FAQs

Traditionally December 23rd is the busiest shopping day of the year. Whilst there’s been no extension of trading hours for that Sunday, we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure our customers can get what they need including recruiting an extra 20,000 people. We’re also anticipating many customers will want to shop earlier – on either the Friday or Saturday – and of course we’ll be open on Christmas Eve.

By going to the image & logo library section of this website.

Customer Understanding of Agricultural Production

For consumers generally to support rural economies, they must have a clearer, stronger understanding of the provenance of food. In a recent MORI survey, 74% of people said that they would choose British produce in season over other produce if it were available.

This year, for the second year running, Sainsbury's Supermarkets will be supporting the NFU's Food and Farming Roadshow, which takes the facts about farming out into the community and, in some instances, into our supermarket car parks. The Roadshow gives us an opportunity to explain to our customers how food is produced, enabling them to make informed choices and to have confidence in the quality of the food they eat.

Sainsbury's Stores in Rural Locations

Sainsbury's stores can take one of several formats, which we have developed to meet the needs of specific locations. For rural locations we offer our Country Town stores or Sainsbury's Locals.

Country Town stores are small superstores that typically have a sales area of 10 to 30,000 sq ft. They are small supermarkets serving the needs of weekly shoppers in small market towns throughout the UK. We currently have 36 such stores.

Sainsbury's Locals are our smallest format being about the size of a tennis court (3,000 sq ft). They provide a 'top up' shopping or 'grab and go' shopping facility in villages as well as urban communities. We currently have over 200 such stores and are looking to expand this number considerably over the next few years.

Around 150,000 people.

A large Sainsbury's store stocks approximately 30,000 products and an increasing number of stores also offer complementary non-food products and services.

934 as at 19 March 2011:

Sainsbury's Supermarkets: 557
Sainsbury's Convenience stores: 337

Please see our Store portfolio

You may have seen an email about a cash-back scam at one of our stores. This email has been circulating the internet for some time, and the content is very dated as it makes references to retailing payment techniques not used by Sainsbury's. Even more, the store it refers to doesn't even exist. We can assure you that the contents of the email are completely fictitious in regard to Sainsbury's supermarkets. We place the highest importance on our customers' security and can assure you you'll be able to continue to shop with us with complete confidence.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at customer.service@sainsburys.co.uk or call the Careline on 0800 636 262.

Tesco are playing catchup

All of our fresh chicken has been British for over ten years. 

All of our frozen chicken is British too.

All of the chicken in our fresh ready meals, pies, sandwiches, quiches and soups is also 100% British and we have begun using British chicken in our frozen chicken ready meals.

Justin King, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s, said: "These announcements highlight how important a detailed knowledge of and involvement in your supply chain is. This is something that's part of Sainsbury's 144 year heritage.

"As our customers know Sainsbury's has been investing in British farming for many years and has genuine partnerships with our 2,500 farmers and growers. We have ten Development Groups, with over £40m invested to date. We're committed to doubling the amount of British food we sell by 2020.

"We have also invested in quality control across all parts of our business - from basics to Taste the Difference - with around 100 people employed to ensure our high standards are maintained.

"We published our 20x20 Sustainability Plan back in 2011 as we envisaged a fundamental change in food supply chains, and we're now a long way down that journey.

"As other retailers grasp this we expect customers will ask challenging questions and we know that our customers trust Sainsbury's to continue to take the lead."

Please go to the careers page for information about the opportunities available with us.

Lord Sainsbury plays no part in the day-to-day running of our company and no member of the Sainsbury family has had any role in the company for over a decade. The honorary title of 'President' was bestowed on Lord Sainsbury in 1992 on his retirement after 40 years leading the company. We make no donations to any party and also do not take part in any party political events.

All Sainsbury’s trading profit is subject to corporation tax in the UK, and last year Sainsbury’s was ranked 11th highest by PricewaterhouseCoopers in terms of UK total tax contribution. Sainsbury’s Guernsey PCC Limited is a tax resident in the UK and so pays UK tax on any profits.

We will make all our customers' lives easier everyday by offering great quality and service at fair prices.

Buying British

For over 130 years Sainsbury's Supermarkets has been committed to supporting British farming. We have a policy of buying British and labelling it as British wherever we can. We sell over £6 billion worth of British food each year.

Of foodstuffs that can be grown in this country, we source over 90% from Britain. We source:

• 100% British fresh lamb when in season
• 100% British fresh free-range chicken
• 100% British eggs
• 100% British fresh milk
• 100% British pork sausages including 100% British back fat (we are the only UK supermarket to do this)
• 100% British own-brand Cooked Traditional Premium and Standard hams. In August 1999 we introduced a 100% wafer-thin British ham. This is another first for a British supermarket.

Sainsbury's Supermarkets sells more British apples than any other retailer. In 1999 we suspended imports of Cox in recognition of the quality and availability of the British Cox crop.

We recognise the concerns of our customers regarding the use of genetically modified (GM) ingredients. Whilst the latest scientific research and current Government advice is that GM ingredients do not present any risks to human health, we acknowledge the concerns of our customers and do not permit the use of GM crops, ingredients, additives or derivatives in any Sainsbury's own label food, drink, pet food, dietary supplements or floral products.

