Waitrose
From trend to #1 seller: Waitrose’s basque cheesecake, 25% faster to shelf
- #1 own-label dessert
- Basque cheesecake
- 25% faster to shelf
- trend to product
- 3 consumer signals
- recipes, menus, social
“If you’ve got an ingredient and you want to know how it’s being used, it’s so easy to access this insight with Tastewise”
Lizzie ConlonInnovation Manager, Waitrose
- Industry
- Grocery retail
- Region
- UK
- Use case
- Trend validation, product innovation, internal trend storytelling
When Basque cheesecake began gaining traction across social media, restaurant menus, and recipes, Waitrose needed to know whether the signal was strong enough to turn into a product. Instead of relying on scattered research or intuition, the innovation team used Tastewise to validate the trend with real consumer demand signals.
By analyzing how dishes and ingredients were appearing across recipes, menus, and social conversations, the team confirmed that richer, restaurant-style desserts were gaining momentum. That evidence helped turn a trend signal into a real product opportunity. The result was a Basque cheesecake that launched as a top-selling own-label dessert.
Challenges
Waitrose needed a faster way to validate product ideas without spending days stitching together signals from different sources.
Manual trend research slowed decisions.
Scanning Instagram, menus, and food blogs for signals was time-consuming and difficult to repeat.
Validating ideas took too long.
Innovation teams often needed stronger evidence before committing to new products.
Trends moved faster than traditional research.
Without live consumer signals, it was difficult to stay ahead of emerging food trends.
Teams needed clearer proof points.
Chefs, innovation managers, and stakeholders needed shared evidence to align around which concepts were worth building.
Tastewise’s Solution
Tastewise became the always-on evidence layer behind Waitrose’s innovation workflow, turning scattered signals into clear, decision-ready insight.
Real-time demand signals.
Tastewise analyzes recipes, restaurant menus, and social food conversations to show what dishes and ingredients are gaining traction.
Ingredient and pairing intelligence.
The platform reveals which flavors, formats, and combinations are growing, helping chefs understand where the culinary curve is heading.
Real-world cooking behavior.
Insights into home cooking and seasonal food moments show how consumers actually use ingredients in everyday life.
Fast concept validation.
Innovation teams can quickly check whether a dish, ingredient, or flavor combination has momentum, turning early signals into data-backed recommendations.
Results
With Tastewise, Waitrose moved from scattered trend signals to faster, evidence-backed product decisions.
1 top-selling own-label dessert.
Basque cheesecake was validated using Tastewise demand signals and launched as a standout dessert.
25% faster launch time.
For ranges like Japan Menyu, Tastewise helped cut the time from concept to shelf by 25%.
3 data streams replacing manual research
. Recipes, menus, and social insights replaced hours of manual trend hunting with minutes of analysis.
Stronger, trend-aligned product ranges.
Insight-driven innovation helped Waitrose bring restaurant-style dishes to market exactly when consumer interest peaked.
| Challenges | to | Solutions |
|---|---|---|
| Manual trend research slowed decisions. | Analyzed consumer demand signals across recipes, menus, and social food conversations. | |
| Validating ideas took too long before product development. | Enabled fast concept validation using real-time demand signals. | |
| Trends moved faster than traditional research methods. | Provided always-on insight into emerging dishes, ingredients, and formats. | |
| Teams needed clearer proof points for internal alignment. | Turned trend signals into a shared, evidence-backed narrative for innovation teams. |
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