Food is more important than celebrities and fashion for younger consumers, but the sector has yet to take advantage of its growing audience, new research has claimed.
Supermarkets should defend themselves against the ‘super-complaint’ issued by consumer group Which? following an investigation into apparently misleading supermarket pricing practices.
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.
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.
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).
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 (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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Tougher food waste regulation for the food industry is needed to counterbalance the “very low” voluntary targets set out in the Courtauld Commitment, according to Labour MP Kerry McCarthy.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
Premier Foods has appointed Pizza Express boss and former Asda and Morrisons director Richard Hodgson as a non-executive director with immediate effect.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Snack manufacturer Metcalfe’s Food Company has reached fourth place on the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 list, making it the fastest growing private food and drink company in the UK.
Further evidence of shoppers’ growing preference for British-produced food came last week in the form of a £1.5bn pledge to UK farmers from the Co-operative.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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).