Waitrose is partnering up with Channel Island convenience store chain Alliance to expand its presence in Jersey.
The upscale retailer will supply over 1,000 products to Alliance’s four stores on the island from 2022 – taking over the supply gap left by Tesco, which decided to axe its international wholesale business earlier this year.
Waitrose will supply Alliance with an array of both grab-and-go and everyday lines such as ready meals, free-from and vegan ranges, frozen products, prepared fruit and vegetables, meat, seasonal foods, snacks and store cupboard staples, as well as flowers and beauty products.
“Alliance is delighted to partner with Waitrose whose quality and provenance is second to none,” said Alliance’s MD Andrew Bagot.
“Alliance is a fast-moving convenience retailer and the partnership with Waitrose will further enhance the choice and quality for our customers.”
The first products will be launched at Alliance’s St Ouen shop in March, before hitting the shelves in the St Helier stores in Sand Street, Walker House and Broad Street in the following weeks.
Alliance has been trading in the Channel Islands for over 30 years, offering a wide selection of both local and international products.
Meanwhile, Waitrose also has three of its own shops in Jersey, including St Helier, Red Houses and St Saviour.
“Alliance is a well-established local business whose values when it comes to quality and service mirror our own,” said Waitrose’s head of commercial sales Barry Delehanty.
“Our partnership will allow us to provide even greater convenient access to Waitrose products for our Jersey customers.”
The move follows a similar deal with Scottish convenience chain Margiotta, which saw Waitrose take over a supply agreement that previously belonged to rival Co-op at 10 of the chain’s c-stores located in Edinburgh and East Lothian.
A Waitrose spokesman said: “This is part of the ambition we set out in our partnership plan last year, which sees us continue to work with third parties to provide greater convenience for our customers, reach new audiences and grow efficiently.”
Aside from the Margiotta partnership, Waitrose has also expanded its relationship with Deliveroo to 150 shops and committed to supplying 125 Shell forecourt shops by 2025.
Director of consultancy The Retail Mind, Ged Futter, said Waitrose had to be “quite selective” about who it wants to work with in the convenience world due to its more premium prices.
He added the grocer would likely be “keeping an eye out for limited opportunities rather than large-scale wholesale distribution networks”.
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