‘Immaculate’ Waitrose voted best Brighton supermarket in vegan mystery shop

A seaside city renowned for its liberal and inclusive atmosphere, Brighton & Hove boasts eight miles of pebble beach, a famous pier and an estimated eight million visitors every year.

Central Brighton hosts quirky shopping in The Lanes and North Laine, while independent cafés, bars and restaurants abound, with 25 of the latter getting a mention in the Michelin guide.

Add in a chock-a-block cultural calendar, trains to London in less than an hour and the beautiful South Downs National Park being just minutes from the city, and it’s easy to see why Brighton & Hove is one of the most sought-after places to live in the country.

Such attractive amenities do come at a cost, though, literally and figuratively. Overcrowding can be a problem at certain times of year, while housing and the cost of living are fairly high compared to many other UK towns.

According to CACI, Brighton & Hove overindexes strongly on ‘prosperous professionals’ (18.7% vs a national average of 3.4%), and “the catchment is dominated by young, educated renters and urban professionals”.

Read more:

• Waitrose store manager Nick Mort on Veganuary and e-commerce in Hove

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• What is The Grocer 33 and how does it work?

Many of them live in the more neighbourly Hove, which is usually described as the more upmarket of the two areas, and it provided this week’s winner: Waitrose on Nevill Road. The 28,572 sq ft store picked up 72 points in a low-scoring week, with most stores hit by poor availability for our vegan basket – despite Brighton & Hove being one of the UK’s most vegan-friendly cities.

But our shopper said the store was in “immaculate condition”, with all counters “well staffed”, a layout that was “logical and easy to follow” and “all aisles clean and clear”. He said the best thing about the shop was “the friendliness of the staff”, who always escorted him to the correct section when looking for items. But the store was “very cold” and the lack of self-scan handsets “frustrating”.

On the outskirts of Brighton along the A27 the giant Asda on Crowhurst Road was second with 59 points. The store’s best performance came on accessibility, with our shopper pleased to find a “very large” car park with “plenty” of spaces.

He is a regular shopper here, largely thanks to the “cheap prices”, which he said was the best thing about the shop. However, some aisles were “partially blocked” and he was “disappointed” by the staff, none of whom took him to products when asked. Furthermore, he was directed to three different locations for the sauerkraut only to eventually be told it was not stocked. He would like to see “more attentive staff on the shop floor”.

In the centre of Brighton the small Morrisons on St James’s Street was one of three stores to score zero for availability. Our shopper said the “interior is very drab”, the layout “confusing” (in that “products weren’t grouped logically, and therefore it took a considerable time to locate some items”). “Shopping there isn’t a pleasurable experience”.

On a more positive note, several promotional displays were “enticing” and our shopper was able to locate the “mostly helpful” staff “relatively easily”.

In fourth place the Sainsbury’s on Lewes Road was another to score zero on availability. Our shopper found the store “old and tatty”. She prefers Aldi on London Road “for the prices” and Waitrose on Western Road “because it’s a really nice shopping experience, and there’s a free coffee to be had”.

She did like the size of the Sainsbury’s store, however, and said the checkout area offered “plenty of options” that are “well managed” and “fast-moving”. However, there were “a lot of messy areas”, “numerous” aisle obstructions and some items were difficult to locate – not helped by the “uneven approach of staff in assisting”. With “no music and no atmosphere”, the “whole store felt curiously downbeat and depressing”.

Last place went to the 35,000 sq ft Tesco on Church Road. Again scoring zero for availability two items were out of stock and 11 not stocked, despite being the second-largest of this week’s stores. It did excel on customer service, though, with our shopper saying shop floor staff were “very knowledgeable” and the checkout staff “very welcoming”.

Elsewhere, things did not go so well. The fruit & veg section was “full of empty boxes” and “the rest of the store had quite a few missing products”, moving our shopper to comment that “it felt like Christmas Day” – but not in a good way.

The shop also took two hours and 42 minutes to complete, including a 20-minute wait for the checkout. All in all it was “a stressful experience” and the store needed to “employ more staff”.