The Digester

Customisable takeaway salad bowls, popularly called slop bowls, have spread from London finance districts into mainstream chains and supermarkets, driven by convenience, health trends and post-pandemic delivery habits.

Pick-your-own salad bowls, nicknamed slop bowls, have become a staple lunch in London and other cities.
Prices range from about £5.95 in supermarkets up to £25 in fast-casual shops.
Drivers include plant-forward health trends, demand for quick meals, pandemic-era growth in delivery services, and diet-culture influences such as GLP1 drug use.
Major chains and retailers offering bowl formats include Pret, Leon, Chipotle, Cava, Sweetgreen and Ocado's M&S range.
Critics say the trend repackages older mixed-meal traditions while promoting culinary homogenisation, deskilled cooking and solitary, screen-based eating.

Slop bowls: the rise of pick-your-own takeaway salads

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