By working closely with our suppliers we are able to ensure that our GM policy is adhered to. We require soya or maize used in our products to come from suppliers who are able to trace back through every step of the food chain to ensure that the non-GM nature of the product has not been compromised.

We know that some of our customers also have concerns about consuming products from animals whose feed may contain GM ingredients. We therefore offer a choice of meat and dairy products from livestock which have been fed a non-GM diet. These include:

• All Sainsbury's SO Organic products
• All our chicken, turkey and duck (fresh and frozen)
• All our farmed salmon
• All our Taste the Difference pork and bacon
• All our Taste the Difference beef
• All our Taste the Difference eggs.

We have investigated the possibility of sourcing all our meat and dairy products from animals fed a non-GM diet yet have found this to be unfeasible for a number of reasons. These include increased costs for farmers and the practicalities of ensuring that GM and non-GM feed ingredients are kept strictly segregated.

We are aware that the need to feed a growing global population is placing increasing pressure on the availability of non-GM food crops and that the planting of more GM varieties worldwide presents serious challenges in terms of maintaining guaranteed non-GM supply chains. We continue to keep the situation under regular review to ensure continuity of supply, whilst our ongoing programme of engagement with key stakeholders, including Government and not-for-profit organisations, ensures that our position remains up to date and relevant for both our customers and the future of our business.

Organics is an area of rapid and significant growth, offering considerable opportunity to British growers and farmers.

Sainsbury's has organic sales of £7 million per week, of which £4.5 million comes from the Sainsbury's SO Organic range, while sales per year total £360 million of which £230 million is SO Organic.

We have over 800 organic lines, with the bestsellers in the dairy and produce categories, and major growth in grocery, frozen foods, bakery, fresh meat and wine.

We are committed to sourcing from the UK wherever possible. All our organic milk, eggs, beef, pork and chicken are British. We have taken a number of steps to encourage more British farmers to switch to organic production.

• We regularly support the Soil Association Annual Organics Conference and have sponsored the attendance of conventional farmers who are considering investing in switching to organic production methods.
• Sainsbury's was the first supermarket to sign a contract for its British organic beef supply. The contract, between Sainsbury's, Anglo Beef Processors and Shane Brettell, an organic beef and egg producer from Shropshire, will last for one year and ensure fair price and best organic practice.

We aim to extend this commitment to the rest of our organic beef suppliers, with contracts for organic pork and lamb to follow. We hope that these relationships will provide a template for British organic meat supply.

• Sainsbury's is selling milk from British farms it is helping to convert to organic standards - the first time a major retailer will work directly with farmers to encourage them to undertake the change to organic. We are committed to working with the farmer for a minimum of three years and three months - the longest-term milk contract between retailer and farmer in the industry.

At Sainsbury's our aim is to offer our customers great products at fair prices. We believe that customers value our product innovation and the fact that we never compromise on quality. We will strive to remain competitive, supported by a strong promotional programme across all product ranges.

To be the most trusted retailer where people love to work and shop.

This was an unacceptable and calculated crime against Sainsbury's of a magnitude never experienced in our history. We are pleased that justice has been done with today's verdict and we would like to thank the police for their thorough investigation that led to the conviction of John Maylam and David Baxter in 2011 and Andrew Behagg today. Today's verdict sends a very clear message to anyone that behaves in this way that there are consequences to their actions.

We demand the highest standards of all our colleagues and suppliers and Sainsbury's code of conduct clearly details how we expect them to behave, and is reinforced by our confidential whistle blowing line.

Like all supermarkets, Sainsbury's does not buy direct from farmers; we buy from meat processors and produce packers, some of whom are also farmers and growers.

In the early 1990s, Sainsbury's Supermarkets pioneered partnership schemes with the establishment of our Partnership in Livestock and Partnership in Produce schemes. These are a three-way partnership involving Sainsbury's, our supplier (the meat or produce packer) and the farmer or grower. Thousands of farmers and growers who are members benefit from being able to plan better long term, to share information, to support joint research and development, and to reduce costs. Our millions of customers enjoy the benefits of guaranteed supplies, consistent product quality and traceability. Through our partnership schemes, we have helped farmers and growers find solutions to various problems. Our specifications have proven sufficiently flexible to enable us to promote, for example:

• small Cox apples and small cauliflowers following periods of severe drought;
• lamb cuts sourced from hill lambs that are smaller than those usually consumed in the UK but for which no export market could be found.

Not only is it our policy to buy British when in season but through our partnership schemes we seek to maximise the availability of British products. For example, by working with our vegetable suppliers on improved storage techniques, we are now able to offer British potatoes, carrots, onions, parsnips, leeks and white cabbage for longer each season.

Our international buying perspective gives us an overview of what farmers and growers are doing on a global scale. By sharing this knowledge with our British partnership suppliers we can alert them to new threats and help them turn these into opportunities. A few years ago, for example, we pointed out to British tomato suppliers the challenges they face from Spanish commodity crop tomato producers. As a result, our British suppliers are now producing more British premium quality tomatoes, such as plum, cherry and vine tomatoes, for our customers to enjoy.