Sainsbury’s was the big winner at last night’s Grocer Gold Awards 2013.

The supermarket chain went one better than its haul of four last year - walking off with five awards on the night.

As well as retaining the Online Retailer of The Year gong, it won Consumer Initiative of the Year for its sponsorship of last summer’s Paralympics.

It was also awarded Green Retailer of the Year. Its first-quarter results released today show just how much Sainsbury’s is doing in this area. In the three months to 12 June alone it achieved its zero waste to landfill target across all operations and a 50% water reduction target.

It also invested in 51 alternative fuel technology units for its logistics fleet using Bio liquefied natural gas, and opened what it claims is Britain’s greenest convenience store, in Haslucks Green, Birmingham. The store has been built using wooden panels, needs 30% less energy to heat, uses natural refrigerant CO2, and has photovoltaic panels installed to generate power and LED lighting throughout the store.

But arguably Sainsbury’s biggest achievement of the night was the capture of two of our toughest awards – The Grocer 33 awards for Customer Service and Availability.

Sainsbury’s scooped the Customer Service award for winning 17 store-of-the-weeks out of 50 on our weekly mystery shopping survey in a closely fought battle with Tesco, which narrowly missed out with 16 wins.

Sainsbury’s was streets ahead on availability, however, scooping seven full baskets in the Grocer 33 over the past year. Its nearest rival was Tesco with three full baskets.

Referencing the wins in Sainsbury’s Q1 announcement, CEO Justin King said: “This performance is driven by the hard work of our colleagues, whose outstanding performance in serving 23 million customers per week has been recognised by the prestigious Grocer 33 Customer Service Award.”

Its Q1 results show Sainsbury’s remains ahead of its rivals on performance as well as awards. It is the only major grocer growing market share, up 0.2% to 16.8%. Q1 also marked Sainsbury’s 34th consecutive quarter of like-for-like growth – a feat none of its big four rivals have managed to match.

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