Food takes up half the space in the 80,000 sq ft glass-clothed complex, with over 50,000 lines and a fresh produce section which incorporates some of the newest designs. The deep display counters, for example, have 40 per cent higher capacity than regular counters.
Set in the heart of London's Docklands, the store has gone to town on luxury. There are five eateries including steak and oyster, salad and juice and sushi bars. Customers can also buy champagne at £300 a bottle or a diamond bracelet for just under £1,000.
In the more mundane world of fruit and veg, there is also good news for specialist growers. Three weeks ago Waitrose launched its Small Producers Charter which sets out a policy of encouraging potential suppliers to service regional catchment areas.
The initial target market has been speciality lines such as dairy and meat, but Steven Esom, managing director, told freshinfo that there had already been an excellent reaction from and several enquiries within the fresh produce sector, and forecast that there would be more specialist products appearing on shelves soon.
'We don't want to turn small suppliers into large ones,' he said. 'But we think that branches will benefit if they can reflect their locality. The secret with customers being offered less and less choice is to keep food interesting,' he said.
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