The giant supermarket chain is teaming up with German grocery delivery service, Gorillas, to see if it’s possible to deliver Tesco goods in 10 minutes. The base for the experiment is one Tesco’s Thornton Heath store in south London and will be expanded to four other locations across the capital in coming months.

Tesco’s decision to do so has been sparked by the rapidly growing fast-track delivery sector, which has soared since the first lockdown and its effects on high street closures and working from home. 

A range of more than 2,000 items will be delivered from mini warehouses set up in spare space within the supermarkets. The deal with Tesco enables Gorillas to use relatively cheap spare space in supermarkets that once housed items now largely bought online, such as kitchen appliances.

Interestingly, Tesco already has its own delivery service, Whoosh. Founded earlier this year it operates from about 60 shops and promises delivery in an hour. However, Whoosh is facing competition from at least seven fast-growing rivals, including Weezy, Fancy, Getir and Jiffy, as well as Gorillas, which are operating across cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol.

Gorillas on the other hand, was founded in June last year and now operates in nine countries and recently secured nearly $1bn in its latest funding round.