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According to the latest sales figures from Waitrose, customers are becoming more adventurous and cooking more oriental meals from scratch this Chinese New Year.
As Brits across the nation celebrated the start of the Chinese New Year yesterday (Thursday, February 19), staple ingredients used in Chinese cuisine are on the up at Waitrose.
The supermarket chain has seen sales of the Cooks’ Ingredients rice vinegar rise by 34%, oyster sauce by 26% and dark soya sauce by 21%. Meanwhile, as key ingredients in stir fries and duck dishes, plum sauce sales are up 17% and hoisin is up by 6%.Lee Kum Kee’s teriyaki sauce is also up 39% while its oyster sauce is up 5%.
With more than 175 Chinese recipes on the Waitrose recipe website, shoppers had been searching for inspiration ahead of yesterday’s celebration. Page views for the stir fried meatballs with Chinese five spice were up 244% while views for the whole roast Chinese chicken with plum sauce were up 90%.
Waitrose world food buyer Lizzy Unite said: “While pre-made cooking sauces remain popular, we’ve increasingly seen customers branching out and becoming more experimental by making their own Chinese sauces from scratch at home. It only takes a few simple ingredients to create an authentic Chinese sauce so we’re delighted to see shoppers celebrating with home-cooked food.”
Sales of Chinese ready meals are also up 12% at Waitrose compared with the same time last year as customers short on time still look to join in with marking Chinese New Year.
