Waitrose benefits from surge in sales of picnic food

Waitrose has reported a record week for sales of picnic and food to go items last month with sales up 213% compared to the same time last year.

The retailer said sales benefited from the easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions as people began to meet up for al fresco dining with friends and family.

Due to the strong demand, Waitrose is planning to launch a new picnic box on its Deli counters in time for National Picnic Week, which runs from 19 to 27 June. The boxes will offer customers a selection of deli counter items such as pork pies, sausage rolls and scotch eggs. Waitrose said customers will be able to buy the boxes on a special promotion with its British Artisan Cheese Boxes, which includes five of our most popular British cheeses.

Michelle Slade, Deli counter buyer at Waitrose, said: “2021 is set to be the year of the picnic and we knew there was an opportunity to introduce more customers to the amazing selection of food we have on our counters. Our recent sales show that customers are already getting into the summer spirit and we have introduced this new box full of picnic staples to meet demand and make it really easy for our customers to pick up great quality food from our counters. ”