WH Smith has launched Smith’s Family Kitchen, a brand-new food to go range, exclusively available in 300 of its UK Travel stores.
As over 11 million meal deals made from over 900,000 product combinations are sold by WH Smith each year, the retailer is introducing its own range. Designed specifically for travelling customer, the range is made up of over 30 products including sandwiches, salads, wraps and baguettes.
Additionally, the products, design and packaging has been developed with customer feedback from over 1,000 shoppers.
Andrew Harrison, managing director, UK Travel at WH Smith, commented: “We’re on a mission to offer time-pressed customers all their travel essentials under one roof with a fast and convenient shopping experience.
“With millions of customers turning to WH Smith each year to fuel their journeys, we’re making our biggest investment in WHSmith’s food offer since we first started offering chilled food and drinks in our Travel stores more than 10 years ago, with the launch of a new and delicious food to go range.
“Working with a team of chefs to tailor our range and ensure we’re using the best quality ingredients has been fantastic, and the team has done an excellent job with the look and feel of the new brand – it’s a really exciting time for the business. We never sit still and we’re constantly innovating to give our customers even more reasons to shop with WH Smith on their travels.”
UK Travel is the largest division in WH Smith, with 590 stores across the UK in airports, railway stations and hospitals. The retailer recently reported strong growth for UK Travel in the first half of the year, driven by the business’ transformation from a news, books and convenience retailer, to a travel essentials retailer.
WH Smith has already seen strong customer responses in its larger stores including London Heathrow, London Gatwick and most recently Birmingham Airport, with expanded health & beauty, tech, and more food to go ranges.
The retailer sees further scope for this store format to be rolled out to more stores across the UK Travel estate, as well as new store openings in key locations.
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