Elizabeth Haigh's Mei Mei to open at Platter, John Lewis. Mei Mei Goods, the women-built, B Corp-certified Asian condiment brand founded by CEO Renee St John and Michelin-starred chef Elizabeth Haigh, today announces a partnership with John Lewis Partnership that will see it launch in 249 Waitrose stores and open a three-month Mei Mei restaurant residency at Platter, John Lewis Oxford Street, from November 04. The partnership marks a major first-year anniversary milestone for Mei Mei Goods. In under 12 months, the founder-led business has built national retail distribution through Ocado.com and Waitrose, while also securing its first major foodservice agreement. The announcement reflects the speed and ambition of the small, women-built team behind the brand: taking chef-led recipes and restaurant heritage into a scalable retail business with national listings, digital content and a high-profile hospitality partnership. "This is a huge moment for Mei Mei Goods," said Renee St John, co-founder and CEO of Mei Mei Goods. "In our first year, we have gone from launching a new brand to partnering with one of the UK's best-known retail groups. To now be on shelves in 249 Waitrose stores, and to bring Mei Mei to Platter on Oxford Street is something our whole team is incredibly proud of." Mei Mei Goods will launch three products in Waitrose, built around its Base, Heat, Topper(TM) cooking system: Mei Mei Sweet Soy Sauce - RRP £3.00 Mei Mei House Chilli Sriracha Sauce - RRP £3.00 Mei Mei Hot Honey (2026 Great Taste Award) - RRP £4.00 The sauces are designed to be used alone or layered together to bring restaurant-inspired flavour to everyday food. Mei Mei Goods will support the range with recipe cards and online recipes, offering practical inspiration for customers to recreate Mei Mei-style dishes at home. From November, Mei Mei Goods will take up a three-month residency at Platter, John Lewis Oxford Street, showcasing the Mei Mei Goods sauce range across Platter's bar menu. The residency will bring Mei Mei's restaurant heritage to the West End through a menu of dishes featuring exclusively the three Mei Mei Goods products launching in Waitrose, allowing customers to experience the flavours at John Lewis Platter and recreate them at home using the same sauces. The menu brings Mei Mei's flavours to Platter in two ways: a new twist on familiar favourites, and new dishes built around the sauces. At the centre is Mei Mei Hot Honey, a Great Taste 2026 award winner, used wherever a little sweet heat goes furthest. The Charcuterie Board of chorizo, prosciutto, olives, gherkins and crusty bread comes with a pot of it for dunking. The Cheeseboard pairs Cashel Blue and Black Bomber with grapes and bread, with the hot honey served alongside. New to the menu, a duo of Sticky Pulled Pork Sliders. Slow-cooked pork tossed in Mei Mei Sweet Soy and House Chilli Sriracha, topped with sharp pickled red onion in a soft bun. It sits next to Mei Mei's crispy fried chicken, glazed in that same sticky, sweet heat.

Waitrose opens first new supermarket in eight years in north London. Grocer launches Cricklewood store as part of £1bn investment plan, with Hale Barns, Greater Manchester, to follow next month As part of a £1bn investment plan, Waitrose has chosen Cricklewood in north London as the location for its first supermarket in eight years. The upmarket grocer will open the store on Thursday and another supermarket in Hale Barns, Greater Manchester, next month. It also plans four smaller stores next year, including a supermarket in Oakham, Rutland, and three convenience stores in Bedminster (Bristol), Chalk Farm (London) and Springstead Village (Cambridge). In 2024, Waitrose, which has more than 300 supermarkets, said it planned to open up to four large supermarkets and 100 convenience stores over five years and would also refurbish a number of outlets introducing meat, fish and sushi counters, on-site bakeries and fine wine sections. The company has since ditched these specific targets and said it wants to focus on finding the right locations for new outlets. Tina Mitchell, the retail director at Waitrose, said: "Our supermarkets provide the ultimate showcase for everything that sets Waitrose apart - from our unmatched quality and industry-leading welfare standards to the expert service of our partners." This year the company - led since January by the former Tesco executive Tom Denyard - also plans to refurbish 29 stores. After a difficult period, when sales were hit by IT problems which led to gaps on shelves, Waitrose is holding market share, according to the latest figures from market analysts Worldpanel by Numerator. However, the chain is coming under pressure from Marks & Spencer, which now has a higher share of the grocery market, under some measures, after opening a number of new food-led outlets. Sales at Waitrose rose 4% in the six months to 1 August. However, its underlying operating profit slid by £7m to £103m as it invested in keeping prices down and improving its loyalty scheme. It was also hit by higher energy costs during the summer heat wave. Waitrose's parent company, the John Lewis Partnership - which is owned by its staff - reported a £98m pre-tax loss in the half-year to 1 August, as sales fell at the department stores despite heavy investment in updating the outlets. The company has been reducing the number of staff it employs directly as it tries to trim costs. On Wednesday, the partnership announced it had signed its first company-wide union recognition deal. The collective agreement with Usdaw, the shopworkers' union, comes ahead of new rights of union access in workplaces that come into force at the end of this month. Joanne Thomas, the general secretary of Usdaw, said: "Usdaw already has members working within the business and this agreement will strengthen that presence and help us in supporting and representing members across the partnership. We now look forward to growing our membership and influence within the partnership and to working with the partnership's management on finalising the details of how the agreement will work in practice."