From the pages of Produce Business UK

UK retailer Sainsbury's said it beat Q3 financial year expectations, with Christmas season like-for-like sales increasing more than 9%.

Grocery sales helped lead the way, growing at 7.4%, helped by a tremendous quarter from its Groceries Online, which were up 128%. Its total digital sales overall increased by 81%.

“More customers bought their food online than ever before and we delivered 1.1 million orders in the 10 days to Christmas, double the number of last year," said Simon Roberts, Chief Executive of J Sainsbury plc. "At Christmas we focused on offering our customers great prices, great quality and great service and I feel really proud that Sainsbury’s customer satisfaction scores were the highest ever in the key Christmas week. "

Roberts acknowledged the challenges of 2020 and those that lie ahead, saying that caring for and delivering to shoppers is still its top goal.

“As we enter our third phase of tighter restrictions and national lockdowns, my number one priority remains keeping our colleagues and customers safe," he said. "The last few months have been really tough for many people and we are all dealing with a lot of change and uncertainty again."

Roberts says Sainsbury's has started the new year by keeping its Price Lock on more than 2,500 everyday products.

The retailer says, after forgoing business rates relief of £410 million, it will an report underlying profit before tax of at least £330 million in the financial year to March 2021.

Grocery sales, which were largely flat through the previous year, jumped 10.5% in the first quarter of the 2021 financial year. After lagging a in Q2 (5.1%) it rebounded again in the final months and posting a nearly 7.5% jump.