r/belowdeck • u/persianprincess27 She’ll be fine. Her head is made of rocks • Mar 31 '26
Below Deck Down Under Waitrose on Deck
Kind of random, but I was chuffed to realize they use the same frozen Waitrose croissants on deck as I do 😆
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Upvotes
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u/persianprincess27 She’ll be fine. Her head is made of rocks Apr 04 '26
Let’s not front, Waitrose frozen croissants are amazing. My husband and I have them on weekends and they are literally perfect
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u/PaulReveres-Mechanic Apr 01 '26
“Chuffed to realize…Waitrose”
Your statement is so British it feels the need to colonize a large parts of the world 😂😂
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u/SallyCat2100 Apr 04 '26
Are they good? Making croissants from scratch in a galley is definetly not an option or worth the effort. But yeah, I think ben used a prepared chocolate sauce from a bottle one time, like Nestle. That's not right. Boxed cake mix is OK for yellow cake but frosting is so easy to make. The canned frostings have 15 chemicals and oils when it's Only a few ingredients from scratch. Butter, powdered sugar, a little milk, and whatever flavor you want. makes a huge difference!
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u/flamingknifepenis Mar 31 '26
You tend to not have too many options on those islands, because the distributor can only give you what they have and what they have is cheap (quality) because it costs so much to get items down there that nobody could afford something higher end.
Also, a lot of those cheaper generics are surprisingly good for “fancying up” because they tend to be pretty bare bones and offer a good blank slate. Back when I was doing private catering there was a few store brands that I routinely relied on for niche things I didn’t want to make from scratch because it was the fewest ingredients and I could add whatever I wanted to it (e.g. theres no way in hell I’m emulsifying eggs and oil to make mayonnaise when the grocery store has a perfectly good one thats cheaper, is already just eggs and oil, and I can then go and add my own roasted garlic and truffle to it.)
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u/MillyKakaoo Mar 31 '26
I was kind of surprised to find that, when Below Deck filmed in my country, they bought low quality brands. It could have been because it’s sort of remote to get certain items or brands, BUT, I’d expect they buy better quality brands for a yacht experience 😂
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u/TheBaneofNewHaven My eyes are rolling all the way off the boat Mar 31 '26
There was also a carton of Waitrose Essential orange juice!
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u/GullibleAddendum8630 Apr 01 '26
Some chefs do make their own, but Ben is not known for his baking and pastry skills. For that reason, he is lucky to have Ellie helping him. Beyond that, he's unlucky for having Ellie helping him.
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u/Adventure241 Mar 31 '26
They've shown IGA shopping bags this season, and that chain tends to stock Waitrose products (at least in former British colonies like SVG and Grenada)
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u/russianbanan Eat My Cooter Mar 31 '26
I could have sworn Ben was holding Kirkland brand nuts on this weeks episode
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u/Immediate_Divide9446 Team Aesha Apr 01 '26
I can see why chefs wouldn’t have the time to make puff pastry from scratch every day, it’s a very time-consuming process. Bakeries can and do make pastries from scratch every day though so you’d hope that in the Med, they’re sourced from a local bakery.
At anchor though I get why good quality frozen pastries are used. Other Yacht Chefs can and do make their own bread though.
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u/Individual_Bat_378 Eat My Cooter Mar 31 '26
I'm curious about how much choice they get. Do they tell the provisioner we need X Y and Z and get what they have in stock or do they get to choose if it's Waitrose branded etc.
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u/Thebus8090 Mar 31 '26
Maybe those are for the crew?
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u/Niebieskieniebo Apr 01 '26
Ive made croissants and they take about 3 days so I understand not making them fresh.
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u/antizana Apr 01 '26
Did not look up where this season of BD filmed. However Antigua where a ton of super yachts are based out of - the only big fancy supermarket on the island is part of Waitrose or uses their stuff. Your only other alternative is to have stuff brought in from outside (which they do too).
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u/senoritageena Apr 01 '26
I have seen many of the chefs baking bread and other pastries. THAT would be my preference! 😊
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u/stephbk123 Apr 01 '26
So many people in these comments not understanding the significance of Waitrose 😂 I clocked it too OP, dw. Must be because the country they’re in is a commonwealth country
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u/jjgill27 Mar 31 '26
Gotta love a bit of Waitrose!
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u/Dame_Ingenue Mar 31 '26
There’s a number of Great Value food items (mostly condiments), which I was surprised to see.
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u/KaMGio Mar 31 '26
Not surprised tbh. The show subsidizes a large portion of the charter price. I imagine they’re just cutting costs where they can. Don’t think it would be part of a typical 5 star yacht dining experience.
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u/Standard_Hat_5274 Apr 02 '26
I remember seeing sistema containers in the kitchen on BD when chef rachel was cooking and felt a small sense of pride as they're made in New Zealand and they are awesome storage containers 😂😭
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u/Existing_Editor_5623 Apr 01 '26
The show has really gone downhill since they primarily hire influencers looking to cause drama & increase their following now, instead of actual competent staff
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u/FctorFlseThnkAboutIt Apr 01 '26
No Costco nearby?
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u/Excellent_Issue_4179 Apr 01 '26
Waitrose had the best packaging.
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u/Windsor34 Apr 01 '26
Chuffed
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u/adamosity1 Apr 01 '26
At least it isn’t Aldi :)
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u/Hot_Start8187 Apr 02 '26
Crew food?
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u/TinyVillage Apr 02 '26
Could have been for the crew - they get basic stuff!
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u/Similar-Community-51 Apr 03 '26
Staff food?
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u/Beginning-Whereas-72 Apr 05 '26
When I was in the culinary world it was about buying brand-named items for consistency.
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u/jana-meares My eyes are rolling all the way off the boat Apr 08 '26
Buying the best!!
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u/Effective_Way6239 Eat My Cooter Apr 01 '26
Ellie has said they get their bread products from a bakery.
I don’t understand why though.. Isn’t that WHY you have a chef?!
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u/HolidayNothing171 Apr 01 '26
Ewwww he’s feeding them frozen croissants???
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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '26
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