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Sainsbury's and Jamie Oliver decide to end partnership in style

Sainsbury

12 July 2011

Sainsbury's 2011 Christmas advert will draw down the curtain on hugely successful 11-year association between chef and supermarket.
After over 11 years and over 100 television advertisements, not
to mention numerous behind-the-scenes projects both with colleagues
and on products, the successful partnership between Sainsbury's and
Jamie Oliver will end with a final Christmas advertising
campaign.
The decision has been made because both parties feel that it's
the right time to move on, especially as Oliver seeks to spend more
time on his social projects through The Jamie Oliver Foundation
both in the UK and abroad.
Justin King, Sainsbury's CEO, added: "Jamie has
been an excellent ambassador for the Sainsbury's brand over the
last 11 years, spearheading our goal to offer our customers fresh
and tasty food, whilst maintaining strong ethical
standards. In our industry, it has been one of the most
successful and mutually rewarding partnerships ever.
"From our 'Feed your family for a fiver' campaign to our recent
'Switch the fish' initiative, Jamie, through his passion for food
and cooking, has helped Sainsbury's deliver industry leading
campaigns which have resonated strongly with customers. We
wish him well as we both look forward to exciting new projects in
the months and years to come."
Jamie Oliver said: "It's been a fantastic 11
years and together we have achieved some great things. I've
made some great friends at Sainsbury's and I know we'll still be
talking for years to come. They've got some very good people,
from the top right down to the shop-floor. The way they take
on challenges - like their commitment to sourcing higher welfare
products, such as chicken and eggs - is something to be proud
of. I'll miss them but it's a good time to move on."
The Christmas campaign, still under wraps, will ensure
Sainsbury's and Jamie Oliver end their partnership in style.
Notes to editors
Sainsbury's & Jamie
'Feed Your Family For A Fiver', launched in March 2008, has been
one of Sainsbury's most successful Jamie-fronted campaigns seeing
sales uplifts of anything from 10% to 200% on featured lines. The
product that really excelled was Sainsbury's basics Freedom Food
salmon fillets which saw an increase in sales of 500% following a
TV ad featuring Jamie making fishcakes with the product. The
campaign delivered more than £200m in sales overall and also helped
improve Sainsbury's overall value perception.
In 2005, a Sainsbury's Try Something New Today TV advert showing
Jamie grating nutmeg over Spaghetti Bolognese led to the
supermarket selling 9 metric tonnes of nutmeg which is the
equivalent to 2 years supply, due to high customer demand. This led
to weekly sales going from 1400 jars of nutmeg to 6000 - an uplift
of over 400%.
Sainsbury's have supported Comic Relief for 6 years with Jamie
as an ambassador each year. In 2011, the advertising campaign
helped Sainsbury's deliver a cheque worth £11.4m to this fantastic
charity; and over the 11 year relationship with Jamie a grand total
of £60m has been awarded to Comic Relief.
'Switch the fish', June 2011 - with Jamie's help, over 40,000
samples of one of six alternative fish species were given out by
counter colleagues across Sainsbury's stores
Jamie Oliver
Jamie's social projects include his work with the Fifteen
apprenticeship programme; successful Ministry of Food Centres, and
Kitchen Gardens for primary schools.