LONDON (Brand Republic) 鈥 Sir Peter Davis, Sainsbury鈥檚 chief executive, has ridiculed claims that rival supermarket chain Asda was close to overtaking it as the UK鈥檚 second-largest grocer.
He challenged Asda鈥檚 US owner, retail giant Wal-Mart, to prove that the company was within 0.1% of Sainsbury鈥檚 market share.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e smoking 鈥- I鈥檇 love them to back this up,鈥 he said, quoting figures from the Institute of Grocery Distribution, which gave Sainsbury鈥檚 11.8% of the market and Asda 8.9%.