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Waitrose to bring back free coffee

Waitrose to bring back free coffee
Emma Lunn
Written By:
Posted:
23/01/2025
Updated:
23/01/2025

From Monday (27 January), members of the My Waitrose scheme will be able to get one complimentary hot drink per day with no purchase needed.

Shoppers will need to bring their own reusable cup to get a regular americano, cappuccino, latte or tea for free at Waitrose and Little Waitrose stores.

Shoppers will need to claim their freebie from a Waitrose-branded self-serve coffee machine – you can’t get a free coffee from any of the Waitrose cafes. To do so, simply scan your physical My Waitrose card, or the barcode on your digital card, at the coffee machine and select your drink. The deal includes dairy alternatives, such as oat milk.

If you’re not a My Waitrose member, you can join the scheme online for free and you’ll get a digital card to use straight away – alternatively, you can download the Waitrose app on your smartphone.

Waitrose started offering free hot drinks to its loyalty scheme members in 2014. However, in 2017, it changed the terms of the offer to require people to buy something before claiming their hot drink.

Waitrose paused the scheme during the pandemic in 2020, but later brought it back in 2022 – with the caveat that shoppers needed to make a purchase before getting their free drink.

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In 2023, it started offering free hot drinks to on-duty police officers if they brought their own reusable cup. Later on, in October 2024, it scrapped free newspaper vouchers, which customers were eligible for once they spent £5.

Further loyalty scheme changes

In an email sent to My Waitrose members on Monday, Waitrose outlined several changes to the loyalty scheme.

For example, members will now be able to save 20% at the cheese counter on Thursdays. The supermarket also said it had streamlined the way customers use vouchers. Shoppers can now select their vouchers before checkout and they’ll be automatically applied when the My Waitrose card is scanned.

The supermarket also noted that the scheme should now be referred to as ‘My Waitrose’ rather than ‘myWaitrose’ and is now available to customers in Northern Ireland.

A spokesperson for Waitrose said: “Some of our members like to have their free coffee before or during their shop, rather than afterwards, so we are just offering a bit of flexibility in response to customer feedback.”