With the warm weather hitting the UK it appears that living the Mediterranean lifestyle is proving popular, with Waitrose reporting an increase in demand for Spanish dining.
Spanish tapas is also a top pick during the heatwave, with #SpanishTapas gaining 10.4 million views on TikTok and 57k views just in the last 30 days. On Waitrose.com searches for ‘Spanish tortilla’, ‘patatas bravas’, and ‘manchego’ are up 82%, 20% and 50% respectively.
Jane Whitehead, Waitrose deli buyer, said: “As soon as the temperature starts to rise we see lots of our customers heading straight to our deli section to create the perfect tapas style dinner, or ‘picky tea’ as some like to call it. 95% of the range on our deli counters are exclusive to us, with flavoured hams and olives proving particularly popular at the moment as our customers create tapas boards for their alfresco dining.”
Sales of gazpacho have also increased by 146% in the last week alone as lots of us opt for light and refreshing lunches. Paella is also on many menus with searches on Waitrose.com for our Chicken & Chorizo Paella recipe up 89% in the last month, and sales of our paella rice are also up by 16% compared to last year.
Jamie Matthewson, our head of wine buying, recommends the Loved & Found Treixadura as the perfect paella pairing ,with its floral aromas and citrus notes matching perfectly with the rich chorizo flavours.
