Sainsbury's to close three key food services in all supermarkets within weeks

Sainsbury's has confirmed that three of its food services will close in all stores "by early summer" as part of previously announced plans to shake up the business. The supermarket announced at the start of the year that it would be closing all patisserie, hot food and pizza counters amid what it called a "particularly challenging cost environment". The most popular items from these counters will be sold in the aisles of Sainsbury's stores instead.

New plans have also been detailed to create 'On the Go' hot food hubs in the supermarkets from autumn this year, The Express reports . It comes after Sainsbury's closed all of its remaining in-store cafes this year, with a total of 61 shutting for good earlier this month including two in the North East. In January, the retailer said that most shoppers didn't use their cafes regularly and that coffee shops run by outside firms - such as Starbucks and Costa - in its stores were proving more popular.



At the time, it said the series of planned changes in its supermarkets could result in more than 3,000 job losses. The shake-up also included cutting 2% of its workforce, including around 20% of senior management roles, as part of plans to focus on fewer, bigger roles and to simplify its head office and management teams. Sainsbury's said that it would "explore redeployment opportunities where this is possible" for staff affected.

Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East with our free newsletter Sainsbury's said in its latest update announcing its latest financial results: "In January, we announced a number of propositional changes to food services in our stores in order to drive growth and availability at a reduced cost to serve, allowing us to create further space to offer more fresh food ranges. "By early summer we will have closed patisserie, hot food and pizza counters and are making the most popular items available in aisles. We have now closed all remaining Sainsbury’s Cafés and we are converting our scratch bakeries to bake-off, driving improvements in quality, value and availability throughout the day.

" Sainsbury's said in late 2024 that changes outlined in the government's Budget would mean an extra £140 million in costs, with chief executive Simon Roberts warning of potential "tough choices" as a result. The job cuts were announced after Sainsbury's confirmed its "biggest ever" Christmas sales period, and said it would make about £1 billion in annual profit. But this month, the supermarket indicated that profits will be flat over the next year as it faces intensifying competition from rivals on price and a surge in costs.

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