Chef Wise

Premium milkshake brand, Shaken Udder, has recently grown its reach even further as its range of 330ml bottles hits more than 100 extra Tesco stores this month. Shaken Udder has enjoyed a long relationship with Tesco, supplying stores across the UK since 2011. This increased listing will see its range of premium milkshakes available in over 650 Tesco stores throughout the UK. “We are very excited to be increasing our contract with Tesco,” explains Jodie Farran, co-founder of Shaken Udder. “Tesco has been an incredibly supportive retailer of our brand over the years. This year we have seen a 22% growth in sales in Tesco, so it's fantastic this strong performance has led to larger distribution. It's also great to be able to offer our loyal customers the chance to get their hands on Shaken Udder more easily.” 2016 is proving another strong year for Shaken Udder Milkshakes, with a 35% year-on-year growth, which has been additionally bolstered by the launch of Ub...

A change in fish shopping habits at Tesco has led to a sharp rise in more unusual types of fish like Megrim, Swordfish and Brill. Move over cod, plaice and haddock - fish of the day for increasing numbers of UK shoppers is now swordfish steak, and monkfish tail. A change in fish shopping habits at Tesco has led to a sharp rise in more unusual types of fish like Megrim, Grey Mullet and Brill. The increase is a result of a scheme by the retailer, which has seen staff on the 650 fish counters across the country, trained to help shoppers discover alternative varieties of great tasting fish, as well as offer helpful advice on recipes and serving tips. In the last year, the supermarket has seen a significant increase in demand for the following more unusual dinner table fish: Grey mullet – up by nearly 600 per cent Megrim – up by more than 400 per cent Mackerel – up by nearly 200 per cent Monkfish tail – up by more than 50 per cent Swordfish steak – up by ...

Waitrose has become the UK's first major supermarket brand to operate a cashless store after opening in Sky's new flagship head office building at its campus in Osterley. It is the first Waitrose to open on a workplace campus in almost 20 years and at 1,400 sq ft becomes the second smallest store in the retailer's estate. The little Waitrose branded shop is located inside Sky's new office building - Sky Central - which will be home to more than 3,500 staff. Sky employees are only able to pay by card or through their mobile devices at one of the five self-service checkouts in the store.  Waitrose opened its only other office based store in 1998 - a 520 sq ft shop at British Airways' Waterside headquarters in Harmondsworth. The retailer met with groups of Sky employees to determine what they would like to see in their new store. There is a focus on evening meals and food to go, including fresh sandwiches, wraps and sushi, as well as a selec...

In a UK supermarket first, Waitrose is launching two new gluten free fusilli pastas, with the packaging for the products in part made from food waste. One pasta is made entirely from green peas and the other from red lentils. A few peas and pulses don't make the grade during the production of this pasta so, instead of being discarded, they are used to help create the box in which the pasta comes. This new environmentally friendly packaging, made from 15% food waste, reduces the use of virgin tree pulp by 15% and lowers greenhouse gas emissions by 20%. The result is a box which can be in direct contact with the pasta, eliminating the need for an inner sleeve within the pack. The pasta box is also 100% recyclable. Customers will be making a nutritious, as well as an ethical choice when picking up a box of the new pasta, with each portion being high in protein, a source of fibre and one of their 5-a-day. And it's good news for those with a gluten intolerance, as ...

The world's hottest chilli pepper, the Carolina Reaper, will go on sale today at Tesco stores across the UK. Carolina Reaper is the world's hottest chilli pepper It's now being commercially grown in the UK for the first time ever It goes on sale exclusively at Tesco stores across the UK from tomorrow Lovers of extreme hot food – you have been warned! If you thought the notorious Komodo Dragon – a chilli pepper launched last year by Tesco - was hot stuff then just wait till you try the Carolina Reaper which goes on sale at the supermarket tomorrow. It's officially the hottest chilli pepper in the world according to the Guinness Book Of Records, measuring an average 1.5 million Scoville units*. However another independent test is reported to have recorded the heat level of the Carolina Reaper – which is being commercially grown in Bedfordshire - at an incredible, mouth numbing 2.2 million Scovilles. To give some idea of the phenomenal hea...

Tesco has today announced all the cocoa required for its own label chocolate products sold in the UK will be from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ sources by the end of 2018. The retailer will also ensure the cocoa used in other Tesco UK products, such as biscuits, cakes, desserts and cereals, will be responsibly sourced by the same date. The news follows a series of measures by Tesco designed to help build trusted and transparent partnerships with its suppliers and ensure more of its products are sourced sustainably. Steps include guaranteed high value contracts for British potato growers, sustainable farming programmes for lamb farmers and producers of cheese, a Fair For Farmers Guarantee for fresh milk, and an extension of its partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council, resulting in the retailer offering 80 MSC-certified products to customers. Tesco's collaboration the Rainforest Alliance and other sustainability programmes will support cocoa-growing c...

