-owned by Britain’s largest grocer, has recently opened a branch.

In the context of its surroundings this one is something of a beacon with wooden beams, a coffee servery that would put many modish cafe lounges in Soho to shame and furniture that is quite a long way removed from this budget airport’s norm.

All this and the products help to deliver experience. There are gingerbread men on sale at the counter with a tube of icing that allows the diner/drinker to personalise their purchase with smiley faces and suchlike.

On the morning of visiting (last Thursday), the bank holiday rush was on and yet although Harris + Hoole was full to bursting there was little sense of having to wait or of overworked and early morning grumpy staff.

Indie cafe feel

Wisely, Tesco has taken the view that it will help with fit-outs and build Harris + Hoole into an entity of scale that will be a brand in its own right, but without an automatic connection to the grocer.

“What Tesco and Harris + Hoole have realised is that its customers probably don’t want the same thing everywhere”

John Ryan

There are, naturally, Harris + Hoole branches in a good number of Tesco stores these days, but the indie cafe feel has been maintained and there is no overriding formatted ambience about what has been done. Indeed, the great majority of Harris + Hooles are pretty much bespoke, whether in a Tesco or not.

What Tesco and Harris + Hoole have realised is that when it comes to shopping, its customers probably don’t want the same thing everywhere and a brand can survive non-standard physical outlets as long as both products and service are of a merchantable quality.

And it is to Tesco’s credit that it has allowed this to happen, as the inevitable supermarket design impulse is to streamline the in-store elements, making everything the same everywhere.

Harris + Hoole may not be wholly owned by Tesco, but the grocer does have a big part to play in the direction that has been taken by the coffee chain. This is an example of a grocery giant still being able to consider the broader world beyond its branches and using this knowledge to do things differently.