Sainsbury’s to invest £65m into prices next month to offset inflation pressure

Linda Stewart — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 09:45:06 +0000

Sainsbury’s has said it will pump £65 million into its pricing next month amid rising pressure on customers’ budgets.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of the supermarket chain, promised the brand will stand with its customers “to ease the financial pressure they face”.

The latest pricing pledge – which is part of wider a £500 million investment commitment – comes as fresh figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reveal that customers witnessed 9.3% food inflation in August, compared with the same month last year.

The UK’s second largest grocery chain said £60 million of its latest cash injection will go towards food prices in September.

It said this will predominantly go towards the Price Lock campaign which freezes the price of many of its most popular products.

Around 2,000 food products and household items have had their prices fixed for at least eight weeks, including a number of own label lines.

Sainsbury’s said funding will also go towards its price match campaign against discounter rival Aldi.

Aldi and German rival Lidl have seen a jump in customer demand in recent months as cash-strapped shoppers have sought better deals for groceries as soaring energy bills continue to weigh on household spending.

Sainsbury’s said it would also use £5 million of its latest investment package to improve pricing at its Argos and Habitat homeware operations.

Mr Roberts added: “We know how tough this ‘back to school’ season is going to be for our customers.

“With families across the country facing big increases in their energy bills, the situation is serious and our most important job at Sainsbury’s is to help our customers in every way we can.

“We have made huge strides to lower prices since we launched our new plan but we are committed to going further.

“These are difficult times and all of us at Sainsbury’s are standing with our customers to ease the financial pressure they face.”

The post Sainsbury’s to invest £65m into prices next month to offset inflation pressure first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Henderson Wholesale helps Sainsbury’s with NI supply issues

Julie Nash — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 15:45:30 +0000

Henderson Wholesale helping to supply Sainsbury’s stores in Northern Ireland that have been impacted by border issues caused by Brexit. Henderson Wholesale is assisting to ensure that the supply chain in Northern Ireland would remain intact once the transition period of the UK leaving the European Union ended on 31 December 2020.

Additional certification processes for food moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland meant that some retailers including Sainsbury’s experienced some supply issues.

A by Sainsbury’s said: “A small number of our products are temporarily unavailable for our customers in Northern Ireland while border arrangements are confirmed. We were prepared for this and so our customers will find a wide range of alternative products in our stores in the meantime and we are working hard to get back to our full, usual range soon.”

Contingency planning

A Henderson spokesperson said: “Over the last several months we have been contingency planning for Brexit to minimise any disruption to the food supply chain for our 470 stores across Northern Ireland after 31st December 2020. We can confirm that we have entered into a temporary supply agreement with J. Sainsbury supermarkets that will see both parties working together to ensure availability for our customers. Over 75% of fresh products are sourced and made locally.”

Henderson supplies over 450 Spar, Eurospar, Vivo, Vivoxtra And Vivo Essentials stores across Northern Ireland.

The post Henderson Wholesale helps Sainsbury’s with NI supply issues first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

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Sainsbury’s to invest £65m into prices next month to offset inflation pressure

Henderson Wholesale helps Sainsbury’s with NI supply issues