Jamie gets more Sainsbury's cash

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is to renew his contract as the face of Sainsbury's in a deal worth £2million over four years, it was revealed today.

The chain is pinning its hopes on Oliver, who appears on its television adverts and advises the company about product development, to help close the sales gap with its main rival Tesco.

His two-year contract comes up for renewal this summer and includes an option for a further two years. Sainsbury's has leaped at the chance of renewal, believing the Naked Chef is partly responsible for a year-on-year sales increase over the festive season of 6.8 per cent.

Independent research found the response to the Jamie Oliver television campaign has been 64 per cent higher than the supermarket's ill-fated John Cleese campaign. This translates into extra sales worth £740 million.

"Jamie Oliver is very popular with women, who do most of the grocery shopping," said a Sainsbury's spokeswoman today. "People like him because he's quite cheeky.

"They find his passion for cooking inspiring and they like the fact that he's cooking recipes in the advertisements. We believe his presence in the advertisements has been a major factor in prompting people to go back to buying ingredients," she said. "He is not just a star. He actually influences the way people cook."

Negotiations over Oliver's fee for the contract extension have already been agreed but discussions continue about his product development work for the company.

However, his promotion of the supermarket chain has suffered a couple of embarrassing incidents - notably when his pregnant wife Jules was pictured laden down with shopping from rivals Waitrose last year.

His happy-go-lucky cockney charm also caused negative publicity when leaked research carried out by the supermarket revealed he was unpopular with shoppers in the north of England.

A senior Sainsbury's insider was quoted as saying: "I don't think people can understand him and I don't think they like him."