Life News

Cottage pie in a heatwave: Waitrose sales jump 110% as Britons tire of salad

Britain's heatwaves have produced an unexpected shopping trend. Waitrose says sales of its cottage pies rose 110% over the last month, chicken and ham gratin rose 68% and South African red wine was up 68% on a year earlier. The Guardian added chicken korma (up 67%), chicken, bacon and leek pie (up 41%) and a 100% rise in strawberry trifle sales.

Home cooks are also standing over hot stoves. Searches on the supermarket's recipe site rose 91% for spaghetti bolognese, 67% for toad-in-the-hole and 57% for mac and cheese. Waitrose has named the trend "reverse comfort eating" and describes shoppers' tiredness with cold plates as "feta fatigue".

“Forget the thermostat, when a heatwave goes on, raw salads and chilled plates can often lose their cool fast.” — Stephen Parkins-Knight, Waitrose, via The Irish News

The Guardian asked why. The food historian Seren Charrington-Hollis linked it to uncertainty from the cost of living, conflicts and political change, calling it "a psychological switch". The chef Simon Wood said people cutting back on eating out want "that hint of going out to the pubs" at home, and that salad may not last for those who shop once a week.

How each outlet framed it

• The Irish News (PA) — the retailer's story: the figures and Waitrose's own explanation.
• The Guardian — the wider mood: nostalgia, budgets and a reset button.

What we don't know yet: The figures come from one upmarket supermarket and cover a single month, so it is not clear whether other chains see the same shift.