Sainsbury’s head of quality has urged all suppliers to find out what the key consumer complaints are in their categories to optimise shopper satisfaction ahead of the Christmas trading period.
Beth Hart told producers at the Sainsbury’s Farming Conference that they “should know what those issues are right from the field to the fork”. “Work with your development group and use the customer insight available to you,” she said.
“Attention to detail is key in the run up to Christmas. We live and die by our performance during that period – it’s integral to our success,” she said, recalling standout quality issues from previous Christmas periods, including an internal mould problem in Brussels sprouts that only became evident when cooked and chopped in half.
According to an FPJ poll, conducted this week, over half of (53 per cent) of fresh produce retail suppliers do know the top consumer complaint on their product. Over a third (35 per cent) said they did not know, and 12 per cent said they 'have a rough idea'.
“We want our customers to choose us for their Christmas shop – we want to delight them at these iconic moments,” Hart added.
Sainsbury’s will have improved the quality of 3,048 products by the end of 2017, Hart said, including tighter restrictions on ripe-and-ready avocados and reformulated orange juice.
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