Sainsbury has relaunched its "Taste the Difference" range

The supermarket said a focus on fresh, healthy foods and competitive pricing were behind its success.

The firm - which uses chef Jamie Oliver in its adverts - is more than two years into a recovery plan.

It has launched a Christmas campaign urging customers to try new products and giving tips on how to enhance pre-made products such as mince pies.

Total sales grew by 8.3% to �9.55bn during the six months to 7 October.

Pre-tax profits for the period after one-off costs were �194m, up from �87m a year ago when the profit figure was lowered by costs from its Making Sainsbury's Great Again recovery plan.

Initiatives

Sainsbury's said that despite the highly competitive market, like-for-like sales - which strip out the impact of new stores - excluding fuel grew by 6.2%.

It has now recorded �1.3bn of additional sales since launching its recovery plan - more than half of its goal of �2.5bn.

Initiatives it has launched include its Wheel of Health traffic lights system giving nutritional information about more than 2,200 of its own-label products.

A greater emphasis has been put on organic food and it relaunched its premium food brand, Taste the Difference, in September.

It has also unveiled environmental initiatives, including replacing its white carrier bags with orange bags made from 33% recycled material and putting more than 500 of its own-brand products in compostable packs instead of plastic.

Sainsbury's said sales at its online shopping business were up 40% compared with the same period a year ago, with the number of orders approaching 60,000 per week.