Shopping at Waitrose - what is good? And Ocado codes...

[Gem13]

Having tried Sainsburys and being bored with Tesco, I thought I might give Waitrose delivery a whirl.

The thing is there isn't one in my town (the delivery will come from a store 10 miles away) and so I don't know what is 'good'. I know they rave about their free range eggs, meat, etc. but it's difficult not having first hand experience.
I know there are a few mumsnetters who sing the praises of Waitrose so I was wondering what you could recommend.

Also, a code for Ocado delivery would be welcome . There wasn't one in the weekend paper this weekend and I haven't seen one for a while.

Many thanks.

eeerr just being stupid here but what is Ocado ?

Ocado - £15 off first oreder over £75, CODE VOU7588427

Gem13, everything is good from waitrose. i often go to the shop itself. the only downside it's the price, it is considerably more expensive than Tesco, but i suppose it balances out in the end. i only used Ocado once and was v pleased with them (they even pack the products in differently coloured bags - frozen, grocesry, fresh produce etc).

ocado is waitrose online bunnyrabbit. have no idea how they came up with this name though...

Tah

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Actually Branster and BR, Waitrose do have their own delivery service called Waitrose Deliver, but there are some areas they do not cover. Some of the places which aren't covered by Waitrose Deliver are covered by Ocado, which is a different company. We use Waitrose Deliver, Occado doesn't cover our area so can't comment on them. Waitrose Deliver have been pretty good, although we've often been charged for 1 or 2 items which are not in the bags (you just ring them and they either credit you or arrange to have it delivered another time). Their products are absolutely yummy!

Cheers for the code.

Shame that everything is more pricey I am trying to set myself up with a veg/fruit box scheme, trip to the butcher once a week and then a supermarket delivery for everything else (milk, cereal, pasta, loo roll, cat food, etc.) so it doesn't sound as if it would work.

Will have to try and figure out exactly what we need (easier said than done as we're still adjusting to becoming 4 and things are rather ad hoc) and then check the prices on the website.

Why is it such hard work trying to make life easier?

I think it might be worthwhile checking the price thing - everyone says Waitrose is expensive but I have a feeling it might be that you spend more - coz it's all very tempting. I know a very price-conscious person who, when Waitrose opened near us, compared prices on basics with Sainsburies and told me there was nothing in it. That was a few years ago and I've never done a direct comparison myself but it might be true

gem13, to go back to your original question - waitrose's products are generally very good, but they are particularly good for:

fresh fruit and veg (excellent quality)
bread (many unusual varieties)
wine
cheeses, hams and pates (especially from the serviced deli counter)
ditto the fresh fish counter
frozen desserts

The meat is definitely more expensive (per gram). I did my first Ocado shop last week as I got that £15 off voucher. I was VERY impressed with the fruit and veg. The avocados were enormous and all the apples delicious.

I was concious of the price issue so I just took up all the 2 for 1 offers (they had them for apples, bread rolls and a few other things). The sausages I chose were fantastic. They also had quite a few good ideas that I had never seen (I normally use Sainsburys on line) - this idea of bundles where you can click on a whole meal and they add all the ingredients to your trolley and give you a discount. Only worth it if you want the meal but there was one meal I was planning to do anyway and it worked out cheaper buying it that way.

I ended up spending less than I would have done at Sainsburys but I didn't get any household stuff and that was after the £15 discount. I wouldn't get stuff every week but its nice to have a change every now and then.

Oh, and my MIL has a fantastic apple handwash from Waitrose in her house that smells delicious and I keep meaning to go and get some!