Waitrose is to cut the price of 200 own-label products as part of a new £30m investment in its New Lower Price value campaign.
The investment is Waitrose’s second major move on price, following three separate tranches of price cuts as part of a £100m “record” investment announced almost a year to the day last year.
The latest £30m will come in two separate tranches over the first half of 2024 and will focus entirely on Waitrose’s own-label brands, including its lowest-tier Waitrose Essentials and premium-tier Duchy Organic.
The first tranche focuses on 200 separate lines including dairy, fish, cupboard staples, ready meals and products from Waitrose deli counters.
For example, the price of British lamb shanks from Waitrose meat counters has fallen by 16%, from £15 per kg to £12.50 per kg. The price of a four-pack of Essential hot cross buns has dropped by 10p, from £1.10, while the price of two litres of Waitrose skimmed filtered milk has fallen from £2 to £1.90, a cut of 5%.
A freshly baked small white baguette (from 80p to 75p), a 500g pack of Waitrose casarecce pasta (£1.90 to £1.75) and Essential red kidney beans in chilli (395g) – which will fall from £1.10 to £1 – are among some of the other products included.
A further round of cuts would “follow this spring” Waitrose said.
“This £30m investment in new lower prices demonstrates our continued commitment to offering our customers the best value for money without compromising our unique, high-quality food sourced to industry-leading animal welfare standards,” said James Bailey, Waitrose executive director.
“We’ve chosen to lower the prices of hundreds of popular products including fresh, frozen and store-cupboard staples, as well as meat and fish on our fresh food counters to make a real difference to our customers’ baskets.
“In addition to this investment in price we’re constantly looking at new ways to offer customers great value such as free coffee, money-off vouchers, and lowering prices when costs fall as inflation comes down,” Bailey said.
Having initially been slow to respond to the cost of living crisis, Waitrose has sought to win customers back over the past year through a mixture price cuts and doubling down on its reputation for strong service and higher animal welfare.
As part of the turnaround strategy, Bailey, and commercial director Charlotte Di Cello, have also targeted the growth of its convenience offer – for example the launch of a lunchtime meal deal – and have been adding more dine in deals into stores, as part of a wider store modernisation programme and investment in loyalty.
No comments yet