JUST who would want to be a food retailer right now? Sainsbury stood out again in figures published this week as the only one of the big four supermarket groups to achieve a year-on-year rise in its total sales value in the 12 weeks to February 29, in a fiercely competitive environment.

It says much about the state of the market that Tesco shares were boosted on Tuesday by relief that the year-on-year rate of decline in its sales slowed in the latest Kantar Worldpanel figures for the 12 weeks to end-February.

Wm Morrison yesterday reported a 27 per cent tumble in underlying pre-tax profits to £302 million for the year to January 31. The results from the supermarket group, which includes the former Safeway business that was a firm favourite of many consumers in Scotland, provide further evidence of the intensity of competition in a sector characterised by price wars. Not that any further evidence was required.

The supermarket chain did, however, report that its fourth-quarter sales were up 0.1 per cent on a year earlier on a like-for-like basis. This is the first quarter in which it has achieved such like-for-like sales growth for four years.

The like-for-like measure strips out the dampening impact of store closures on overall sales. Wm Morrison noted it had shut 21 “underperforming” supermarkets and sold 140 ‘M’ local stores during the year to January. It added it had recently announced plans to close a further seven supermarkets. It noted its total space was being reduced by five per cent through these measures.

Wm Morrison’s turnover fell by 4.1 per cent to £16.1 billion in the year to January 31.

Analysts are making some positive noises about what Wm Morrison is doing to try to see off the discounters in terms of its focus on delivering value. And the supermarket group’s big recent strategic move to sell a large number of its products through giant online retailer Amazon has been well-received.

The troubles of the grocery sector north of the Border, which are similar to those in the UK as a whole but probably more pronounced, have been well documented in monthly figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium.

The gloom for the food retailing sector in Scotland lifted briefly in December, as shoppers stocked up for the festive season, but descended again swiftly against a backdrop of grim weather in January.

According to the SRC figures, the value of food sales in Scotland in January was down by 5.8 per cent on the same month of last year.

Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium’s latest survey earlier this week showed the value of UK food sales in February was down on the same month of last year.

Sainsbury deserves credit for achieving year-on-year growth in sales value, particularly in an environment in which food-price deflation has become entrenched. It has appeared to be affected less than Asda and Wm Morrison by the rise of discounters Aldi and Lidl. The discounters again showed very strong year-on-year growth in sales in the 12 months to February 29 in the Kantar figures.

The resilience of Sainsbury probably reflects, at least in part, its positioning in the market-place. In this context, it is interesting to note that upmarket grocery chain Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, yesterday announced healthy growth in sales for the year to January.

Nevertheless, whatever their market positioning, we must remember Sainsbury and Waitrose are achieving growth in an extremely tough environment.

What is perhaps most demoralising for the UK food retailing sector is that there is no sign of any catalyst for a change in conditions in the sector. It is, after all, difficult to see anything coming along to make the overall economic climate less grim.

Most households remain cash-strapped, having had to endure years of falling real wages. The number of people having to put up with the financial insecurity of zero-hours contracts has surged, according to official figures this week. And a dismantling of employment legislation has increased job insecurity for large numbers of people. Personal debt is too high, although this problem is being masked to some extent at the moment by rock-bottom interest rates.

And it speaks volumes about the sorry state of the UK economy that there is no sign of an end to deflation in the supermarket sector even with the huge monetary stimulus being provided by record-low base rates.

Supermarket groups, for their part, appear well aware that the current troubles of the food retailing sector are not going to disappear any time soon. The protracted nature of the sector’s current difficulties contrasts with experiences during recessions towards the end of the last millennium.

Wm Morrison’s link-up with Amazon shows those in food retailing are thinking hard about different ways to boost sales and profits in these most difficult of times.

And Sainsbury, while it has proved more resilient than its rivals among the big four, is not resting on its laurels.

It has surprised many by signalling its interest in bidding for Argos owner Home Retail Group, although it is facing competition from South African retail group Steinhoff International. If Sainsbury wins the developing takeover battle for Home Retail Group, this would represent a very radical move by the supermarket group into non-food retailing.

In difficult economic times, consumers have appeared at pains to reduce their food bills. Some seem to have done so to maintain spending on other things, such as holidays or cars. Others, faced with severe pressure on household finances, will have had no choice but to cut their outgoings in any way they can.

Household finances seem likely to remain under significant strain even with UK base rates stuck for now at 0.5 per cent. Chancellor George Osborne’s programme of public spending and welfare cuts, meanwhile, continues relentlessly and, given his seeming determination to have a budget surplus by 2020, it seems likely that pressure on struggling households will only increase.

Given there is little, if any, prospect of a sudden rise in spending on food by hard-pressed consumers, we can expect the battle by the big supermarket groups and discounters to eat each other’s lunch to rage on.