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Sainsbury chief’s cheap veg pledge
Simon English25 Mar 2009
The cost of fruit and veg will tumble in the next few months, Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King claimed today.
King said that as the weather improves and spring arrives, supermarkets will be able to source more of their produce locally, cutting costs.
He was responding to inflation figures yesterday that showed a surprise jump in the cost of living. Vegetables are 19% more expensive than they were a year ago while fruit costs 13% more.
King said: “As far as the fresh food element goes, the inflation figure will always wax and wane. Over the next six months, we won't have to buy in euro-denominated fruit, we will source it from the UK.”
He was talking as the supermarkets chain reported a jump in sales in the last three months. Sales are up 6.2%, a sign that the supermarket sector continues to thrive in the recession.
“These are very strong figures,” said King. “This is a step up from the last quarter and the message is that much of the work we have done over the last five years is paying off.”
King will have been at the helm for five years on Monday, and is facing growing talk that he may soon look to move on.
“Not at all,” he said today. “I couldn't be happier.”
He declined to comment on speculation he is in line to succeed Sir Stuart Rose at Marks & Spencer, when the retail knight eventually steps down.
Sainsbury's shares have enjoyed a good run lately but today dipped 8p to 3223/4p.
Reader views (2)
we live near an Aldi distribution centre and it is a nightmare all the eastern european fridge wagons arriving at all hours, making noise , parking everywhere, damaging property, 1000+ wagons a week in a largely residential area, the council passed the planning against the wishes of everyone including the neighbouring council, these companies are too big and powerful, why do these supermarkets need to bring in so much stuff from outside the UK is beyond me, all those wagons that could be taken off roads reducing traffic issues, we should all buy local and buy from the producer, we don't really need these giant stores they are a nuisance, in our small town of 12,000 people we have 4 supermarkets too...
- Mike, neston, cheshire, 26/03/2009 09:30
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The only solution to cheaper veg is higher interest rates to support the pound.
- Paul John Graham, Greenwich, 26/03/2009 09:15
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