They call it the ‘Waitrose of the North’. Grocery chain Booths is a popular supermarket chain mostly found in the North of England noted for its quality. And now shoppers in the south will be able to get their hands on the Booths range via Amazon Fresh.
The Booths and Amazon deal agreement means that their range of ready meals, cheese and deli products will be available in 302 postcodes across London, Surrey, Hampshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire that are served by Amazon Fresh. Although hitherto Booths have yet to venture down south before they do have an enterprise in Malaysia.
That said some Booths goods have been available to southerners in the past: they offer Christmas hampers to shoppers nationwide but not outlets.
Edwin Booth, chairman and chief executive of Booths says: “Booths has always been a Northern secret, but now our range of exceptional products will be available every day to a wide range of shoppers. This is good news for everyone. It’s a win for Booths, as we have wider reach for our products and it’s a win for the customer who can now have a taste of Booths country delivered to their doorstep.”
It is an interesting partnership that clearly invites comparison with Amazon’s 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods in the USA.
There has been speculation about what Amazon might next seek out in the grocery space in Europe. There have been reports that they’re eyeing up a French supermarket partner to get a toehold there. And in the UK, Ocado has been mentioned as a potential takeover target to help them make more grocery sales here.
Ajay Kavan, vice president of Amazon Fresh International says of the arrangement: “Our customers tell us they look for choice, value and convenience from Amazon Fresh. That’s why we’ve added Booths to our great selection of products from Morrisons and Whole Foods Market as well as local shops and big name brands, brought together with same day delivery and the everyday low prices that Amazon is known for.”
