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Sainsbury's will this week begin an attempt to boost its share of

the ethnic ready-meal market with a £3m advertising campaign

featuring a Chinese-speaking Jamie Oliver.

The UK's number two supermarket retailer is relaunching its own-label

Oriental range with dozens of products being introduced to stores around

the country today (Wednesday).

The revamped range includes dishes based on recipes from four regions of

China, as well as Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and

Japan. It brings all Sainsbury's Oriental products under a single

own-label umbrella for the first time.

Products among the 200-strong range include Cantonese Honey Sesame

Chicken, Szechuan Chicken Noodles with Hot Pickle, Japanese Teriyaki

Chicken with Ramen Noodles and Thai Coconut and Rose Custard.

The ad campaign, which also breaks on February 7, shows Oliver

performing a range of stunts as he shops in his local Sainsbury's.

Created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, the ad is designed to parody the

hit film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and also shows Oliver reciting

lines in Chinese as he promotes the products. Media for the campaign is

by PHD.

Sainsbury's claims to have led the Chinese ready-meal market with a

share of 28.5% over the past year, bringing in nearly £38m in

sales to the chain.

Chinese food is the fastest-growing of the major ethnic cuisines, and is

now the third-largest overall in the UK, behind Italian and Indian

according to figures from AC Nielsen MMS.

"An independent audit shows we have the widest Oriental range of any UK

supermarket," said a Sainsbury's spokeswoman.

Sainsbury's is in confident mood after Christmas trading figures showed

it had narrowed the gap on market leader Tesco, the first time in

several years it had outperformed its main rival during the festive

period.

Last month, Marketing revealed that Sainsbury's is working with Air

Miles founder Keith Mills on the launch of a loyalty scheme following

its withdrawal from the Air Miles programme (Marketing, January 17). The

initiative is headed by customer marketing director Stephen Vowles.