UK supermarket Waitrose partners Deliveroo for 30-minute delivery

LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - British supermarket Waitrose is
teaming up with Deliveroo to trial fast home-delivery as its
long partnership with online grocery specialist Ocado
comes to an end.

The supermarket, part of the employee-owned John Lewis
Partnership, said Deliveroo customers would be able to order
more than 500 food and drink products for delivery in as little
as 30 minutes in the period between one hour after stores open
and one hour before they close.

The service, which will complement the supermarket's own
two-hour and full-service deliveries, will be available to over
half a million households in a 12-week trial, Waitrose said on
Friday.

Waitrose Executive Director James Bailey said the Deliveroo
partnership was "another opportunity to give our customers a
taste of what the future of convenience shopping could
look like for us".

Deliveroo, which is backed by Amazon.com, is a
leading player in restaurant food-ordering and delivery, and its
cycle couriers are a common sight on UK streets.

It already offers 30-minute grocery deliveries from
supermarket group Coop and it has started trials with Aldi UK.

Waitrose is a long-standing supplier to Ocado, an online
supermarket that has benefited from a surge in demand for home
delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That deal, however, comes to an end next week when its rival
Marks & Spencer starts supplying Ocado shoppers with
around 6,500 of its products.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Stephen Addison)