Video: Waitrose advert highlights employee ownership structure

The advert, with the tagline, ‘When you own something, you care a little more’, features a young boy preparing a patch of earth in the garden in which he plants a handful of seeds. Over the following days and weeks he braves the elements to protect it from dangers including frost, crow invasions and slugs, until finally a baby carrot emerges which the boy proudly serves to the whole family.

The advert ends by showing a member of staff stacking a packet of carrots in a Waitrose store with the same pride, to show that because its employees are also shareholders they are personally committed to the products.

The advert, which will be televised for the first time tomorrow, is a departure from the grocer’s traditional focus on the quality of its produce.

Waitrose marketing director Rupert Thomas said: “The care and service that are the hallmarks of our brand are inextricably linked to our co-owned structure. Because our partners own the business, they are motivated to go that little bit further for customers and that’s what we want to portray in this advert”.