Supermarket

Supermarkets are entitled to use a full range of promotional pricing tactics, says Miller

Supermarkets ‘right to fight’ super complaint

By Rod Addy

Supermarkets should defend themselves against the ‘super-complaint’ issued by consumer group Which? following an investigation into apparently misleading supermarket pricing practices.

David won round one but will he triumph this time? Unlikely, was Begbies Traynor's verdict

Food suppliers ‘devastated’ by supermarket price war

By Michael Stones

Supermarket price war continues to “devastate” small-scale food and drink suppliers, as they fight a David and Goliath style battle with the big retailers, warns business recovery specialist Begbies Traynor.

Tacon: 'I want to know how retailer practices have changed over the past 12 months'

Tacon urges trade to respond to groceries survey

By Rod Addy

All 10 major food retailers have now backed the second annual groceries suppliers’ survey launched by Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) Christine Tacon last month, according to a GCA spokeswoman.

Christine Tacon: 'I have all sorts of powers'

Groceries adjudicator Tacon defends her role

By Nicholas Robinson

The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) Christine Tacon has refuted attacks about her ineffectiveness, after criticism that she lacked the clout to punish supermarkets that breached the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP).

Living near a Little Waitrose can help house prices a lot, claims Lloyds Bank

Living near Waitrose boosts house prices

By Michael Stones

Houses near a Waitrose store are worth 12% – or £38,831 – more than those elsewhere, while proximity to an Aldi shop can cut their price by 3%, according to research from Lloyds Bank.

Marks & Spencer launched 350 new lines in its fourth financial quarter

M&S gets results from innovation

By Rod Addy

Marks & Spencer (M&S) boosted food sales in its fourth financial quarter (Q4), fuelled by hundreds of new lines, including a strong seasonal offer, according to analysts.

More consumers are prepared to pay a premium for food and drink, say Delisanté co-founders John Pearson (left) and Charles Coleman (right)

Premium boom is a big opportunity for posh SMEs

By Nicholas Robinson

More high-end food and drink start-ups are taking advantage of a boom in sales of premium products in supermarkets and rising sales in posh retailers such as Waitrose.

Lidl is increasing its number of UK stores

500 new Lidl distribution centre jobs

By Nicholas Robinson

Lidl’s proposed 41,806m² new distribution centre would create up to 500 jobs and be the discounter’s 11th in the UK if plans were approved.

Sainsbury reported like-for-like Q4 sales down 1.9%

Sainsbury targets quality as results beat forecasts

By Rod Addy

Sainsbury is nailing product quality goals and plans to boost the rate of product improvements in the coming financial year, according to fourth quarter (Q4) results, which beat expectations.

There are signs that Tesco's recovery is damaging some rivals

Tesco stirs again as incomes rise, says expert

By Rod Addy

Tesco is reawakening as incomes rise and volume sales start to rise in the UK grocery market, according to Clive Black, director and head of research at Shore Capital.

Supermarket price war has provided a boost for some manufacturers

Lean processors better placed in the price war

By Nicholas Robinson

The supermarket price war hasn’t been as bad for food manufacturers as some think and has instead provided a boost for many firms, according to business experts.

Ocado's growth will continue to outpace the online grocery market, predicted its boss

Ocado to grow ahead of online grocery market

By Michael Stones

Online retailer Ocado will continue to grow ahead of the online grocery market, predicted its boss Tim Steiner, as it posted group sales up by 19.2% for the 12 weeks to February 22.

The plant aims to process 400,000 birds a week

150 Wrexham poultry plant jobs cleared

By Rod Addy

Plans for 150 poultry plant jobs at the former First Milk Maelor Creamery site near Wrexham have been cleared to proceed after the local council granted planning permission for the change this week.

Improperly cooked chicken contaminated with campylobacter is the top cause of UK food poisoning

Asda hit hardest by latest campylobacter results

By Rod Addy

Retailers have again failed to reach targets for campylobacter contamination in fresh shop-bought chickens, with almost three quarters of samples in the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) latest survey results testing positive for the bug. 

Asda said its contract with Yorkshire Fresh Fruit would end in March

Up to 445 Bakkavor jobs face axe

By Rod Addy

Bakkavor’s Yorkshire Fresh Fruit business faces closure after losing a major contract with supermarket chain Asda. 

Asda plans to open 17 new stores and remodel 62 more

Asda invests £600M in stores as sales slide

By Rod Addy

Asda has announced a £600M investment in its stores, as full-year results revealed the supermarket chain’s like-for-like sales had dipped by 1% and its latest quarterly performance showed an accelerating decline.

Allan is chairman of Dixons and was a director at supermarket chain Fine Fare

Tesco’s new chairman has valuable background

By Rod Addy

Tesco’s new chairman John Allan’s background in retail, grocery and logistics will make him a great help to the retailer at this critical time, according to a leading industry analyst.

Tacon may be hampered by the limitations of her office

GCA constrained over Tesco probe

By Rod Addy

Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) Christine Tacon’s investigation of Tesco will be limited by a lack of cash and the period of time she can examine, one food industry commentator has warned.

Was your week sunny or cloudy? Read our Good week, bad week nominations

Food manufacturing: Good week, bad week

By Laurence Gibbons

How was your business week – tough, terrific or just indifferent? In this new occasional series, the Food Manufacture Group takes a sideways look at the week’s food and industry news.

