Can anyone give me a good reason why I should switch to Waitrose.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I use Ocado. I know in advance the name of the driver, the colour van he is driving and exactly what hour slot he will be coming. He has never been late, every driver has smiled whilst carrying cat litter bags, trays of cat food, organic veggie boxes, tins, and everything else up five flights of stairs. Everything has been as ordered, fresh, undamaged and low in packaging. But I buy the highest quality I can afford, bulking good meat out with copious veggies. I find it no real difference from the others in price but the service is superb.

DD1 has an interview with Waitrose for a Saturday job soon - I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her, as she doesn't deserve to be treated the way I was as a kid starting a Saturday job at a supermarket. I don't believe that Waitrose will have the same attitude (and admittedly, the staff discount makes me even more enthusiastic)

allan2006

ocado is a seperate company that only does home deliveries. I think it is currently part owed by waitrose,

As well as sellling waitrose products, they also tesco price match on branded products and sell their own ocado brands.

MrsE_2

kazd wrote: »

Okay, well unfortunately both the replies don't swing it, I am on a diet and chocolate and desserts are not on the menu. As much as I would like them to be.:D

I am actually talking online shopping here. I spent a fortune last month and I am trying to do a weekly online shop and keep it under £100.

They do great offers.

Their fruit & veg & salad stays fresher longer.

They will send you money off codes to order online.

They do ranges other supermarkets don't carry.

Their bread is fab:j:j:j:j:j:j:j
Try the bagette;)

Kimitatsu

I have a family of four and we shop at Waitrose because we dont end up throwing anything away! Their sell by dates are far longer than the other supermarkets, and the quality of their produce is excellent.

My DS2 has a dairy and gluten intolerance and my local Waitrose does a huge variety of stuff that is suitable for him. It is also one of the few supermarkets which does not bulk out fresh produce like coleslaw with milk!

So whilst it initially costs more at the till it costs me less during the month because we throw nothing away because it has gone off. Cant say the same for Tesco, recently I had to take back a packet of sausages which had gone green (literally!!) and they were still 3 days before their best before date!!

glitterygirl

I have just switched to Ocado as I used to do 1 shop a week which was about £60-£70 and I always ended up topping up once a week which would be another £20-£30
I always had to throw a load of stuff away that we did not use or went off too.

So I have signed up to Ocado on Demand & am going to do £40 shops more regular and hope I don't have to do the little shops in between.

I have just checked out a £41 shop & have a voucher for a free bottle of wine on my next order!!! :beer:

competitionscafe

melbury wrote: »

What is the difference please between Ocado and Waitrose?

"Though many think Waitrose fully owns Ocado, it only has a minority stake and a distant one at that."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/5136317/Ocado-undercuts-Waitrose-starting-an-online-supermarket-price-war.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/07/johnlewis-ocado

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocado

nest_egg

Each to their own. I can see buying quality frozen mince could be worth it as they pad cheap meat out with water. However, my bill would definitely be way higher if I shopped at Waitrose for everything. As a former Sainsbury's employee I could see huge differences in prices from my job and my weekly shop in ASDA (very loyal, haha). And Waitrose is more than Sainsbury's, and that was with a staff discount.

As for polite service? In London it's the same as everywhere. Doesn't even factor into my decision.

lynzpower

nest_egg wrote: »

Each to their own. I can see buying quality frozen mince could be worth it as they pad cheap meat out with water. However, my bill would definitely be way higher if I shopped at Waitrose for everything. As a former Sainsbury's employee I could see huge differences in prices from my job and my weekly shop in ASDA (very loyal, haha). And Waitrose is more than Sainsbury's, and that was with a staff discount.

As for polite service? In London it's the same as everywhere. Doesn't even factor into my decision.

I shop mainly in sainsburys but buy bits pices in waitrose, as above. On some things theres no difference. But sainsburys is the place for my bulk shopping. I also buy from other places like home bargains, 99p stores, farmfoods, markets etc.

Today in waitrose I got a few good reductions and some mince. I never buy toiletries/ cleaning stuff/ tins but do like thier bread cream cakes, bakery and fresh produce. If you want speclity butters and cheeses waitrose is streets ahead.

I was looking at the various types of Alpine butter ( a weakness) and a sales assistant appraoched me and said "madam, is there anything I can get for you?" Im sorry but no one has EVER spoken like that to me in Asda! This is in the canary wharf branch. I used to work at tesco too, and the staff are SO much better. The other day i bought a salad from thier salad bar, a lovely fresh baked roll and some butter, and although there were plenty of spoons & forks, no knives. The CSA very apologetic and suggested I write in to complain, as the store has a persistent problem with knives not being delivered.

I agree, I couldnt buy everything there, I even find M&S significantly cheaper than waitrose, but quality is really good.

Trinny

Hi There

Waitrose is my nearest supermarket- and i can manage to spend under £180 per month for two adults with a healthy appetite and a greedy cat:D

I dont buy ready meals and in all honesty - all the meat i buy is free range, and as much of the other stuff is organic or fair trade. We eat really well, the quality of the food is superb - Mr T's has rotted and is long gone while Waitrose is still box fresh.

The reduced to clear stuff is the best of any other supermarket - and i have tried each of the big four. Our key is to shop after work - in the store at the time that the red labels are put on.

(PS £180 includes all my packed lunches for most of the month - and accomodates OH passion for real ale)

I can vouch for the friendly helpful staff, the clean stores and the sheer lack of rough !!! types yelling at their kids. And i am as OS as most of you.

Works for me

Trin

Trinny

Rosip wrote: »

Waitrose comes top of my list for many reasons:

1. I only buy organic food, prefer Soil Association standards of animal welfare and permitted treatments, flock sizes, etc. to many other lesser organic standards. I find Waitrose has both the range and availability of organic produce that I want. Although hailed as comprehensive organic food suppliers I often find stocks have run out in Sainsbury's on the items I want and the organic standards they accept in order to claim something "organic" are far lower - too low for me.

2. Part of the John Lewis Group, their employment standards are higher than all other supermarkets, offering profit-sharing to employees.

3. Waitrose stocks several items of locally-sourced produce in all its stores, reducing food miles and supporting small, local producers.

4. Every time I try to save money by buying Tesco or Sainsubry's meat, even though it's still organic, my husband complains it is tasteless and I end up giving it to the cats (they don't always want it either!) or throwing half of it away (I don't eat meat myself) which is very poor economy. My husband would rather eat a smaller portion of something great quality. Healthier too.

5. Waitrose's fruit and veg is better quality, better tasting, better lasting than Tesco and Sainsbury's, even for organic. The number of times I have bought something in Tesco 'cos it looked like a bargain in an attempt to save money and ended up regretting it... tasteless, spongey, quickly rotting...

6. I don't want infinite choice - I want my supermarket to narrow it down for me to a range of products of the right quality and price. Waitrose gets this right for me.

Bottom line, I think it depends on what kind of shopping you do. If, like me, you buy only fresh, organic food, no ready meals, no junk food and snacks, then Waitrose is top for quality, flavour, shelf-life and above all, ethics. Like a previous poster, I also use Ocado once or twice a month and invariably get £10, or 15% off my order and it's nearly all Waitrose products, hardly ever any substitutions, friendly delivery staff, easy refunds for mistakes, etc. Both companies do an "essentials" range which are excellent quality and competitive price.

I am all for saving money but I believe that we have come to expect food to be far too cheap and this is damaging the economy in a much deeper way by sqeezing producers and forcing them to lower their standards of production and animal welfare. I won't be part of this. I trust Waitrose to take care of their producers. I don't trust the others.

:T thats it in a nutshell ! thanks