Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Sainsbury relaunches upmarket own-brand range

LONDON: J Sainsbury is relaunching its own-brand premium food range as Britain's grocers fight to lure shoppers away from restaurants and try to tap into growing demand for higher quality foods.

Britain's No 3 supermarket group said on Wednesday, Sept 22 its revamped "Taste the Difference" range would feature over 1,100 products, including over 300 new items, and a "Bistro" range of restaurant-quality starters, main courses and desserts.

"We believe that many people are eating out less and less so there is a real opportunity for us to capitalise on this by offering restaurant quality food that can be easily prepared at home," said Sainsbury's commercial director Mike Coupe.

The announcement came a day after Asda, Britain's second-biggest supermarket group, announced a ''100 million (RM484.29 million) relaunch of its core own-brand food range, with a focus on higher quality and innovation.

Market leader Tesco has also been expanding its "Finest" own-brand premium range, while number four Wm Morrison has said it wanted to boost its own-brand products.

"Arguably, a new battleground is emerging in the food aisles," said Shore Capital analyst Clive Black.

Sainsbury has been growing market share this year, benefiting from its strength in premium products, according to market researcher Kantar Worldpanel.

However, it faces stiff competition at the top end of the market from premium chain Waitrose, which has also been growing market share. Asda, in contrast, has lagged.

Sainsbury did not say how much it was spending on the relaunch, other than describing it as a multi-million-pound investment in a billion pound brand. ' Reuters


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