Building Trust: Why Simpler Ingredients Are Becoming a Selling Point

Beef, black pepper and sea salt. Those are the three ingredients that make up Tesco’s new Finest British Beef Burgers. And their simplicity is a selling point.

The beef burgers form part of Tesco’s Finest Just X Ingredients range, with packs clearly stating how many ingredients are used to make the products and what those ingredients are. While its beef burgers have just three components, its pork sausages are similarly stripped back.

It follows a strikingly similar move from M&S, which launched its ‘Only… Ingredients’ range last year.

At the time, the approach wasn’t without controversy. Critics questioned whether short ingredient lists necessarily equated to healthier products, while some of the original products prompted debate over discrepancies between the number of ingredients promoted on the front of pack and those listed on the back.

But the criticism hasn’t stopped the concept gaining momentum.

In January, M&S doubled the range with 12 new lines spanning products including porridge, yoghurt, mayonnaise, sausages and burgers. Tesco adopting a similar approach suggests the idea of simplicity as a selling point has legs.

The UPF debate is changing how consumers think about food

The rise of minimal-ingredient ranges comes against the backdrop of the ongoing debate around ultra-processed foods (UPFs).

There are still significant questions around exactly what constitutes a UPF and, importantly, a shorter ingredient list does not automatically make a product healthier.

But the wider consumer mindset is important for food brands.

Shoppers are paying closer attention to what goes into their food, and simplicity, familiarity and transparency are increasingly being used by retailers as signals of reassurance. M&S itself identified “minimal ingredients” as one of its key health food trends for 2026.

For consumers navigating an increasingly complex conversation around food and health, being able to quickly understand what is in a product has obvious appeal.

Building trust in food brands through transparency

M&S and Tesco have capitalised on this mindset in own label, but there is a wider lesson here for food brands too.
Not every product can – or should – be reduced to three ingredients. Nor should brands suggest that fewer ingredients automatically mean healthier food.

The opportunity is bigger than that.

Brands that can clearly explain what is in their products, why it is there and how those products are made have an opportunity to make transparency a genuine point of difference.

That might mean talking about recognisable ingredients and simple production methods. But it could equally mean explaining the role an unfamiliar ingredient plays, providing greater clarity around sourcing or giving consumers better access to the people and processes behind the product.

Transparency doesn’t have to mean simplicity. It means making things easier to understand.

Trust could become one of food brands’ most valuable assets

Consumers are surrounded by competing messages about what they should and shouldn’t eat. UPFs, gut health, protein, sugar, additives and processing are all now part of mainstream conversations about food.

Against that backdrop, adding another claim to the pack isn’t necessarily the answer.

The bigger opportunity is to give people greater confidence in the choices they are making.

For food brands, that means communicating with clarity and being able to substantiate what they say. It means avoiding the temptation to overclaim. And it means using independent voices, experts and earned media to provide credibility beyond the brand’s own marketing.

Tesco and M&S may be putting ingredient counts front and centre, but the bigger trend isn’t simply about having fewer ingredients.

It’s about making food feel easier to understand.

And in an increasingly complicated food landscape, the brands that can offer consumers that clarity have an opportunity to earn something much more valuable: trust.

Want to build greater trust in your food brand through earned media? Get in touch with our team.

« How to build consumer trust: why brands need more than their own claims PR Strategy: How to Build Long-Term Brand Growth »