Sainsbury's: a company of character

Provider of lodgings to many a lonely bumblebee in their aptly named bee n' bee, Europe's top solar generator, champion of ugly fruit and veg, co-creator of Giraffe bread - just a handful of the fantastic stories we heard about Sainsbury's at Our Breakfast Club.

Alex Cole Corporate Affairs Director at Sainsbury's came along to and event we held recently to tell us all about why she believes that Sainsbury's values make them different. She spoke of the importance of having a brand or company with character and the right values at the core. She quoted Lincoln, "Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

As the world headed into recession most people were betting the credit crunch would lead to a values crunch. But in fact Sainsbury's research has proved that as the opposite has happened. Rather than seeing economic constraints cause a cut back in values, they have seen it drive an increased appetite for them. They argue that having to put more thought into what they buy, consumers are taking a greater - not lesser - account of what personally matters to them.

In the last 12 months Sainsbury’s has sold 8.5% more sustainably sourced food with more than £1 in every £10 spent on sustainably-labelled products coming from those families on the lowest incomes.

So often marketing complicates the issue of sustainability and claims that people don't care. The best part of all of this is that Alex made it sound so simple and compelling. It's always been in the DNA of the company, and it's just the way that Sainsbury's does business.

This report on what Sainsbury's are calling 'new fashioned values' is well worth a read.
You can also explore other Sainsbury's stories here http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/responsibility/