Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ed Sheeran makes surprise visit to supermarket to sign autographs in hot sauce

The singer-songwriter’s hot sauce brand, Tingly Ted’s, made its debut in supermarkets in February 2023.

Hannah Cottrell
Tuesday 13 August 2024 16:41 EDT
Ed Sheeran surprised Sainsbury’s supermarket shoppers in London Colney to promote his Tingly Ted’s hot sauce brand (Jeff Spicer Media Assignments/PA)
Ed Sheeran surprised Sainsbury’s supermarket shoppers in London Colney to promote his Tingly Ted’s hot sauce brand (Jeff Spicer Media Assignments/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ed Sheeran has made a surprise visit to a supermarket to showcase his hot sauce brand which he used to autograph household items from shoppers’ baskets.

The Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter took a break from his stadium tour by making an appearance at Sainsbury’s supermarket in London Colney, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday to promote his hot sauce brand, Tingly Ted’s.

Earlier in the day, the Shape Of You singer took to social media to announce his plans, giving fans an hour’s notice to make their way to the store – but they still turned up in their hundreds.

As well as giving fans a taste by providing free slices of pizza topped with his product, Sheeran also signed autographs for shoppers on their purchased goods by using his hot sauce as a pen.

Lettuce, broccoli, bread loaves, blocks of cheddar, and even a vinyl record were transformed from household items into signed memorabilia.

Some of the items soon popped up online auction websites, with one inventive seller offering to preserve a hot sauce-signed kitchen roll in resin on an eBay listing.

On his surprise supermarket appearance, Sheeran said: “It was super exciting popping into Sainsbury’s and surprising some shoppers.

“Tingly Ted’s has been such a fun project so far, hope everyone is enjoying mixing it with whatever food they like, I’m still discovering meals that it makes even better.”

Satwinder Hayre, store manager at Sainsbury’s London Colney, said: “We were delighted that Ed Sheeran made a surprise visit to our store today to show off his Tingly Ted’s hot sauces, it certainly gave our customers shivers!”

The hot sauce brand made its debut on supermarket shelves in February 2023 and comes in two flavours, Tingly and Xtra Tingly.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in