Asda recipes to feed family for £4

14 May 2009 04:52pm

Asda plans to launch a range of recipes for feeding a family of four for £4 as it steps up the battle to lure in shoppers with affordable food and clothing.

The UK's second biggest supermarket chain said better-than-expected sales and profits in the first quarter were down to better quality and value.

Asda, which said it had seen an upturn in sales of herbs, spices and baking products, said the trend towards cooking from scratch and consumers' desire to make cheap family meals had prompted it to launch a range of recipes. The meal ideas will include dishes like turkey stir-fry and salmon pie and will be released later this month.

On Wednesday, Sainsbury's said its Jamie Oliver-led Feed Your Family For A Fiver campaign had been well received by shoppers, while sales of its basics range had soared - up more than 60% year on year in the final quarter.

Asda saw like-for-like sales grow 8.4% in the first quarter, when petrol, the effects of a late Easter and the impact of a leap year in 2008 were excluded.

The supermarket said it had won customers from all its competitors and attributed its gains partly to its use of customer feedback to steer products.

Asda, which is owned by US giant Wal-Mart, said it was winning over UK shoppers with tools including its "Tell Asda" online survey and Saving You Money TV - an interactive YouTube channel allowing people to give their own money saving tips.

The retailer said customer ideas had had a direct impact on its stock and new lines introduced included the addition of mid-sizes 11, 13 and 15 to its women's jeans ranges. It said it had also improved the quality of its clothing ranges, with new lines like Teflon stain resistant boys school trousers.

Judith McKenna, Asda's chief financial officer, said: "These are difficult times for many of our customers, so delivering great value has never been more important.

"Customers continue to tell us what's important to them, and we have hit the sweet spot by finding the right balance between lowering prices, improving quality and reducing our costs. As a result we are winning even more customers and we're gaining them from all our competitors."

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