Sark now has the Essentials…

Wednesday 03 June 2015

There’s no cars, not a lot of tax and not a lot of people, but now the tiny Island of Sark has the ultimate middle-class status symbol: Waitrose.

With just 600 residents, Sark is probably one of the smallest communities served by the supermarket giant.

But under a deal between Waitrose and Food Stop – made famous in BBC Two’s “An Island Parish” – the people of Sark are getting used to regular deliveries.

The new supply chain features an unusual element – a tractor-drawn cart, which gets the goods up the hill from the harbour.

Nikki Baker, the Assistant Manager of Food Stop, says that Sark residents were making regular trips to Guernsey to pick up their shopping, so they thought they’d start offering the service instead.

She said: “We noticed that a lot of islanders were taking specific day trips to the Waitrose branches in Guernsey to stock up on their own-brand products.

“We thought that having our own stock of Waitrose groceries would be a great for islanders so they don’t have to travel so far to get their favourite items.

“It’s been an absolute hit with all of our customers and it’s great to have things like fresh pasta that we haven’t had delivered to the island previously.

“Everything is flying off the shelves and our customers know which days the deliveries arrive so, by the time I come in the next day, half the stock is gone!”