Exclusive John Wood Sainsbury is introducing a new quality label across its entire own brand food range of 19,000 products. The Quality Checked campaign will consist of a new logo and a statement about quality which will appear on all own label food packaging. Each statement will apply directly to the product carrying it, with some applying to only a handful of products, such as Sainsbury's commitment to being able to trace all British beef, pork, lamb and chicken back to individual farms adhering to agreed standards. Others, such as one noting that 370 tonnes of salt was taken out of own label ready meals last year, would apply to far more products. The initiative will also be supported in store by shelf barkers and PoS and by statements on carrier bags, and will also be promoted on the company's web site. Alison Austin, senior manager for quality and innovation, explained: "Many of the quality checks are small or carried out behind the scenes and on their own may appear insignificant, but when they are all put together it's incredible what we do." Austin said that more than 10 million checks for quality were carried out every year by Sainsbury. The introduction of the new labelling on all own label food was expected to take about 18 months to complete, with the changeover occurring as part of the practice of reviewing and updating products. As the Quality Checked logo and statements become more numerous on shelf, she said press ads might be used to promote the initiative. Austin said that other retailers had tried similar initiatives across particular products or categories, but Sainsbury was the first retailer to make such a commitment across its entire own brand food range. Austin said that Quality Checked would be a long-term initiative for Sainsbury capable of evolving over time as new products and new quality checks were introduced. {{NEWS }}

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