Jamie Oliver Signs Sainsbury's

By JULIETTE ROSSANT What celebrity chef wouldn't want to influence a huge supermarket chain? Jamie Oliver does, and he just signed up for another year at a reported £1m ($1.74 m). Who is paying him? Sainsbury's, the upscale British food chain. Jamie is a food consultant and has been working with Sainsbury's for over half a decade now (see BBC), a relationship that has been at times as controversial as lucrative (see look-alike episode and BBC analysis). Currently, Jamie is the face in the Sainsbury's "Try Something New Today" ad campaign that includes recipes like this month's Mexican Cheese on Toast (click here to see the TV ads in WMP and MPG formats.) Helen Buck, Sainsbury's brand director told the press the press: Jamie's passionate but down-to-earth approach to food is the perfect centrepiece to our 'Try' advertising campaign, which is all about putting the fun back into cooking with easy hints and tips. Our customers agree, as our research shows thousands of them are taking inspiration from Jamie's ideas and trying them at home. Sainsbury's is supporting Jamie's own campaign for healthier food for school children with Active Kids campaign which is giving out £17 million. How important can a celebrity chef be to sales? Chuck Williams of Williams Sonoma said in an interview that when Julia Child used a new piece of equipment on her 1960s television show, he had a run on it the next day (see Super Chef, p. 24). The Guardian reports that when Jamie was shown sprinkling nutmeg on spaghetti bolognese last September, sales of the spice shot up from 1,400 jars a week to 6,000. Sainsbury's ordered two years' stock - about nine tons of nutmeg - to meet demand. Look for more supermarkets with strong messages to follow suit, snagging big name chefs of their own. Related news: Los Angeles Times (Text) Previous articles: Jamie Oliver New Year: School Lunch Jamie Oliver on Vodafone Live Fat Lady Sings Jamie Oliver Jamie Oliver: Real Guts Jamie Oliver: School Lunch Wall Street Journal: Beef over Chef Sponsorship? Amazon UK's Steamy Xmas Chefs Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Jamie Oliver --> back to superchefblog