Sainsbury's second quarter trading statement, released this morning and covering the 16 weeks to October 2, shows non-food is still growing at three times the rate of food.
The period saw like-for-like sales (excluding fuel) increase 2.9% showing a considerably stronger second quarter than the first (which saw a lfl sales rise of 1.1%) making lfls over the first half 2% up on this time last year.

The period also saw the group add 19 new locations (seven supermarkets and 12 convenience stores) including its largest ever store at 100,000sq ft, in Crayford, Kent. In total 460,000sq ft of new space was added.

Speaking of the results chief exec Justin King said: "we've delivered another strong performance and grown market share...our complementary non-food offer continues to perform well, growing at three times the rate of food." This is in line with the full year results to March 20 this year, announced in May, which showed the same ratio between food and non-food growth.

Mr King continued: "We are pleased with our performance in the first half of the financial year. We expect the consumer environment to remain challenging and will continue to work hard to deliver universal appeal...Our accelerated growth strategy is providing access to Sainsbury's winning offer to more customers and we are well placed to make continued good progress."