Sainsbury's reports £12m sales in Fairtrade Fortnight

In a fourth quarter trading statement for the 10 weeks to 17 March 2012 released today Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury's, said the retailer had sold 11% more Fairtrade products during this year's event, which ran from 2 February to 11 March, than the previous year.

The supermarket giant, which claims be the world's biggest Fairtrade retailer, did not breakdown which products it sold, however a spokesman said that bananas, which have been 100% Fairtrade at Sainsbury's for five years, are its top selling Fairtrade product.

Sainsbury's claims to sell 650 million Fairtrade bananas, accounting for £4m in sales, per year.

In a fourth quarter corporate responsibility update, published alongside the trading statement today, Sainsbury's said it expects sales of Fairtrade products will hit £1bn by 2020.

It also pointed to in-store marketing activity, which enables customers to scan a QR code using their mobile device, on its Fairtrade products, to find out more about them. However Sainsbury's does not do any Faritrade-specific advertising.

King also highlighted the strength of its multi-channel strategy and the growth of its convenience, online and non-food business, which he said are all ahead of the market.

Its convenience business and online sales both grew 20% year on year for the 10 weeks to March 2012.

It also claimed basket size and order numbers have increased, with the retailer serving 165,000 customers online per week.

Sainsbury's reported total sales for the year, excluding fuel up 4.7% on the previous year, while like-for-like sales were up 2.1%.

King said he expects the Diamond Jubilee, Olympics and Paralympics, to underpin its expected growth as "customers trust Sainsbury's to make their celebrations really special."

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This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk