It’s June 2022 and Waitrose is gearing up for Christmas. Channel 4’s festive documentary, Waitrose at Christmas (12 December, 8pm), followed the supermarket as it prepared for Christmas – facing NPD fails, unpredictable weather affecting crops, supply chain woes, complaints over its ad, HFSS store layout changes, and much more.
Appetising close-up shots of food and sustainable giftwrap talk aside, the highlight of the show was by far the candid moments shared by staff. We breathed a sigh of relief when chef Zoe finally nailed the nduja and mozzarella profiterole centrepiece (even though seeing it being made in the factory will put you off cheese-stuffed food for life). Meanwhile, shop floor worker Patrick’s delight when the brussels sprouts on stalks finally arrived at the store was nothing less than infectious.
However, cameos from the executive team’s high-rankers – such as exec director James Bailey awkwardly chatting to store managers during his countrywide “spot checks” – felt largely scripted. Except for the scene in which a curious cow crept up behind commercial director Charlotte Di Cello while she was discussing beef cost increases during a farm visit, which showed real comedic timing – on the animal’s part, of course.
It was an expensive-looking production that Waitrose was clearly happy to back in a bid to convince viewers to shop there. As long as they managed to ignore all the rival Christmas ads showcasing cheaper festive fare that played during the ad breaks, that is.
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