Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Sales continued their seasonal surge at Waitrose last week (to December 13), with shoppers stocking up on festive fare. Provisional divisional sales, excluding petrol, grew 7.3% compared with last year.
The grocery chain’s personnel director Helen Hyde said: “Customers were placing their Christmas orders for collection and were certainly pushing the boat out.”Organic whole turkeys saw demand jump 46% while butter-basted and double-stuffed turkeys saw 47% and 53% increases in orders, respectively.
New for this year, the Heston from Waitrose Ultimate Chocolate Bar frozen dessert saw sales soar 65% compared with Heston frozen desserts last year. Waitrose buyers have increased orders by 80% to match customer demand right through to Christmas.
Premium puds have been hot favourites too. Demand for the Waitrose Richly Fruited Christmas Pudding with Rémy Martin Champagne Cognac rocketed 43.5% on last year while stollen sales doubled and Christmas cakes jumped 27%. Indulgent desserts were also a favourite, with Waitrose’s frozen range, such as its chocolate praline entremets, up by 14%, while a quarter more cheesecakes were bought for the festive season.
Finally, customers were decking out their homes with festive touches, helping wreath sales rise 13%, while tags, cards and wraps were in demand, up 20%.