Tesco has today announced that it is to stop sourcing eggs from caged hens by 2025. This comes after the retailer conducted a detailed review of its egg sourcing strategy, which included consultation with suppliers, industry experts and other key stakeholders. The move is the latest initiative designed to ensure Tesco sources products in a sustainable way. Tesco recently launched its Fair For Farmers Guarantee for fresh milk which demonstrates how every own label pint of milk helps support British dairy farmers. Tesco has also introduced guaranteed high value contracts for British potato growers, and sustainable farming programmes for lamb farmers and producers of cheese. Earlier this year the supermarket launched new fresh produce ranges, including a number of Farm Brands and its Perfectly Imperfect range , which allows Tesco to take more fresh produce from British growers - up to 95 per cent of their crop. Tesco has also pledged to source more of the seafood it offer...

From Tuesday 5th July Waitrose has become the first supermarket to sell own label products through British Corner Shop, the online store that delivers British food to customers worldwide. It will enable Waitrose to enter entirely new territories from the 138 countries British Corner Shop regularly ships to, including two of 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 ...

There are high spirits in Penderyn as the small distillery in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons toasts a contract to supply The Co-op with its award winning Welsh whiskey. Penderyn's Madeira Finish Single Malt Welsh Whiskey will be stocked at The Co-op – which won The British Beer & Pub Association's Retailer Award earlier this year (October) - as part of a move by the community retailer to offer specially selected products from suppliers near to its local stores. The distiller – which revived the Welsh whiskey distillation tradition after an absence of 100 years when it launched Penderyn on St David's Day, 2004 - produces just one cask a day of its malted barley spirit in a still invented exclusively for it by Dr. David Faraday, descendant of Victorian scientist Michael Faraday. Rob Weller, Penderyn's National Sales Manager, said: “It is great news, this is our first listing of this scale with a convenience retailer and it opens up new and...

Waitrose has announced that it expects to create 1,500 jobs in new branches and its e-commerce grocery depot in 2016. The retailer intends to open 14 new shops across the UK from spring next year, including five new supermarkets and nine new little Waitrose convenience shops. Together, they will add almost 200,000 sq ft of selling space to the estate, building on the expansion Waitrose has experienced in recent years. Those supermarkets already confirmed include High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire), Uttoxeter (Staffordshire), Solihull (West Midlands), which will all open throughout the spring, and Truro (Cornwall) and Worcester, which will both open in the summer.  It will also add new little Waitrose shops in the South Bank Tower in central London and Leatherhead in Surrey during the summer and has plans for seven more convenience branches in new locations throughout next year. In addition, the business will be creating up to 200 roles in its e-commerce fulfi...

A colder turn in the weather and a range of compelling promotions saw sales of winter classics rise, driving sales growth of 2.5% (excluding fuel). Warming meals were high up on shopping lists last week, as sales of stuffing and Yorkshire puddings were up 13% and soup sales rose by 6%. Wines, beers and spirits also had a particularly strong week as customers stocked up ahead of Christmas. Highlights from the 10% off wines, beers and spirits promotion for myWaitrose customers included wines from the Loire up 90%, Spanish wines up 99% and Portuguese wines up 84%. The trend for sipping tequila shows no signs of abating, as sales increased by 20% compared to last year. The revival of vermouth is continuing, with sales up 9%, and malt whisky enjoyed sales growth of 5%. Highlights from the frozen aisle included battered fish, up 23% and prawns, up 21%. Shoppers are choosing to be creative with their Christmas presents this year, as fill-your-own gift crates are provin...

Waitrose has revealed its 2015 Christmas advertising campaign, set around the many moments that make the Christmas season special. Set to the original 1948 jazz classic of 'Everybody Eats When they Come to my House' by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, the heartwarming advert features a series of stories showing these moments and the role food can often play. With the campaign line 'Whatever makes your Christmas, make it with Waitrose', the advert highlights the diverse ways we enjoy the festive season. While Christmas traditions can be similar, no two Christmases are celebrated in exactly the same way.  Rupert Thomas, Marketing Director, Waitrose, says: “We celebrate with food, we unwind with food, we get to know each other with food. Delicious things to eat make the moments that matter even more memorable, especially at Christmas”. As in the Waitrose Autumn campaign 'The Warmest Season', the Christmas advert continues to feature real-life...

