great food you can trust

I've been asked a number of times about whether we'll be selling cigarettes - the answer's no, as it doesn't fit with what we're trying to do.

Our aim is to make fresh, high quality food affordable and accessible to everyone, because that's what people told us they wanted. Said quickly, it sounds simple, but as ever, it's all in the doing.

For a start, we're being be very thoughtful about the way we source, develop and distribute our own brand products. For example, we have a team of technical managers working with our suppliers to ensure that all our own brand products have no added transfats, no artificial colors or flavors, and only use artificial preservatives where they're absolutely essential or traditionally part of the product. And we're designing a supply chain to ensure that as little time as possible is used up in the distribution of fresh products, leaving the product much fresher instore

Then, to make these products affordable for everyone, we're trying to create a business that is simple to operate. For example, we're carefully selecting our assortment of products based on what we've learnt. It makes it easier to find the product you want in-store, but it also means higher volumes per line which in turn reduces costs throughout the supply chain, allowing us to charge lower prices

Finally, to make it accessible as well as affordable, we have a huge effort underway to try and find suitable sites in every neighborhood - and our initial pipeline of stores includes areas which have traditionally been underserved by food stores.

After all why shouldn't everyone have access to fresh, affordable, high quality food...