MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group

AS A NATION, we appear to have a love/hate relationship with our major supermarkets.

Broadly speaking, those who don’t mind how they go about their very successful businesses applaud the choice and convenience they offer.

True, they make hefty profits, and some have an issue with that, but ramping up their turnover to achieve those profits means they are also able to employ very significant numbers of people.

Then there are those with a view on the relationship between planning authorities and those retailers who are always on the look-out for sites on which to develop new outlets.

Then there is the topic of how some of the major players have an impact on existing retailers and traders, for whom competition in a free market sometimes amounts to a threat.

The way in which the major players have been able to diversify, offering previously unimaginable ranges and choice of goods and services, will surely form a major part of future volumes of UK business, and even social history.

All of the big players in the market have moved a long way from the conventional provision of groceries and other household goods.

Financial services, clothing, white goods, mobile communications, and books – you name it and it’s almost certainly available at a store or via a store’s website, near you. And reports at the weekend suggest the supermarket giants have more targets in their sights.

First to catch my eye was Sainsbury’s. Its new venture, branded Fresh Kitchen, offers hot meals, salads, coffee and sandwiches.

This has become a significant sector itself. Consumers in the UK buy an estimated 2bn butties a year, worth an eye-watering £3.5bn.

Between them, retailers such as Boots, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s already control around 17% of the lunchtime snack market.

Not surprisingly, the development is being tracked with caution by independent sandwich shops.

A spokesman for the British Sandwich Association says it is a threat to individual businesses.

Meanwhile, Tesco may soon start selling vehicle tyres.

It will be interesting to see how these new ventures perform, and to see if they are moving too far away from their core business.