Waitrose is launching an exclusive, first to market fish “En Papillote” – a traditional French cooking method, known for its rich, aromatic profile with fresh fish and finished with layers of flavour.
Waitrose.com has seen a surge in searches for ‘ready to cook fish’ and ‘fresh fish’ up 100% and 59% respectively over the last 7 days.
New products include Wild Garlic Scottish Salmon; Thai Green Inspired Cod Fillets and Provençal Inspired Haddock Fillets.
Leading the way in innovation, Waitrose has launched a supermarket first fish “en papillote” range for food loving customers. Inspired by the classic French style of cooking, the fish is delicately folded into hand-crafted parchment paper parcels, then steamed to perfection with its own natural juices. Requiring no hands-on preparation, it’s ready to serve in as little as 20 minutes.
Inspired by customer insights and designed to overcome the renowned ‘fish fear’, where many feel unsure how to cook fish, or are put off by its smell and texture – this range delivers the best in flavour and quality. The fish is expertly crafted to steam in the tray, with the parchment paper retaining the natural juices of the fish, infused with aromatic seasonings, creating a rich, flavour packed sauce, ensuring a perfectly tender fish dish every time.
Natalie Kelsey, product developer at Waitrose comments: “We are delighted to launch the first fish “En Papillote” to the market – an easy, healthy and delicious option that suits our customers’ busy lifestyles. Overcoming the dreaded ‘fish fear’, this style of cooking allows the freshness of the ingredients to truly shine. As the perfect mid-week solution, I love to serve mine with wholegrain rice, egg noodles or veggies for the perfect balanced meal.”
This new launch also taps into the growing popularity in French cuisine, with searches on TikTok for ‘French recipes’ racking up a total 169k views in the last week alone. We’ve witnessed a surge in new restaurant openings such as Josephine, which offers a culinary journey through France, as well as French influencers such as Alexandra Stacey who inspire seasonal French cooking so people can recreate French cuisine and cooking styles at home.
Range of new Waitrose fish “en papilotte”:
Perfectly cooked fish, made easy, and inspired by the classic ‘en papillote’ style of cooking, where the fish steams to perfection in its natural juices, inside a paper parcel. Simply cook in the oven, then open the parcel on the plate for moist, tender fish and the most irresistible aromas.
2 Wild Garlic Scottish Salmon Fillets, £7.50 – introductory offer £6.00.
Boneless salmon fillets cooked in wild garlic butter, hand-finished with cracked black pepper and chives – delicious with new potatoes and a green vegetable medley.
2 Green Thai Inspired Cod Fillets, £7.50 – introductory offer £6.00.
Skinless and boneless cod fillets with green Thai inspired butter, fresh chillies and coriander, delicious with wholegrain rice and edamame beans.
2 Provençal Inspired Haddock Fillets, £7.50 – introductory offer £6.00.
Skinless and boneless haddock fillets with oven-roasted tomatoes, black olives, capers and lemon, delicious with crushed new potatoes and steamed greens.
Notes to editors:
*All fish is fresh, not frozen, apart from when seasonal supply challenges arise once a year
For more information please contact:
Charlie Rushforth – charlie.rushforth@waitrose.co.uk
About Waitrose & Partners
Run by over 45,000 passionate Partners, Waitrose has been serving customers for 120 years and offers extraordinary products in our 314 shops and on Waitrose.com. Inspiring food discovery, our expert Partners run almost 800 specialist food service counters in store, where customers can shop a variety of the best quality meat, fresh fish, dry aged beef, sushi, as well as cheese. Our Beer, Wine and Spirits team features the largest number of Masters of Wine of any UK supermarket and we sell nearly 3,000 different wines, beers, ciders, spirits as well as no and low drinks in our shops, on Waitrose.com and Waitrose Cellar. We are committed to selling products which have been responsibly sourced, grown using the very best sustainable farming methods, some of which are grown or trialled on our very own farm, the Leckford Estate. In 2024, Waitrose was granted the Royal Warrant of Appointment to be Grocers and Wine & Spirits Merchant to His Majesty King Charles III.