Well, summer is well and truly here, school’s out and it’s cool enough now for a barbecue!
Here are some great summer products that I wanted to share with you.
By Heck! These are good
When looking for something for that barbie, not everyone wants pork or beef, so have a look at the great range from HECK! The Yorkshire-based food company continues to raise the bar for nutritious convenience food.
Following demand for its Chicken Italia range, the line-up’s expanded with heartier formats made for the grill. Fans love the leaner, low fat, high protein options and now the same chicken, tomato, mozzarella, basil and garlic flavours are rolled into chunkier burgers and full-size sausages.
Products include: Big Chicken Italia Sausages (660g, 10-pack, Tesco, regular rrp £5, but £4 with a Tesco Clubcard); Big Chicken Italia Burgers (320g, 2-pack, £3, Asda and Morrisons). A thicker, take on HECK!’s chicken quarter pounders and an alternative to beef burgers: HECK! has also supersized its classic 97% Pork Sausages into a bumper 10-pack (660g, Tesco, regular rrp £5, £4 with a Tesco Clubcard) using 97% British pork shoulder and no rusk or fillers. They’re high protein, low sugar and gluten – and dairy-free. HECK!’s popular Chicken, Red Pepper & Feta Chipolatas(340g, 10-pack, £3.50), are now available in Asda nationwide, with lean chicken and a blend of red pepper, Feta cheese and seasoning.
HECK! uses only high quality, lean cuts of meat across its range. Everything’s gluten-free, high protein and crafted to make real life taste better and feel good.
Easy Meal Prep with Frood
Frood is a new range of whole-food cooking blends, designed to help create delicious, nourishing meals in minutes.
Made from real ingredients and packed full of flavour and nutrition, they offer a modern solution for busy folk wanting real food and nutrition. It was founded by Frida Redknapp, a Swedish-born mother and trusted voice in family, food, and wellbeing, inspired by her hacks and family favourites.
There are four blends: Swedish Meatballs; Bella Bolognese; Golden Curry and Mexi Fiesta. Each has dried fruits and veg, grains, seeds, plant proteins, and other wholesome ingredients. You simply cook with your choice of protein, making a nourishing and nutritionally complete meal in just 20 minutes.
And they contain no ‘nasties’. Frood is in M&S and Ocado at £3 per 75g pack serving four,
Oato Matcha
If, like me, you’re a fan of matcha as a flavour, you’ll be interested to know that you can now have matcha flavoured oat milk delivered to your door with The Modern Milkman.
Oato Matcha Latte is currently available exclusively with the Modern Milkman at £2.50 a bottle. This exclusive partnership means customers across the UK can enjoy this new offering fresh to their doorsteps daily. I was lucky enough to taste some recently and it is delicious.
So if you are intolerant of cow’s milk, or just prefer oat milk, Oato is widely available across most supermarkets, and hopefully, so too will be the matcha flavour soon.
Layers of Flavour with Mei Mei
Mei Mei Goods, inspired by the award-winning Borough Market restaurant Mei Mei, has launched exclusively on Ocado.com, Its grocery range of premium Asian sauces is now accessible across the UK for the first time.
Just five months since its inception, Mei Mei Goods has already captured cult attention for its chef-crafted sauces, made with natural ingredients and avocado oil, that simplify Asian cooking without compromising on flavour.
Priced between £3 and £5, Mei Mei Goods stays true to its mission — making bold, premium Asian flavours accessible to home cooks. The Three-Step Flavour System, developed by Chef Elizabeth Haigh, simplifies Asian cooking through three elements — 1. Base, 2. Heat, 3. Topper — so anyone can layer innovative flavours using common ingredients. Build with a Base: Sweet Soy Sauce or Spicy Soy Sauce; Bring the heat with House Chilli Sauce or Chilli Padi Sauce and Finish with a topper of Sambal Manis or Hot Honey.
All products deliver bold, vibrant flavours without artificial preservatives, colours, or flavourings.
A Slice of French Flavour from Unearthed
Those clever folk at Unearthed have struck gold again – this time with some really delicious French oak smoked jambon. The slices are perfect for a picnic baguette or a salad.
It’s deliciously smoky & herby. A perfect taste of France, slow-cooked in bouillon with thyme & pepper, then gently smoked with oak chippings for that rich, smoky flavour.
Available from Waitrose and Ocado at £3.75 a pack (120g) but currently on offer for £2.80 in Waitrose (till 4.8.26) or two for £5.50 at Ocado (till 12.8.26).
Gin O’Clock from Aldi
I can’t wait for the big new Aldi to open in Hampton, especially as Aldi’s Specially Selected Haysmith’s London Dry Gin (£16.49, 70cl) has just been crowned ‘Best in Britain’ at the World Drinks Awards 2026.
It beats premium bottles costing nearly double, including big-name brands. Even more impressively, Aldi was the only supermarket to take home a ‘Country Winner’ title for gin this year, proving you don’t need to spend big for top-tier quality.
I tried the Specially Selected Haysmith’s Seville Orange & Persian Lime Gin (£14.99, 70cl) recently and it’s fabulous value – perfect for a zesty summer G&T. And not surprisingly the judges praised it highly.
A Rather Special English Sparkler
Chorus Fine English Sparkling Beer is the drink that we wine lovers didn’t know we were missing.
It speaks the language of fine wine, while being unmistakably beer. Chorus is a pioneering Fine English Sparkling Beer – a genuinely new expression of what beer can be. It has the elegance of a fine sparkling wine: brewed with Chardonnay yeast to develop complex, fresh fruit flavours, and fermented longer to create a smooth, delicate finish that lingers.
Brewed at Baynhams Brewery – an independent, family-run business deep in the heart of the New Forest, Hampshire – Chorus was imagined by brothers Tom and Lawrence Baynham and cousin Harry Baynham from a simple but ambitious idea: a beer truly worth sharing.
I’ve tried it, and believe me (generally someone who isn’t keen on beer) it is really delicious. Chorus Beer is 12% ABV and available now priced £19.95 per 750ml bottle from www.chorusbeer.com
