Temple of British tables (3): what to by in Waitrose

"What’s in a name?", asked Juliet. A name, in fact, is not the object itself, is a tag. I left my last post asking me what's behind Waitrose's philosophy: the name of Waitrose alone evokes a high standard. Waitrose's motto - Quality food, honestly priced - establishes a parallel between quality and fair prices. This is obvious. In comparison to M&S, they do not state that their prices may sound too high, why? This is because their customers are upper middle class, wealthy people for one or two generations.

Juliet: What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
      Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
      Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
      What's in a name? that which we call a rose
      By any other name would smell as sweet.
(W. Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, II, 2)

Claire Catherine Danes (NY, 1979), here aged 17,  in one of her most breath taking
close-ups in Romeo + Juliet (by Baz Lurhmann, 1996) with Leonardo di Caprio.

Sri Frank Bernard Dicksee, Romeo and Juliet (1884)
[Southampton City Art Gallery]:
one of my favourite paintings of this magnificent
late victorian painter, almost a Pre-Raphaelite. 

 Despite this consideration, Waitrose is part of a multinational group. Why is this calmly accepted? The first argument is that Waitrose policies benefit of its multinational status, but aim to a promote Fairtrade and Organic merchandise. The second answer might be that Waitrose does not challenge its customers. Its (hidden) approach, in fact, is that of the exclusivity. Here a consistent part of the Orwellian proles won’t have cultural access, because they cannot understand the logic beneath the chain. A person who buys, for instance, some Asda Spaghetti at 30p per pack would feel robbed to pay 95p (more than the triple) for the same amount of food. On the contrary, who goes into how food is produced accepts as a sort of compromise the co-habitation between Capitalism and a greener ethic.

Although a little timeworn, this book represents
the cornerstone of the modern sociological interpretation
of some mass phenomena. Worth reading:
Max Weber, The protestant ethic and the spirit of Capitalism.

What I have just explained is not a sterile critique, nor do I wish it to be taken as a lunge against these companies or the people loyal to one name or another: I am personally (and emotionally) attracted by Tesco as I showed in the previous posts. Moreover, every chain wishes to be trusted for its philosophy: if you are more relaxed you spend more and reason less. Each of these brands employs a multitude of psychologists to study human behaviours and to orientate their policies toward distinct directions. Let's take the Organic tendency. Organic produces are more respectful of the soil, in terms of pesticides and fertilizers. Each chain now has its own "hook" for environmental attentive people:

Ravishing organic hummus

Not bad brown spaghetti

Freshly baked baguette, although I fear is a demi-worked produce

Broccoli and red onions from Egypt

Waitrose is perhaps the British pioneer for organic products and the company encourages British organic farms too. The acquisition of the brand Duchy, which raised several perplexities, according to the management of HRH Prince Charles' rural portfolio, brought into Waitrose a vital range of goods, coming from a sustainable estate. 

Here is the link to the Duchy of Cornwall website:

http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/accessible/index_a.asp

British apples, kiwi, quail eggs, and pork meat.
Tomatoes and broccoli are likely to be imported from Southern Europe.

What I actually fancy the most is a Waitrose side effect, so to say. The more you are part of the dynamic part of a nation, the more you have a wider and more open vision of Reality: because you travel more, you read more, you always wish to expand what may be defined an insular vision of the world, you spend more and goods talk to you. This is why Waitrose customers are experimenting something new in comparison to their fellow citizens, who shop elsewhere. They are welcoming a the world to their cupboards:

• Yeo Valley yogurt and Waitrose red chicory are two British produce;
• Heritage Shetland black potatoes are from Scotland (violet and delicious when fried);
• Waitrose peeled cherry tomatoes are produced in Italy;
• Crosta & Mollica bread is from Puglia, the heel of Italy;
• Green & Blacks chocolate developed from Canada, but now is made in the EU as well;
• Herta Frankfurters are from Germany (gorgeous when boiled);
• Charles Basset white tuna tin is from France (once a month the perfect salad ingredient).

On the other side, Waitrose provides its own characteristic trademark! What comes after the label "essential", often does not mean that is of poor quality, but only that it is an essential ingredient for your diet and preparation:

Pasta, curly lettuce, paella rice, oranges, vegetables, minced meat and the pear, were meeting the highest standards.

A package of Waitrose Aberdeen Angus Beef:
I appreciate the lightness of it, without polystyrene container.

Whereas in all the other supermarkets the chain is prone to the customers oddities, Waitrose operates as a global and multicultural bazaar: the best choice from every country, at least of Europe. If you are not able to orient within this assortment, you can be tricked and spend fortunes on tastes difficult to combine. This is the only serious inconvenience, because you are bombarded by clusters of goodness: the quality of fruit and vegetables is sensational, less appealing is the fresh meat, impressive is the amount of Continental goods, mouth watering the quality of wines. Moreover, also the non-food selling is appealing, for instance I bought this lovely mug, inspired by a decoration related to Enea Silvio Piccolomini's figure - pope in the XVcentury with the name of Pio II. I guess it is linked to a tapestry owned now by the Victoria and Albert museum foundation.

There also is another phantasy available (5£)

Time for an organic Teapigs green tea and some Patisserie Valerie bon-bons.
If I am not mistaken I found this teabag in the Waitrose kitchen magazine of May 2012.

Here is the Teapigs web-site:
http://www.teapigs.co.uk/