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Waitrose sees big jump in cottage pie and red wine sales amid heat

Cottage pie sales at Waitrose rose 110% over the last month, while South African red wine sales were up 68% year over year.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Europe

Waitrose says demand for nostalgic, hearty meals has surged as unusual heat and wider uncertainty shift shoppers away from lighter foods. The UK supermarket chain reported cottage pie sales jumped 110% in the past month.

Alongside cottage pie, other comfort food items also rose, including retro chicken, bacon and leek pie (up 41%), chicken korma (up 67%), and chicken and ham gratin (68%). Sales also increased for South African red wine, up 68% compared with the same period last year, according to The Guardian.

The shift extends to at-home cooking, with searches for traditional recipes on Waitrose’s recipe site up 67% for toad-in-the-hole, 91% for spaghetti bolognese, and 57% for rarebit mac and cheese.

The Guardian reports food historian Seren Charrington-Hollis said cottage pies and lamb hotpots were especially sought after at a recent VIP event held during unbearably hot conditions, with guests expressing fatigue with salads. She linked the trend to a psychological pull toward home-cooked, traditional meals as people contend with a cost of living crisis, global wars and conflicts, political changes, and weather that feels out of sync.

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