Sainos salad sales

Sainsbury's has seen sales growth across its salad lines 

Sales of dark green leaves have overtaken Iceberg at Sainsbury’s as the retailer hails 2016 as the “the year of the salad”.

Baby spinach is now the best-selling bagged salad at the retailer, with sales up by nearly a fifth, closely follwed by wild rocket and mixed salad bags.

Iceberg sales remain steady ensuring its place in the top ten sellers, but growth of darker green options suggests a wider consumer trend for nutrient-rich leaves, Sainsbury's said.

The company also posted an increase in sales of mixed leaf (+92 per cent); watercress (+52 per cent); bistro (+27 per cent); rocket (+20 per cent); sweet leaf mix (+20 per cent); spinach (+19 per cent).

These figures show year-on-year growth over this summer compared to 2015 at Sainsbury's, and is against a backdrop of steady growth within the wider salad segment, up seven per cent year-on-year,.

The retailer said an increase in recipes that include salads and multiple salad flavours has helped drive sales, describing them as “the one-pot of the summer months”.