Waitrose is to become the first national supermarket in the United Kingdom to offer sushi that has been freshly made in its stores.
Its new sushi counters will be launched in co-operation with Sushi Daily, the European market leader in sushi bars and counters.
Waitrose’s first Sushi Daily counter will be opened at its new Battersea, London store on 19 November. It will be followed by further counters in Bath and Godalming, with the intention to roll out to up to 50 branches across the country.
The retailer said the move is designed to ensure that the modern Waitrose reflects the needs of today's customers, many of whom will increasingly want delicious yet convenient food to eat on the go, or a quick and healthy option for an evening meal.
Sushi Daily counters will be headed by a team of skilled sushi artisans, who will be preparing fresh products in front of customers throughout the day. Products will consist of a wide range of hand-made and sustainably sourced sushi and maki for Waitrose customers to purchase with their supermarket shop.
A dedicated phone line will also be available for those looking to make larger platter orders, catering for meetings and parties.
“Our customers' lifestyles are changing with the growth of eating on the move – and we are responding to this shift with our continuously developing food-to-go offering, including the new sushi feature,” said Anthony Wysome, head of store development at Waitrose.
“Customers are increasingly attracted by products that can deliver for them on quality, convenience and health and sushi does this brilliantly. Having seen great growth in our excellent pre-packed sushi offer, we are excited to be able to now add in-store prepared sushi to our rapidly increasing range of hospitality offers. Whether for lunch or for later, we hope that customers enjoy both the outstanding quality of this new offer and the convenience, color and interest it will bring to our shops,” he said.
Sushi is already a firm favorite with Waitrose customers, said the retailer. Recent data on pre-packed sushi shows that Waitrose has a grocery multiples market share of 18.1 percent, with year-on-year growth of 11.5 percent.
The Sushi Daily brand belongs to the company KellyDeli, which was founded by Kelly Choi and Jerome Castaing with the support of renowned Master Sushi Chef Yamamoto Kunio. It already operates in six European countries.
