Sainsbury’s has embarked on “the single biggest own-label development we’ve ever done as a business”, according to group commercial director Mike Coupe.

All the retailer’s standard own label products will be revamped to feature the new By Sainsbury’s label over the next 12 months.

Coupe said all products would be benchmarked against both brands and the own-label products of supermarket rivals.

“From a consumer point of view, everything is going to be benchmarked against the category leader and will be at least as good, and in lots of cases better, than the category leader,” he said.

Sainsbury’s is in the process of re-launching 7,500 own-label products – a process that will take about 18 months.

“We’re about a third of the way through that process,” Coupe said. The revamp began before Christmas on frozen foods and will be extended across all categories.

“By this time next year, we’ll have completed the entire range in this format,” Coupe said. “We make sure the CSR and sourcing credentials are right. It’s quite a big undertaking.”

He admitted that some products – such as canned tomatoes, which are contracted just once a year – would only be fully revamped “around the edges” of the scheduled completion date.

“We’ll be talking about it more overtly by September,” Coupe said.

Last year the supermarket overhauled its Taste the Difference premium own-label range, updating more than 1,000 products.

The latest move comes after Asda last year rebranded its entire standard own-label range to the new Chosen By You banner. The supermarket is also thought to be considering repositioning its Smart Price budget line as Smart Choice.

Read more
Is Asda planning a Smart move to flag up quality? (9 April 2011)
Sainsbury’s revamps Taste the Difference premium line (22 September 2010)