Waitrose’s strong start to New Year continues with weekly sales up 5.6%
Waitrose said its strong start to the New Year had continued in the week to 25 January 2014 as total sales excluding petrol rose by 5.6%
With the week’s trade benefiting from customers making preparations for Chinese Year, sales of woks rose by 14% while sales of rice and spring rolls surged by 18% and 17% respectively.
Demand for international flavours spilled over into world beers with sales increasing by 39%. Austrian wine was particularly popular with sales up 63% year-on-year.
The supermarket said the increase in sales of healthier foods was continuing as customers kept to their New Year healthy eating regimes. Sales of healthy snacks were up 45% in the week while sales of bottled water rose by a fifth. Fish also performed well with demand for fillets up by a third and sea bass sales rocketing by 200%.
Waitrose retail director Rob Collins said: “This was a fitting end to what has been a fantastic half year with total sales, excluding petrol, up by 6.8%. This strong growth has been driven by the popularity of myWaitrose, the growth in our omni-channel offer, and the continued hard work of all partners providing outstanding service.”
