Waitrose is well known for being one of the more expensive supermarket retailers in the UK.
Combined with soaring inflation, shoppers have found a new way to save money while stocking up on groceries.
Shoplifting.
It's not just the odd person pinching a couple of extra carrots or forgetting to scan a loaf of bread either.
Waitrose claims shoplifting gangs are purposely targeting its stores to steal items repeatedly.
“Some are one-off offenders but the majority are shoplifting on a regular basis, switching across all retailers,” said Lucy Brown, head of security at John Lewis Partnership.
The high-end supermarket has even started training its staff to be more aware of shoplifters in order to combat the issue.
Workers were also told to monitor self-checkout tills to make sure customers were scanning all items and for the correct price.
Convenience store bosses have suffered a similar issue, leading some to think the thieves are stealing items to sell them on.
Chris Noice, at the Association of Convenience Stores, said: “We know that because the items being stolen are those higher-value items like meat, alcohol, coffee, confectionery – the kind of items that can be sold on quite easily on social media or down the pub.”
Last year the number of thefts at shops in the UK’s 10 biggest cities rose by over 25%, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium.