Waitrose to launch its first ever lunchtime meal deal

Waitrose is to launch a lunchtime meal deal for the first time, The Grocer has learned.

The food-to-go offer, which will include a main, side and drink for £5, is set to roll into stores from 30 August. It will include a selection of sandwiches, sushi, salads, and wraps, as well as fruit, cereal bars, juices and smoothies.

It brings Waitrose in line with the traditional supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons which all provide lunch deals. Asda doesn’t have a standard meal deal, but has an ongoing three for two on food-to-go lunch products.

“We’re really excited to be launching this meal deal within our food-to-go range,” said Waitrose food-to-go buyer Jennifer Moscardini.

“We know lots of our customers are heading into our shops to grab something for their lunch, so to be able to offer them a convenient, high-quality and great value meal deal is really important for us.”

Waitrose has been gradually rolling new lines into stores over recent weeks as part of a wider shake-up of its food-to-go and chilled offer.

It includes three new sandwich variants: a vegan BLT under its PlantLiving own-label range; gluten-free egg salad; and the relaunch of its pastrami and emmental, which all hit stores last week.

They were joined on shelves by new chilled products including Taiko gyoza, Higgidy ham hock & cheddar rolls, and a Taste Original chicken satay product.

Branded lines, including ready-to-eat SKUs from ‘healthier lunch’ brand Pollen & Grace also launched. The listing includes a Waitrose-exclusive flavour, the Vietnamese sticky tofu bowl.

It’s not clear if any of the above lines are included in the new meal deal. However Waitrose executive director James Bailey has previously publicly stated the supermarket would look to grow its convenience offering, having seen increased demand from customers for its food-to-go products.

“It’s our belief we are underexposed in the convenience channel, and that is something that has held us back in the last year or so,” Bailey said during a results call in March.