Iceland admits policy is basically flawed Iceland's chief executive Bill Grimsey insists the sales dive sparked by its organic initiative is only a temporary blip in the chain's fortunes. He said the move spearheaded by former Iceland md Russell Ford ­ which replaced conventional frozen veg with organic ­ was "fundamentally misguided". And he vowed to focus on the previously successful bogof strategy, which was reinstated last autumn, in a bid to woo back shoppers. "We want to trade our socks off this year." He added: "No brand in the world is strong enough to dictate what customers will buy. The organics idea needed to have been thoroughly tested and researched before being rolled out. "You couldn't dream of trying to reposition our customer profile ­ the previous policy was flawed." Last year, the innovative retailer, which banned GM ingredients from its own-brand products and outlawed unnecessary colourings, signed contracts to source 40% of the world's organic vegetables. It promised to keep organic prices pegged to those for non-organic. However, they gradually crept up and as a result, sales fell by 5.5% in the four weeks to December 28 and were down 1.5% in the six months to December. Meanwhile, half year sales at the Booker cash and carry arm were flat ­ sales were up 1.5% in the four weeks to December 28. Grimsey added: "Our customer is in the C2/D1 range, with one car which the husband takes to work. The wife is on a budget, wants to support our Food She Can Trust initiative but she's sceptical about organics because they are perceived to be for the AB1s." An Asda spokeswoman denied its similar customer profile could cause it similar problems. She said: "Our approach has been completely different. We have responded to customers' demands as and when they have arisen. "Also, Asda has followed its usual pricing strategy of being 10% to 15% cheaper than the competition, meaning our organic products have not cost the earth." - See Opinion, p16 and cover feature, p36. {{NEWS }}

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