Heatwaves around Mediterranean have damaged harvests and forced producers to import from South America
Europe has almost run out of local olive oil supplies and is set for more shortages, after extreme weather damaged harvests for a second year.
The world’s largest producer has said it is having to import supplies from South America to keep up with demand.
Continue reading...UK law firm Leigh Day says money given to 77 workers for murders and rapes ‘sidesteps’ multinational’s responsibility over attack
Unilever is to make payments to 77 tea pickers who worked on one of its plantations in Kenya that was targeted during post-election violence in 2007.
The UK law firm Leigh Day, representing the workers, said the London-based consumer goods multinational had agreed to make voluntary, or ex-gratia, payments to former workers at its subsidiary Unilever Tea Kenya, who were attacked by armed assailants at its plantation in Kericho.
Continue reading...Boycott would aim to use consumer power to pressure company to negotiate its first union contract
Calls for a consumer boycott of Starbucks are growing amid mounting criticism of the coffee chain’s aggressive union-busting activities.
A boycott, supporters say, would aim to use consumer power to pressure Starbucks to stop its union-busting and illegal actions and to finally negotiate its first union contract.
Continue reading...Retailer warns there may be ‘small stones’ in four products from its range and urges customers to return them for refund
Costa Coffee has recalled some of its range of sandwiches and wraps after it emerged that they could contain small stones.
The chain warned customers that four of its products could be affected, and that they could pose a choking hazard if they were eaten.
Continue reading...Sales of health and beauty products help high street stores bounce back after a disappointing start to the summer
Britain’s retailers have received a boost from consumers making themselves beach-ready by increasing their spending on skincare and makeup before their summer holidays, despite the cost of living crisis.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sales of health and beauty products helped drive up spending on the high street as shoppers made the most of brief spells of sunshine in August, although squeezed consumers were holding back elsewhere.
Continue reading...Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan bought 311-litre bottle of 32-year-old Macallan single malt for £1.1m at auction
The previously anonymous buyer of the world’s largest bottle of whisky, which at 5ft 11in is taller than the average human, has been revealed as a Vietnamese businessman who already owns a spirits collection valued at more than £150m.
Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan bought the 311-litre bottle filled with 32-year-old Macallan single malt for £1.1m at auction in Edinburgh last year.
Continue reading...Research presented to annual meeting of European Society of Cardiology prompts calls for action
Ultra-processed food significantly raises the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes, according to two studies that one expert says should serve as a wake-up call for governments worldwide.
Global consumption of heavily processed items such as cereals, protein bars, fizzy drinks, ready meals and fast food has soared in recent years. In the UK and US, well over half the average diet now consists of ultra-processed food (UPF). For some, especially people who are younger, poorer or from disadvantaged areas, a diet comprising as much as 80% UPF is typical.
Continue reading...Dutch multinational brewer takes €300m loss from transfer of assets to Russia’s Arnest Group
Heineken has completed its lengthy exit from Russia with the sale of its operations there for a symbolic €1, after Moscow clamped down on asset sales in retaliation for western sanctions.
The Dutch brewer, which also owns the Amstel, Birra Moretti and Tiger brands, said it would be taking a €300m loss as a result of the sale, which will see it transfer all of its remaining assets, including seven breweries, to Russia’s Arnest Group.
Continue reading...Fund aims to help struggling winemakers as they adjust to consumers’ changing habits
The French government has announced it is to set aside €200m to fund the destruction of surplus wine production in an attempt to support struggling producers and shore up prices.
Several major wine-producing regions in France, particularly the Bordeaux area, are struggling because of a cocktail of problems including changes in consumption habits, the cost of living crisis and the after-effects of Covid-19.
Continue reading...Retailer apologises for error, with such advertising banned in case it discourages breastfeeding
Online adverts for Boots for four infant formula products broke advertising rules designed to protect breastfeeding, the advertising watchdog has found.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) made the ruling in response to a complaint that the health and beauty retailer’s infant formula products had been advertised on Google.
Continue reading...New trade barriers were compounded by Covid and tax changes
Kimi Karjalainen and his brother Marko poured their life savings into Bone Machine Brewing Co when it opened in Pocklington, East Yorkshire, in 2017 before moving to Hull, as part of the craft beer revolution that swept Britain.
