Frozen meat and fish can be just as interesting as fresh, Waitrose has found.

The chain relaunched its frozen meat and fish offer in November and sales have surged, said buyer Sally Brooks. "Our recent sales increases show shoppers are coming back to frozen food as they learn more about the provenance of our frozen ranges," she said.

The packaging was realigned with Waitrose's fresh offer to highlight quality and provenance, and new products such as Aberdeen Angus meatballs and chicken breast chunks launched. Hydrogenated vegetable oils were also removed and salt was reduced in all the food. "We are seeing a big increase in scratch-cooking and the freezer is becoming an extension of people's store cupboards," Brookes said. "Our customers are beginning to realise frozen food can be just as good quality as its fresh counterpart and are filling their freezers with a range of ingredients."

Further frozen categories will be relaunched this year.