Coveney: 'Consumers have built habits of multiple kinds'

Business Leaders' Forum

Greencore ceo: profit collapse a top industry trend

By Rod Addy

A “catastrophic collapse” in retail profitability was one of five top food industry trends highlighted by Greencore ceo Patrick Coveney at Food Manufacture’s Business Leaders’ Forum on January 20.

Morrisons' results were hit by falling food volumes and stagnant price inflation

Analysts' view

Morrisons’ Christmas results ‘disappointing’

By Rod Addy

Morrisons is the UK’s “most undernourished” supermarket, according to a leading analyst commenting on the retailer’s Christmas trading statement, in which it unveiled the departure of ceo Dalton Philips.

Tulip's Tipton site produces fresh pork joints, chops and fillets

Tulip next pork firm to cut jobs

By Rod Addy

Tulip has announced plans to cut up to 78 roles at its Tipton factory in the West Midlands days after rival pork processor Karro Food Group proposed 150 job cuts.

M&S's food sales rose by 2.8% in Q3, but overall sales were poor

Food can’t boost M&S’s ‘dismal’ performance

By Nicholas Robinson

Marks and Spencer’s “dismal” performance was lessened by strong food sales, but the posh retailer’s weak online business could be troublesome, city analysts have warned.

Shoppers can make significant savings off the back of the supermarket price war

Sainsbury and Asda launch price offensive

By Rod Addy

Sainsbury and Asda have announced massive price cuts less than a week into the New Year as the traditional supermarkets continue to feel the menace of discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Hodgson will bring a wealth of retail experience to Premier Foods

Premier Foods appoints pizza boss

By Laurence Gibbons

Premier Foods has appointed Pizza Express boss and former Asda and Morrisons director Richard Hodgson as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

Turkey sales suffered overall

Late spurt for Christmas supermarket sales

By Rod Addy

Supermarket grocery sales recovered in the fortnight up to and including Boxing Day after a lacklustre performance before that, according to Information Resources International (IRI).

Thorntons blamed the profit warnings on lower sales to supermarkets

Thorntons issues Christmas profits warning

By Michael Stones

Thorntons has issued a Christmas profits warning, telling investors profits will be lower than expected due to a slump in supermarket orders.

Grocery market returns to growth, says Kantar

Pre-Christmas sales show Aldi, Lidl stay strong

By Rod Addy

The grocery market returned to growth in the 12 weeks to the end of December 7, with continued success for Waitrose and discounters Aldi and Lidl, according to Kantar Worldpanel data.

Waitrose competes with Ocado, with initiatives such as Click & Collect

Doubts persist about Ocado’s Waitrose contract

By Rod Addy

Fears remain over the long-term viability of Ocado’s contract with Waitrose as the upmarket supermarket looks set to develop as a direct competitor to the online retailer, a leading analyst claims.

Competition from discounters, such as Aldi, is prompting the multiple retailers to put the squeeze on their suppliers

Supermarket suppliers ‘are cannon fodder’

By Michael Stones

Insolvencies among food manufacturers have risen sharply over the past year, as competition between supermarkets and discounters has resulted in them being treated “as cannon fodder”, claims accountancy firm Moore Stephens.

Waitrose is part of the John Lewis Partnership

Waitrose trials dietary advice in stores

By Rod Addy

Waitrose is offering shoppers access to in-store dietary advice on a trial basis in a bid to help consumers with a range of concerns, including food allergies.

Consumers are expected to spend £5.3bn on food and drink for Christmas

Christmas food and drink spend to reach £5.3bn

By Laurence Gibbons

Savvy consumers will visit various retailers this Christmas for food and drink shopping, with total grocery spending expected to rise 1.5% from last year to £5.3bn, Webloyalty has claimed.

Sainsbury is set to announce its strategic review on November 12

First six Sainsbury Netto stores to open imminently

By Rod Addy

Sainsbury will open the first six stores in its joint venture with Netto on November 6, but the supermarket chain’s proposition needs serious thought, according to a leading food analyst.

More than four in 10 shoppers said they had bought, or planned to buy, pumpkins

Three in 10 to shop for scary treats in discounters

By Rod Addy

Supermarkets face a Halloween shock as three in 10 shoppers (29%) said they aimed to buy seasonally-themed products from high street discount retailers, according to the latest IGD research.

Asda's market share rose to 17.3% in the 12 weeks ending October 12, said Kantar Worldpanel

Asda wins out as food market enters deflation

By Rod Addy

Asda headed the supermarket pack as the food market officially entered a period of deflation, although consumers were the real winners, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel figures.

Amazon fresh and frozen food delivered to your doorstep? The retailer is testing fresh and frozen deliveries in the US, ahead of a possible global launch

Amazon creates 1,000 jobs at UK distribution centres

By Michael Stones

Online retail giant Amazon is to create 1,000 new jobs at UK fulfilment centres, six months after a leading UK wholesale boss predicted the retailer would deliver “a fresh approach” to the UK grocery market.

Denney-Finch said she was not surprised that delegates voted the rise of the discounters as the most disruption force over the last year

IGD CONVENTION 2014

IGD boss highlights food industry challenges

By Laurence Gibbons

The rise of the discount retailers was the most disruptive force on the UK grocery market in the last year, according to delegates at the IGD conference yesterday (October 7).

Spotlight

Featured Jobs

View more

Follow us

Webinars

Featured Suppliers

All

PRODUCTS & SERVICES