Sainsbury has scooped a top award from the Soil Association and been named Organic Supermarket of the Year 2004.

This is the third time that Sainsbury has picked up the award. The judges were impressed with the supermarket’s commitment to the environment and to selling UK and locally produced organic food.

The decision was made by a panel of nine judges based on a range of information including store visits, an opinion poll of shoppers, a confidential survey of suppliers and information provided by the supermarkets.

The Soil Association’s marketing director, Martin Cottington, said: “Sainsbury has shown genuine support to UK organic farmers in the last year. Nearly all organic beef, pork, lamb and dairy items are home produced.

He added that the supermarket had also reduced carbon dioxide emissions from its transport fleet and developed environmentally friendlier packaging.