Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Total sales at Waitrose in the week to July 14 were up by 6.9% to £108.2m on the same time last year, driven by the return of the ‘Delia effect’ and shoppers baking and cooking hearty meals at home.
The supermarket chain’s ‘recipe of the week’, Delia’s baked vanilla cheesecake with raspberries and redcurrants, prompted sales of raspberries to rise by 99% on last year. Sales of another ingredient, Ndali vanilla extract, rose by a phenomenal 875% compared with the previous week.
Waitrose commercial director Mark Williamson said: “Home baking as a whole had a good week as shoppers chose to spend time in their kitchens instead of venturing out into the rain.”
Waitrose milk chocolate chunks rose by 67% and Lyons golden syrup rose 26%, while Betty Crocker chocolate and vanilla frostings were a popular option as a finishing touch to cakes, with sales up by 44% and 55% respectively. Customers also continued to cook up warming savoury dishes, with sales of beef up, and minced beef and slow-cooked beef performing particularly well.
Mr Williamson added that “Waitrose.com continues to go from strength to strength,” with total online grocery orders up by 74% last week and sales by 78%.
