Jamie Oliver Boosts Sainsbury’s Profits
 The halo effect of Jamie Oliver, the scourge of turkey twizzler school dinners, has helped lift sales at Sainsbury's, with huge increases in the sales of products endorsed by the celebrity chef in its television advertising.
Sales at the supermarket have risen nearly 3 per cent in the past three months, outpacing the overall grocery market, despite fierce price-cutting on the high street.
Justin King, Sainsbury's chief executive, said its "try something new today" campaign, featuring Oliver, was already paying dividends.
The adverts had led to a quadrupling of sales of featured products such as nutmeg, while the likes of sausages and apples - part of a recipe promoted by Oliver in a TV advert - had enjoyed their strongest sales on record, Mr King said.
"An important event during the quarter has been the re-launch of our brand supported by our 'try something new today' advertising campaign," he said. "The initial customer reaction has been pleasing."
The promotional campaign featuring Oliver was announced last month as part of a £10 million revamp, and replaces the old "Making Life Taste Better" slogan. The rebranding exercise will roll out to include carrier bags, trolleys and the company's supermarket lorries.
Sainsbury's also revealed that same-store sales, including fuel, rose 4.1 per cent in the past 16 weeks. Excluding fuel, like-for-like sales were up 2.8 per cent.
"That's the biggest rise in quite a while, probably the biggest since 2001. It's a very strong figure in the context of quite a weak market," Mr King said.
Sainsbury's also believes cost-cutting in its stores is now showing results. The chief executive said prices were down in store aisles by 1.7 per cent in the last quarter, adding: "Our prices are much sharper than they were a year ago."
The news will be a fillip to the supermarket group, which is fighting to close the gap on the market leader, Tesco.
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