Asda has made history, the first supermarket ever to win the three Grocer 33 awards - for price, service and availability - at The Grocer Gold Awards 2008, held at The Dorchester, London last night.

It was the 11th year that Asda scooped the lowest priced supermarket award, but winning all three was unprecedented.

Andy Bond, ASDA CEO and president, said: “This is an outstanding achievement and a very proud moment. These awards are a real testament to the fantastic work and dedication of all the colleagues across the company.”

The supermarket chain celebrated its win by taking out double-page adverts in the national newspapers this morning.

In front of a sellout audience including the leading retail, wholesale and manufacturing players, the top award went to Morrisons, the Bradford-based supermarket, which was crowned The Grocer of the Year following its financial turnaround and comprehensive refreshment of the estate and range.

In a poll of consumers, Tesco was voted Britain's favourite supermarket for the fourth consecutive year.

Publicly quoted wholesaler Booker and independent retailer Mills Group were also among the winners, while on the supply side, it was a great evening for PepsiCo, picking up Branded Supplier of the Year, and United Biscuits UK winning the Best Own-Label Supplier Award.

The Grocer Gold Awards also included three new 'green' awards in recognition of the stirling work of the grocery retail industry in addressing environmental concerns.

Green Supplier of the Year was awarded to Alpro UK for its commitment to becoming the first carbon-neutral manufacturer in the UK. The Green Retailer of the Year went to The Co-operative Group and Green Wholesaler of the Year went to Brakes.

The highly contested awards, sponsored by Reach, Barclaycard Business and Sony, recognise the best of the best in grocery retail for financial performance, customer service, innovation, competitive pricing and product offerings.

Many of the awards are based on exclusive research for The Grocer, while others are judged by industry experts who define gold standard excellence across the entire industry.

The full set of winners of The Grocer Gold Awards 2008 are:

Branded Supplier of the Year: PepsiCo

Own Label Supplier of the Year: United Biscuits UK

Own Label Range of the Year: The Fishmonger, Aldi

Top Launch of the Year: Trident

Consumer Initiative of the Year: British Farming Counts, Waitrose

Business Initiative of the Year: Local Sourcing, Asda

Britain’s Favourite Supermarket: Tesco

Independent Retailer of the Year: Mills Group

Wholesaler of the Year: Booker

Green Supplier of the Year: Alpro UK

Green Retailer of the Year: The Co-operative Group

Green Wholesaler of the Year: Brakes

Grocer 33 - Availability Award: Asda

Grocer 33 - Customer Service Award: Asda

Grocer 33 - Price Award: Asda

Online Retailer of the Year: Tesco

The Grocer of the Year: Morrisons

Please visit  www.thegrocergoldawards.co.uk for further information and contact Jennifer Lee 01293 610354 Jennifer.Lee@william-reed.co.uk or Adam Leyland - 01293 610263 Adam.Leyland@thegrocer.co.uk

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