Waitrose to add 100 lines to Cooks' Ingredients range

Waitrose will relaunch its own brand Cooks’ Ingredients range next month with 100 additional lines.

The new items, which include Japanese condiment yuzu kosho, rhubarb essence, umami-flavoured porcini powder and calamansi lime juice, will sit alongside the 400 already available as part of the Cooks’ Ingredients range. They had been created with authenticity and versatility in mind, Waitrose said.

The upmarket retailer is relaunching the range, originally introduced in 2007, encourage customers to create innovative twists on their favourite dishes.

The items are likely to feature on Waitrose’s in-store recipe cards to further inspire customers to try new ingredients.

The relaunch comes as Waitrose is increasingly looking to differentiate itself from competitors through its own-brand products. Over half (53%) of the products currently stocked on Waitrose’s shelves are own brand.

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“Many of our customers are really interested in cooking, and this relaunch is really important. It has taken a lot of inspiration from restaurants and cookery books out on the market at the moment,” said Waitrose commercial director Rupert Thomas. “Cooks’ Ingredients has grown and grown since it was launched. September seems like the right time to launch because people are ready for something new and looking forward to trying new dishes.”

Waitrose senior brand and innovation chef Zoe Simons added: “The new ingredients are simple twists customers can incorporate into their cooking. They’re also very versatile and authentic and can be used for a wide variety of dishes. We have a responsibility to do justice to ingredients as best we can.”