- New £100m investment to lower prices on hundreds of everyday favourite products
- Nearly a quarter of the prices being cut will be lowered by 20% or more
- Cuts help customers to keep buying quality products, sourced to industry-leading standards
Waitrose is committing a record £100m to lower the prices of hundreds of everyday products, making it easier for customers to keep buying quality products when household budgets are under pressure.
The price cuts begin today (15 February) on over 300 popular own-brand products, from British carrots and frozen peas to Fairtrade tea and British sausages made from outdoor bred pork. Nearly a quarter of prices are being cut by 20% or more.
The cuts include reducing the prices of nearly one third of our lowest priced own brand range ‘Essential Waitrose’ by on average 14%. There are over 900 products in the Essential range, which is the largest value range of any supermarket and shopped by nearly 7 in 10 customers. On average customers buy more than four Essential items each time they shop with us.
James Bailey, Executive Director for Waitrose, said: “We understand that getting value for money has never been more important for everyone. So we’re cutting the prices of hundreds of everyday favourites from carrots to butter, and tea and coffee, with many cut by 20% or more. This means our customers can enjoy greater value in every shop, and by lowering prices in our Essential range we’re making our lowest prices even lower.
“Although we’re cutting prices we won’t compromise our commitments to delivering excellent customer service, exceptional quality and the unique ranges we know our customers love; as well as our commitments to our farmers and suppliers which means customers can continue to feel good about shopping with us.”
The price cuts include a range of British products from vegetables to ham and cheese further emphasising our commitment to supporting UK suppliers.
In recent months, we’ve invested heavily to support our British farmers, through very challenging times. This has helped make sure their businesses survive for generations to come and keeps their high quality products on our shelves.
James Bailey added: “Supporting our farmers is as important as supporting our customers. Last year alone, we paid our British beef, chicken, egg, milk, poultry and salmon farmers an additional £56m as a result of the increase in costs they were facing.
“We remain committed to buying British and to the highest animal welfare standards, not just for whole cuts of meat but in other products from sandwiches to stocks and mayonnaise.”
Examples of price cuts
Product | Old Price | New Price | % Reduction |
Waitrose Essential British Roast Ham Slices 80g - British and outdoor bred | £1.50 | £1 | 33% |
Waitrose Essential Mature British Cheddar Strength 4 160g - made from British milk | £2.10 | £1.50 | 28% |
8 Waitrose Essential pork sausages - British and outdoor bred | £2.65 | £2.00 | 24% |
Waitrose Essential Savoy Cabbage British and LEAF accredited | 90p | 70p | 22% |
Waitrose Essential Frozen Garden Peas 725g - British and LEAF accredited | £1.20 | £1 | 17% |
Waitrose Essential Carrots 1kg - British | 60p | 50p | 17% |
Waitrose Essential Original Blend Tea 160 teabags 500g - Fairtrade | £2.20 | £2 | 9% |
Waitrose Essential Unsalted Dairy Butter 250g - Made in Shropshire, with milk from British farms | £2.20 | £2 | 9% |
Waitrose Essential MSC certified Tuna chunks in water 112g drained weight - responsibly farmed and caught using pole and line method | £1.25 | £1.15 | 8% |
Prices shown are available in Waitrose supermarket shops and online
How we help myWaitrose members to spend less
- Weekly offers tailored to how customers shop. Our myWaitrose loyalty programme issues hundreds of thousands of vouchers every week, helping customers save money.
- A free hot drink, available every day when a customer makes a purchase.
- 20% off selected meat at our counters every Saturday, and 20% off selected fish from our fish counters every Friday.
- Further benefits including free copies of Waitrose Food and Waitrose Drinks magazines, and discounts on dry cleaning.
- We’re offering more meal deals than ever before, and to inspire our customers to cook great value meals we’ve published 12 new recipes that cost less than £2 a portion.
Animal welfare
- We’re the No. 1 supermarket for animal welfare - we’ve won more (Compassion in World Farming/animal welfare) awards than any other supermarket.
- All our Essential fresh meat is British and produced to higher welfare standards than the industry norm for an entry level range.
- We’re the only supermarket to make sure all our lowest priced ‘Essential’ milk is Free Range - our dairy cattle spend at least 180 days a year grazing outside - an increase from 120 days.
