After two years of steady complaints from its disgruntled middle-class customer base, Waitrose’s free coffee offer – suspended during the pandemic – is finally back (remember when The Grocer called it first a few weeks back?).

The return of free coffee at 331 core stores has understandably grabbed the headlines – and the attention of its customers. However, it’s more than just a return to the familiar. In what could prove a crucial move, this new-look offer is part of a larger partnership with coffee chain Caffè Nero.

Not only will the beans for the coffee will be provided by the Nero Roasting Company – the roasting arm of the Caffè Nero Group – but Waitrose will also begin stocking a selection of its ‘coffee at home’ retail products such as capsules, ground coffee and whole bean coffee. Plus, there will be exclusive discounts for loyalty programme members.

Waitrose commercial director Charlotte Di Cello hailed the partnership “an ideal fit”, and hinted at “more benefits in the pipeline”, which could include perks for MyWaitrose members in more than 650 UK Caffè Nero stores. Similarly, Caffè Nero app users are set to receive benefits across the supermarket’s branches.

This collab is slightly reminiscent of M&S and Costa Coffee. In a deal announced in November, M&S food stores began stocking Costa ‘at home’ products, while Costa Coffee outlets added many of the grocer’s popular food-to-go lines such as sandwiches and salads.

The Waitrose and Caffè Nero venture is not quite there yet, as neither have talked about the possibility for the former to supply the latter’s stores. But Caffè Nero UK CEO Will Stratton-Morris said there were “huge possibilities with this partnership and it’s exciting to see where it can go”.

The tie-up also marks part of the upmarket grocer’s push to retain shoppers against the growing threat of the discounters. One could argue that the John Lewis Partnership-owned business took its time to react to the needs of its largely middle- and upper-class consumer base as it mutely navigated the first few months of the cost of living crisis.

But it’s now showing signs of fighting back  – take its new £12 dine in meal deal, which takes obvious aim at rival M&S’s own meal deal for two, the latest collaboration with Deliciously Ella, or the relaunch of its Cooks Ingredients range to tap the growing home cooking trend. As people look to cut costs, betting on the at-home coffee trend is another savvy move.

The figures suggest it’s thinking along the right lines. According to the latest 12-week Kantar data, Waitrose lost fewer customers to Aldi than other major supermarkets. Arguably, Waitrose’s more affluent clientele would be least likely to switch to the discounters. But it’s also a sign of Waitrose slowly managing to align the wants and needs of its customer demographic with its core value proposition against the current economic backdrop. And for that, it deserves praise.

Now let’s see how Waitrose and Caffè Nero move this partnership to the next level.

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