Waitrose has seen a dramatic increase in the sales of its Heston Blumenthal Christmas products following in-store discounts.

According to the supermarket’s trade update for week ending 14 December, “four times as many” Heston from Waitrose Earl Grey and mandarin stollens were sold compared to the previous week.

Waitrose also saw a 180% increase in the sales of packs of Heston puff pastry mince pies with pine sugar.

Earlier this month the supermarket reduced prices by 25% to the following items: Heston from Waitrose spiced shortcrust mince pies (RRP £3.50); Puff Pastry Mince Pies (RRP £3.50); hidden orange Christmas pudding (RRP £14.00); hidden clementine Christmas pudding (RRP £3.50); hidden chocolate sauce pudding (RRP £14.00).

A spokesperson for Waitrose said: "We regularly run offers on the Heston from Waitrose range and currently have some great offers to help our customers celebrate Christmas in style."

Last year, the retailer reported a 6.8% jump in weekly sales (20 December 2012), helped by sales of the celebrity chef’s Hidden Sauce Figgy Pudding.

The limited-edition pudding, which sold in stores and online for £14.99, ended up on auction site eBay, selling for over £100.

In 2010, Heston’s Hidden Orange Pudding also found itself on eBay, selling for £1,000, as Waitrose’s entire supply of 25,000 sold within weeks. In 2011 they quadrupled numbers and still sold out.