Waitrose has won the Foods from Spain Multiple Retailer of the Year at Re:fresh for the third time in four years. Obviously standing out from the crowd, Waitrose was singled out as the UK’s favourite retailer in the Consumer Satisfaction Index 2007 survey, scoring highly on quality, ambience, layout and customer service.
Differentiating itself as a high-quality, fresh-food specialist with real ethical credentials, Waitrose has spent the last year keeping up the good work with regards to its responsible farming initiatives and innovative fruit and vegetable aisle. It is little wonder, then, that the chain’s growth over the last 12 months has been driven by fresh produce sales.
Supporting socially responsible movements remains a key priority, with the retailer pledging to double sales of Fairtrade produce by 100 per cent in the coming year. Waitrose became the first retailer to switch all its banana lines to Fairtrade at the start of this year, and is also aiming to ensure that 100 per cent of the roses sold in its shops are Fairtrade-marked. Sales of Fairtrade products at the chain doubled during the first week of Fairtrade Fortnight, in March.
Waitrose’s Foundation scheme to support South African fruit growers has also received a welcome boost over the last year. The chain’s customers have helped raise £600,000 in the last 18 months to allow the retailer to extend the project, which was set up in 2005 for the South African citrus industry as a trust to fund educational, social and healthcare initiatives for fruit-producing communities. The scheme now also covers avocados, grapes, apricots, nectarines, plums, peaches and mangoes. Waitrose and its partners donate a proportion of their profits to the project, an amount soon expected to clear the £1 million mark. Cash raised so far has been ploughed into more than 30 separate community schemes, ranging from training centres for adult literacy, crèches and HIV/Aids counselling.
The finalists in this category were Somerfield and Iceland.
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