Sales of meal deals have tripled year on year at Waitrose as the upmarket retailer reported “a strong performance” for the first half of 2023.

Waitrose executive director James Bailey said the jump in sales comes as Waitrose launched its first £5 lunchtime meal deal offer last month, which is “already selling twice as much as we expected after two weeks”.

Adding to its food-to-go selection, the supermarket’s new meal deal includes a main, side and a drink across a range of products such as sandwiches, sushi, salad, wraps, fruit, cereal bars, juices and smoothies.

This comes as Waitrose reported a 17% rise in trading operating profit year on year to £504.4m, with overall sales up 4% to £3.7bn.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

On top of this, Bailey said that it is the sixth consecutive quarter of customer growth, adding: “More and more customers are choosing to shop with Waitrose despite the cost of living challenges.”

He attributed this growth to “the £100m price cuts, good availability through most of the half and its no compromise on animal welfare”.

Bailey said that new-to-store branded ranges such as Gails and Plants by Ella are also “doing really well”.

He added that amid inflationary pressures, he believes customers will continue to “shop savvy” for their food, however urged that “there is nothing to fear in that for Waitrose, we’re really well set for the second hald and onwards”.