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Waitrose has announced that it will again be working alongside Delia Smith.
The grocery chain will bring the best-selling cookery writer’s online cookery school to Waitrose TV for the first time.
The Delia Online Cookery School with Waitrose will offer a library of lessons and techniques videos. Launching on Waitrose TV from September 5, the content will build over the course of two years and is free to access via the new ‘Cookery School’ tab on Waitrose TV, as well as on deliaonline.com. Delia’s tutorials will be the main feature of the channel, with her section of the site offering 40 close-up lessons and the same number of technique videos.
It will be accompanied with content from Waitrose chefs and other food experts to create an extensive food hub, teaching everything from cookery basics to advanced techniques – supported by more than 150 Delia recipes on Waitrose.com.
Delia signed up in 2010 for a three-year collaboration with the supermarket group, which ended in January when she left to focus on other projects.
Waitrose marketing director Rupert Thomas said: “We have a long and successful history of working with Delia and we’re thrilled to be joining forces again on the Delia Online Cookery School with Waitrose, which we believe will be the definitive online tool for cookery tuition.
“This wealth of new content from Delia will complement the wide range of expertise already on Waitrose TV from contributors including [Michelin-starred chef] Heston Blumenthal and Alan Titchmarsh [who features on the gardening channel which launched this summer] and will continue to build our online presence as the destination for foodies or anyone looking to develop their skills.”
Delia said: “My ambition and my dream is that anyone who wants to learn to cook, can. So I have created an online cookery school to take somebody by the hand and lead them through it step by step. I don’t think you can learn in a better way.
“I personally contacted secondary schools across the country to ask about the basics of home cooking. 90% of pupils said that they would like to be able to learn how to cook.”
As well as Waitrose TV, content will also be available on the Waitrose YouTube channel (youtube.com/Waitrose), Pinterest (pinterest.com/waitrose) and through the retailer’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/Waitrose).
Delia is Britain’s best selling cookery writer with over 21 million copies of her books sold worldwide, while www.deliaonline.com won the Net Observer Seal of Excellence Award 2013 for the third time.
Waitrose operates 296 shops in the UK and Channel Islands. Waitrose TV launched in October 2012 and is the first purely food-related online video channel from a retailer.