The Co-operative Food has launched an innovative online platform that will enable its members and shoppers to interact directly with Fairtrade producers across the world. A first of its kind interactive website, www.growingstories.coop , will bring UK consumers in contact with Fairtrade farmers and workers to hear first-hand of Fairtrade's impact on them and their communities. Seventeen producer organisations from nine different countries will be taking part in the online conversation – the first time that so many Fairtrade communities will be brought together! Coffee producer BasilioChales, from Todosanterita coffee co-operative in Guatemala said: “We are delighted to be part of this new Fairtrade community project. This is a great opportunity to talk to the people who enjoy and appreciate our product, and to tell Co-op customers about the impact Fairtrade has had on our community.” The Co-op is encouraging social media users to share messages and photos th...

Tesco has today announced its first and biggest farming group, the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG) will be expanding to support even more of Britain's dairy farmers. Already the largest group of its kind, Tesco has confirmed the number of dairy farms from across the UK it will have direct relationships with could increase by around a quarter. The supermarket will also look to foster and mentor fresh talent, by creating a new platform for new and young farmers wishing to enter the dairy industry. The Dairy Centre of Excellence will provide practical support for Tesco dairy farmers and opportunities to share knowledge and expertise with other farming colleagues from across the country, in order to improve animal welfare and encourage innovation. Following discussions with famers, processors and industry experts, Tesco has just completed its first ever review of the TSDG in order to adapt to the significant changes that have taken place in the dairy industry s...

Move over sandwiches – exotic salads are growing in popularity as a new lunchtime favourite for office workers and those on the go. Increasing numbers of shoppers across the UK are now choosing a salad over a sarnie, wrap or roll and it's the healthier end of the salad market that is growing the fastest. Latest retail sales data* reveals that in the last year demand for leafy salads across all retailers have grown by nearly three times the rate of sandwiches. At the same time demand for 'light' salads have grown at nearly four times the rate of sandwiches. The growing trend has prompted Tesco to completely overhaul and more than treble its 'on the go' salad range to nearly 50 lines. Included in the new range are such exotic salads: finest* Crayfish and Mango Salad finest* Coconut Asian Chicken Salad finest* King Prawn, Spicy Charlotte Potato Salad with Sour Cream and Lime Dressing Salmon and Edamame Sushi Rice Salad Yakitori Chic...

London-based Newby Teas, specialist in first and second flush tea - the first shoots from the prime season of each tea harvest – is to offer a range of eight of their finest whole leaf teas, fruit and herbal tisanes through Waitrose stores nationwide. Available from end of October, each pack of 15 individual, biodegradable silken pyramids, sealed in triple-layer alu-foil for freshness, carries specific brewing instructions, a short history of the tea or tisane and is represented by a raised image of an object from Newby's Chitra Collection of antique teaware. These include a gold-mounted bloodstone teapot from Germany c.1750, on the English Breakfast packaging, to the exquisite Faberge silver-enamelled tea caddy, Russia c.1910 decorating the Jasmine Princess, a fragranced green tea. The following eight teas will be available from Waitrose, six priced at £5.75 per pack with Jasmine Princess and Kan-Junga at £6.95 per pack: English Breakfast – a traditional, r...

It's a county well known for its apples and pears but from this week Herefordshire will have a new claim to fame – home of English watermelons. And when the watermelons go on sale for the first time on Thursday at Tesco it will be a personal triumph for 19-year-old agriculture student Joe De Pascalis. Earlier this year Joe challenged his boss at the local fruit and vegetable growers where he is working as part of his course that he could produce first rate watermelons. His boss, at S & A Produce, based in Marden, near Hereford, encouraged Joe to have a go and the watermelons, which were sown in May, were harvested earlier this week. Tesco produce manager James Cackett said: “These watermelons taste so good that we don't think shoppers will be able to tell the difference between them and the imported ones sold on high streets from Spain and Brazil. “The sweetness level is very good and they are standard size, weighing about between one and three k...

Mums and dads will have life made a little bit easier this summer thanks to new cooking courses for 4,500 children across the UK. The fun courses will help tackle fundamental gaps in children's kitchen knowledge. The courses have been launched at the same time as research that finds over two thirds of parents worry that children are growing up without basic cooking skills and 75 per cent of children have never boiled an egg. Thousands of mums and dads will have their lives made easier this summer thanks to a brand new series of special Farm to Fork Cooking courses for children. The courses will be run jointly with The Children's Food Trust and will take place in 50 Tesco stores right across the country every week throughout August. An estimated 4,500 children aged between 5 and 13 will take part. As well as providing something educational, fun and free for children to do in the summer holidays, the courses will help tackle fundamental gaps in children...