Blog: It’s a marathon, not a sprint

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint” said Sainsbury’s group commercial director Mike Coupe yesterday at the Kiln Lane store in Epsom when asked whether he thought Tesco was indeed back on form in the UK.

Sainsbury’s don’t like talking about competitors so it was a push to get that out of him. Tesco boss Philip Clarke on the other hand said last weekend that rivals Sainsbury’s and Asda had had too much room for manoeuvre but that Tesco was now “back on form”.

Clarke had encouraging Kantar data to back that up showing that Tesco had gained some market share and while Sainsbury’s will be keeping a close eye on that, it will take a lot more of those encouraging signs before Clarke can truly say the business is back on form.

Sainsbury’s has enjoyed growth ahead of the rest of the big four for some time now and Coupe and his team were on confident form at the Epsom store, proudly displaying their Christmas wares. But there is still all to play for this Christmas in food and the next few days are critical. The boxing gloves will undoubtedly be on.