As you will no doubt remember, June saw some of the hottest UK weather in years – including a five day run where the temperature topped 30°C in some parts of the country, and - on the 21st - the hottest June day recorded since 1976.

Temperatures like this can certainly make working indoors all day a challenge, with a chilled factory environment perhaps coming as a welcome relief ! There is no doubt, however, that these conditions are a blessing from a business perspective, as Waitrose customers all over the nation flocked to stores to stock up on supplies for their barbecues.




The combination of hot weather and Father’s Day gatherings led to the category’s strongest sales week in two and a half years, reaching a remarkable figure of over £1 million and up 168% year on year. This rapid increase in demand led to some of our most challenging weeks, with record orders of burgers produced and delivered.

Alistair Morrison, Retail Production Director has received fantastic feedback directly from Waitrose citing how impressed they were with the speed and accuracy of the volumes under such a tight timescale.


While we are obviously delighted to see such positive sales, it must be emphasized that production at this level is not possible without an immense amount of teamwork and commitment from our entire workforce here at Dovecote Park – we would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank each of our staff for their outstanding efforts. While the July weather seems to be turning towards the grey and rainy, we are keeping our fingers crossed for another burst of sunshine later in the summer!