Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King is set to launch his next three-year plan, with the aim of generating an extra £3.5 billion of sales.
The supermarket chain has achieved 13 successive quarters of like-for-like sales growth over the last three years, generating an extra £2.7 billion of sales, and beating its target of £2.5bn.
It has doubled profits to nearly £500 million since King took the reins.
King told The Times: “People said Sainsbury’s was a busted flush. There was a sense the industry had moved on and left Sainsbury's behind and that its lot was to be a laggard.
“What sticks out in my mind was one comment that: ‘They won't do it, but if they do they will have done a bloody good job’. We are very pleased to be here three years down the line, saying we did not just do it, but we did a bit better.
“Our core belief was that the brand was not broken and that what we stood for, great products at fair prices, was as relevant as at any time in our history. We had just been failing to execute.”
King claimed Sainsbury's should be classed as the UK’s second-biggest supermarket chain, not Asda.
He said: “If you look at their filed accounts, you will miraculously see that my turnover is greater than theirs. The market definition that is used excludes petrol, where we outperform.”
King moved to Sainsbury’s from his role as head of food at Marks & Spencer, and vowed to revive the supermarket group.
At the time, the retailer had lost market share for 14 years in a row, while Tesco had grown steadily into the UK number-one supermarket in the mid-1990s.
King’s turnaround plan - Making Sainsbury's Great Again - was unveiled in 2005.
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