“The entire investment, not including time and labour that we gave for free, was about £70,000,” Karjalainen said. Four weeks ago, it was gone. “That was my parents’ retirement.”
Continue reading...Payout for 2022 up from £5.6m a year before, as income bounces back after collapse of UK restaurant empire
Jamie Oliver and his wife, Jools, have paid themselves £6.8m in dividends, up from £5.6m a year before, after a bounceback in television and restaurant income.
The celebrity chef, whose UK restaurant empire collapsed in 2019 with the loss of 1,000 jobs, has 70 restaurants around the world run by franchise partners and has sold 2m books spun out from last year’s TV series Jamie’s One-Pan Wonders.
Continue reading...British Retail Consortium and KPMG report shows steep annual drop in volume of sales and a rise in promotional offers
Britain’s hard-pressed retailers are being forced to slash their prices to drum up business after dismal summer weather and ever-higher interest rates combined to depress consumer spending in July.
The monthly health check of high street and online spending patterns from the British Retail Consortium and the consultancy KPMG reported a steep annual drop in the volume of sales and an increasing number of retailers offering promotional offers to woo consumers reluctant to part with their cash.
Continue reading...Farmers warn wheat, oilseed rape, potatoes and other crops have been affected after wettest July on record
UK farmers have warned that harvests of wheat, oilseed rape, potatoes and other crops have been hit by the cool, wet summer, raising fears of further food price inflation.
The wettest July on record for parts of the UK risks colliding with rising prices of essential ingredients on global markets due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and unpredictable weather affecting harvests from southern Europe to China.
Continue reading...Government source reportedly says there are concerns extra red tape could fuel further inflation
Brexit checks on fresh farm produce coming to the UK from the EU have been delayed for the fifth time, according to reports.
The decision to suspend plans to enforce the controls, which have been applied in the other direction to British exports to the EU since January 2021, is due to be announced imminently, according to the Financial Times.
Continue reading...Clothing and footwear among items reduced most in July as retailers try to counter bad weather
The UK’s biggest retailers have reported the first monthly fall in shop prices for two years, as stores tried to tempt in customers with big discounts during July’s unseasonably wet weather.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said its annual shop price inflation rate, compiled with the help of NielsenIQ, had declined to its lowest level of the year, sliding to 7.6% last month from 8.4% in June.
Continue reading...Cafes refuse to sell Pheu Thai party candidate’s favourite beverage amid fears of plot to ice-out coalition partners
For some in Thailand, the thought of a chocolate-mint ice drink suddenly leaves a bad taste.
Several cafes have suspended their sales. One shop described it as a “betray-your-friend” drink in a graphic posted on their Facebook page. Another said it was a drink to “kick your friend into the boat”, a phrase that means to push a friend away.
Continue reading...Coles, Da Mhile, In the Welsh Wind and Penderyn distilleries awarded label in scheme brought in to replace EU version
Welsh whisky is to join its Scottish and Irish counterparts in being officially awarded protected origin status under the UK’s post-Brexit regime.
Single malt from four distilleries in south and west Wales – Coles, Da Mhile, In the Welsh Wind and Penderyn – has been awarded protected geographical indication (UK GI) status, the scheme brought in to replace the EU’s protected designation of origin label.
Continue reading...Attempt to curb domestic inflation behind country’s decision on non-basmati white rice
India has banned non-basmati white rice exports to curb domestic inflation, raising fears of further increases in global food prices just days after wheat and corn prices were sent climbing by Russia’s termination of a key grain deal.
The immediate ban, introduced after heavy rains hit domestic crops, follows the failure of a 20% duty on international exports introduced in September to curb foreign demand, which has soared after extreme climate conditions hit production in countries.
Continue reading...World’s biggest olive producer, Spain, on course for second bad harvest in a row, raising fears of gaps on shelves and even higher prices
The olive oil industry is “in crisis”, with the heatwave in southern Europe threatening to inflict the second bad harvest in a row and gaps on shelves this autumn.
After a spring heatwave affected flowering in Spain, which produces about half the global olive crop, the harvest was forecast to be only 28% up on last year, which was the worst in almost a decade.
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