Waitrose introduced dedicated Gail’s bakery aisles within 64 of its stores in June 2023 | Photo credit: Waitrose

Premium UK supermarket Waitrose will build upon its partnership with boutique bakery chain Gail’s next month with a 280sq ft in-store café at its Canary Wharf supermarket in London. 
 

Waitrose began stocking Gail’s bread in 2010 and said the move is aimed at ‘enhancing and improving’ its in-store customer experience. The announcement comes a year after Waitrose introduced dedicated Gail’s bakery aisles within 64 of its stores, which selling a wider range of chain’s fresh bakery products. 

The Canary Wharf Gail’s site will prepare food on site and sell the bakery café chain’s specialty coffee – which is roasted by Union Hand-Roasted Coffee – for takeaway trade. The café will also offer click-and-collect and home and office delivery services. 

“We are delighted to be opening one of our neighbourhood bakeries within the Canary Wharf Waitrose. We look forward to further strengthening our partnership with Waitrose and welcoming the community to our latest craft bakery,” said Marta Pogroszweska, Managing Director, Gail’s. 

“Building on our successful partnership with the launch of a new and innovative Gail’s bakery is hugely exciting. Synonymous with quality, expertise, and taste, Gail’s very much reflects our own core values and we know how much our food loving customers enjoy their products,” added Nathan Ansell, Customer Director, Waitrose. 

Sales of Gail’s bakery products across Waitrose’s 416-store UK estate increased 35% year-on-year following the introduction of the Gail’s aisles. The premium retailer said its Canary Wharf store contributes nearly 5% of total Gail’s sales across its estate. 

Gail’s opened its first site in Hampstead, London, in 2005 and currently operates 133 outlets across the UK. The boutique bakery chain has previously said it is keen to ‘take advantage of different real estate opportunities’ in the UK branded coffee shop market, including drive-thru sites, and recently opened its first café in the southwest of England, in Clifton, Bristol. 

Waitrose currently operates 130 Waitrose cafés across its UK store network. The premium supermarket also offers myWaitrose loyalty members coffee from front-of-store self-serve coffee machines, supplied by Caffè Nero.