Tesco has extended its Finest brand into heath and beauty as it stretches the premium range better to rival Sainsbury's Taste the Difference. The first three Finest beauty products to go on sale were Silk Creme Bath, Smoothing Body Polish and Whipped Body Souffle. An indulgent talcum power, body mist and bath salts will launch at the end of August ­ with further range extension to follow. Tesco now has a total of 750 Finest lines worth £400 to £500m a year in turnover, but Sainsbury has caught up with 650 Taste the Difference lines, worth £410m a year. A City analyst said: "Since Sainsbury launched Taste the Difference at the end of 2000, Tesco has been very clearly stretching its Finest brand into more innovative quality products. It has had to up the ante in terms of product spec and innovation." A Sainsbury spokesman said sales of Taste the Difference were now on a par with the Coke and Walkers brands in Sainsbury stores. He said: "We are looking to get up to £500m a year on Taste the Difference in the next 18 months." An analyst said: "More and more we will see the supermarkets stratifying and segmenting their own label ranges. {{NEWS }}

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