Tesco tests AI meal planner that builds customer baskets automatically

Tesco is piloting an artificial intelligence tool that moves beyond suggesting individual products to constructing entire shopping baskets for customers. The meal-planning assistant, developed in partnership with the British AI consultancy Tomoro, analyses customer preferences and dietary requirements to propose recipe ideas. Crucially, the system can add the necessary ingredients directly into a shopper’s basket, effectively automating the decision-making process for weekly grocery purchases. This initiative represents a significant shift in how the retailer leverages its data, moving from passive recommendation to active basket construction.

The pilot is currently in a beta phase, available to approximately 280,000 Tesco employees before a wider rollout to the general public. This tool operates independently from other artificial intelligence initiatives within the company, although the strategic objectives overlap. Tesco has a separate strategic partnership with Adobe, announced in April, which focuses on bringing agentic AI capabilities and personalised content generation to Clubcard offers and marketing. This collaboration includes a joint Innovation Lab where Adobe engineers work alongside Tesco’s technology teams. Additionally, the grocer signed a three-year agreement with AI company Mistral in December to overhaul internal workflows and Clubcard offers. Together, these moves indicate a comprehensive AI strategy that spans meal planning, marketing, and back-end operations.

Tesco holds a significant position in the market, controlling close to 30% of the United Kingdom grocery sector. Its Clubcard loyalty program provides access to one of the largest first-party datasets in retail, comprising purchasing histories that span three decades. Nathan Hancock, Adobe’s vice president and managing director for the UK, Ireland, Middle East and Africa, described the combination of these assets as a genuine step-change for modern retail personalisation. He noted that few retailers globally have built the depth of trust and knowledge that Tesco has achieved. This data advantage allows the retailer to tailor automated suggestions with a level of specificity that generic algorithms may struggle to match.

The adoption of such technology is not unique to Tesco. Albertsons launched an AI search tool in September of last year, which its CEO Susan Morris reported contributed to a 10% increase in basket size for users. The company subsequently rolled out a more comprehensive agentic shopping assistant across all its store banners in December. The underlying logic for these retailers is that the entity which answers the customer’s question about what to eat first gains control over the contents of the cart. This prevents the decision from being diverted to external recipe websites or rival retailer applications. Gabriel Corbett, co-founder and CEO of the UK-based AI grocery app Mealia, explained that agentic AI differs from standard recommendation engines by actively shaping demand and influencing which products end up in baskets at scale. This capability also allows retailers to steer demand toward at-risk inventory, thereby improving margins and reducing food waste.

Consumer interest in delegating such tasks is substantial. A survey by PYMNTS Intelligence of 2,299 US adults found that 69% are interested in delegating subscription management, grocery shopping, and meal planning to agentic AI. This level of interest places grocery shopping among the highest categories for AI adoption, alongside health and wellness management and travel planning. While the survey reflects US shoppers, the trend aligns with developments in the UK. This shift poses a challenge for brands that have traditionally competed for physical shelf space and in-store promotions. If an AI assistant reconstructs a weekly shop automatically based on stored preferences, brands not already part of a customer’s established pattern may not be surfaced for consideration, regardless of their paid placement. Retail media budgets may therefore need to shift toward influencing the data and rules that AI agents weigh before generating shopping lists. For Tesco, the critical test is whether its extensive Clubcard data is sufficient to make automated baskets genuinely useful, thereby creating a habitual, low-friction purchasing loop that reduces the likelihood of customers browsing or switching retailers.