UK supermarket giant Sainsbury's has posted its first annual sales growth in more than two years after a push on more innovative health food options.
Increasing by 0.1 per cent in in the nine weeks to March 12 2016, sales at Sainsbury's were up compared with a fall of 0.4 per cent in the previous quarter.
Mike Coupe, Chief Executive, said: “We have delivered a strong performance this quarter. Our supermarkets recorded both like-for-like transaction and volume growth and we continue to exceed our internal metrics for service and availability. We also maintained our market share in the quarter. The market will remain competitive as food deflation continues to impact sales growth.
"We are progressing well with our quality investment in 3,000 own-brand products. The New Year is traditionally a time when customers focus on healthy eating and to cater for this demand we launched a number of vegetable-based product innovations including boodles (butternut squash noodles) and courgetti (spiralized courgette) which are proving extremely popular with our customers. We also introduced new lines to our healthier bread range including the rye loaf and sprouting grain boule, both of which are high in fibre.
"The new year is traditionally a time when customers focus on healthy eating and to cater for this demand we launched a number of vegetable-based product innovations including boodles (butternut squash noodles) and courgetti (spiralised courgette) which are proving extremely popular with our customers."