UK retailer Waitrose will expand its global reach this week by selling its food and drink through upmarket Swiss department store Manor.
Around 120 products will go on sale in Manor's Geneva store, including frozen products from curries to desserts, store cupboard groceries from organic marmalade to English breakfast tea, and sweet treats including biscuits and shortbread.
Products will be available in the food hall of the department store's Geneva branch from this week, before rolling out to a further six branches in other Swiss cities including Zurich and Basel at the beginning of next month.
If successful, there is the potential for products to be sold in up to 40 of the department stores 65 outlets with food halls.
Products will span everyday groceries from the essential Waitrose range through to indulgent treats from Waitrose Seriously.
Waitrose business to business director, David Morton said, "This is an exciting move as part of our plans to make our brand available to more people in more places and grow our presence in Europe."
He added, "Wherever we launch our products, we tend to find that the best-sellers are those associated with Britain, such as tea and biscuits and we are confident that our range in Switzerland will be popular with locals and expats alike.”
Waitrose first started exporting products in 1996 and now has a presence in 47 countries worldwide including Singapore, Canada, Hong Kong, Thailand, Falkland Islands, New Zealand, Barbados and India.
It operates five branches in the Channel Islands, and has nine shops in the Middle East in partnership with Fine Fare Food Market LLC. The supermarket announced earlier this year that it is keen to grow its European presence further.
Some of the products set to feature in Manor stores include:
Frozen: Waitrose New York cheesecake, essential Waitrose apple crumble, essential Waitrose garlic baguettes, Waitrose green Thai chicken noodles, Waitrose chicken kievs, Waitrose chicken korma and pilau rice.
Groceries: essential Waitrose tomato ketchup, Waitrose wild cranberry sauce, essential Waitrose English mustard, Waitrose Seriously mixed berry cereal, Waitrose carrot and coriander soup, Waitrose blackcurrant squash, Duchy Originals from Waitrose organic strawberry preserve, Duchy Originals from Waitrose Earl Grey teabags.
Sweet treats: essential Waitrose custard creams, Duchy Originals from Waitrose organic Highland shortbread, Waitrose dairy fudge.
Home baking: Waitrose Leckford self-raising white flour, Waitrose gingerbread man kit.
© 2013 - ESM: European Supermarket Magazine by Ellen Lunney
