How Waitrose took its love of food to the stars

Some food ads are all about comfort. Some lean into indulgence. Others pile the plate high with lifestyle gloss. But it’s not every day you see a supermarket brand float its emotional core somewhere in Earth's orbit.

In Waitrose’s latest brand work, The Gastronaut, the familiarity of the kitchen is swapped for the isolation of a space station, following a lone astronaut whose diet of functional paste only sharpens his longing for something better. Cinematic and filled with tragicomedy, the spot is a big, bold ode to tasty treats.

shots caught up with Wonderhood creatives Tad Buxton and India Penny, alongside SMUGGLER director Tom Speers, to discuss how the idea took shape, what setting the story in space unlocked creatively, and what it takes to land humour, emotion and spectacle in a genre that can easily overwhelm all three.

Once you’d landed on the idea that food isn’t just fuel, what was the creative leap that turned that insight into this story?

Tad Buxton: We got started by thinking of lots of different ways we could bring ‘fuel’ to life as the literal antithesis to food from Waitrose. We gathered references, from shakes and dystopian pills to vacuum-packed space food.

Setting the ad in space then seemed like a real no-brainer because this is one of the few places where there’s no choice but to treat food as fuel.

What did setting the film in space give you creatively that a more everyday food scenario wouldn’t?

India Penny: The ambition for this project was always to tell a really human-centred story that food lovers could relate to, but we wanted to tell it in a way that was as entertaining and unexpected as possible.

Space, and the whole sci-fi genre, was just the perfect backdrop to turn the dials up on the whole story.

Sci-fi in general has so many tropes that were great to riff off. The confinement and isolation of the space station worked well to up the emotional stakes of the ad.

Setting the ad in space then seemed like a real no-brainer because this is one of the few places where there’s no choice but to treat food as fuel.

And Michael’s AI companion, ‘Huw’, robotically reminding him to consume his ‘fuel’, was a perfect representation of the ‘enemy’ of a food lover, pure efficiency that sucks any joy from food.

It also felt really fun to flip the trope of homecoming on its head. In an actual space film, Michael would have an emotional reunion with his family. Instead, he went straight to a Waitrose car park.

Sci-fi can easily take over visually. How did you stop the genre from drowning out the emotion?

TB: The whole ad is sort of just a metaphor for being away from the food you love. A bit like when you’re eating a sandwich at your desk while you work late and you’re just longing to go home and have a proper home-cooked dinner.

We knew we always had to stay true to that relatable human truth.

Above: Behind-the-scenes shots of the intricate, practical set.

What made Tom Speers feel like the right director to bring this idea to life, and what did he add once he was on board?

TB: We loved the casting and performances in Tom Speers’ work. He’s amazing at observed, subtle humour, so we were excited to talk to him.

He instantly understood the script, Michael’s character, and how important capturing his performance would be, even when the lead actor was going to be suspended in a harness for the zero-g scenes.

Tom brought so much to the table early on when it came to craft, without ever diverting from the human story.

I just wanted to lean into the melodrama of the genre and push that into something knowingly ridiculous; something fun.

In his initial treatment, he’d already sketched out a full layout of the space station. He also shot the whole film backwards, trimming Michael’s beard between scenes, so that we feel the passing of time in space as it grows.

What drew you to this project and where did you find your inspiration?

Tom Speers: You can’t say no to a script set in space. I liked the idea from the start. Even the first draft was reassuringly self-aware, with the right amount of silliness, so it felt easy to build on.

I just wanted to lean into the melodrama of the genre and push that into something knowingly ridiculous; something fun.

Your reel shows you can balance humour and humanity, which are key elements here, but how did you approach the visual scale? Space isn’t easy.

TS: Many, many meetings. A lot of time in pre-production went a long way.

We had the chance to speak to experts, rewatch every space film we could think of, and put together a wish list of visuals and details.

Mark Connell built an incredible set, Rina Yang shot it beautifully, and the team at Untold pulled out all the stops in post.

Everyone was so dedicated and deserves a huge amount of credit.