FDBusiness.com

Waitrose has become the first supermarket to sell own label products through Bristol-based British Corner Shop, the online store that delivers British food parcels worldwide, straight to the customer’s door.

It will enable Waitrose to enter entirely new territories from the 138 countries British Corner Shop regularly ships to, including two if its largest markets, the USA and Germany, neither of which is among the 60 countries the UK retailer already exports to.

The website will give shoppers global access to more than 2,000 products available from Waitrose branches and add to the 10,000 products the online service already stocks. Last year British Corner Shop shipped more than 50,000 orders overseas.

Customers will be able to choose from the supermarket’s own label products and ranges, including Waitrose Duchy Organic, Waitrose Baby, essential Waitrose and the recently launched Waitrose 1* range. There is potential for more products to be added in the future.

British produced food and drink, including biscuits and cakes to more traditional favourites like tea and soup are expected to be among the most popular products ordered by consumers. Most missed trends now also include ‘Free From’, and organic ranges which are gaining popularity.

Waitrose commercial director, Mark Williamson, says “British Corner Shop gives a global audience access to Waitrose and provides a platform for our British suppliers to showcase the great food and drink they produce. We are proud that our brand continues to retain the loyalty and trust of customers wherever they are in the world.”

British Corner Shop managing director, Mark Callaghan, comments: “We are delighted to have agreed a deal with Waitrose. Extending the current British Corner Shop range with over 2,000 Waitrose product lines gives our customers greater choice. We know the Waitrose brand will go down well with our British Expat customer base, in particular categories such as biscuits and household are in demand, and the Waitrose Duchy Organic brand is often requested.

British Corner Shop was originally established in 1999, but acquired in 2004 by Mark Callaghan. It now employs 40people and ships packages to 138 countries. It was named in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 which ranks Britain’s top 100 private small and medium-sized (SME) companies with the fastest-growing international sales over the last two years. British Corner Shop won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2016.