New iced coffee and tea range introduced from April will be included in its £25 monthly subscription
Pret a Manger has announced it will stop making smoothies and frappes, with an expanded iced drinks range being introduced from April.
The blended drinks, which can be more expensive and take longer to make, will be phased out altogether. Smoothies and frappes will still be available in select shops until 29 May.
Continue reading...Supermarkets say they are working with farmers to ensure wide range of produce is available
Supermarkets are facing shortages of salad crops, including tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and cucumbers, as well as broccoli and citrus fruits amid cold weather in producing countries such as Spain and Morocco.
Shoppers complained on social media about low stocks, particularly of peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, as importers said supplies had been affected by a mixture of unseasonable weather and storms in the Mediterranean combined with a reduction in the amount of crops planted in heated glass houses in the Netherlands as energy bills have soared.
Continue reading...Frappuccino not sold in stores but distributed in supermarkets by PepsiCo recalled after glass detected in 13.7oz bottles
American food and beverage regulators have recalled hundreds of thousands of Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccinos after their distributor warned the drinks could have glass in them.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said 25,200 cases of the caffeinated drink, carrying 12 bottles per case, were recalled starting 28 January after glass was detected inside the 13.7oz bottles. That means officials requested more than 300,000 bottles to be returned.
Continue reading...Punk IPA maker says it wants to sell more of its craft beer in world’s biggest market
BrewDog has said it plans to brew in China as part of a deal with Budweiser China to expand sales in the world’s biggest market for beer.
Budweiser China would start brewing BrewDog’s Punk IPA, Hazy Jane and Elvis Juice beers by the end of March at its Putian craft brewery near the south-east coast, the companies announced on Monday.
Continue reading...We haven’t touched the taste, only the packaging, promises owner Coca-Cola
The soft drink Lilt has vanished from the UK after 48 years and has been rebranded as a new type of Fanta.
The tangy drink was launched in 1975 with the strapline “the totally tropical taste” and was sold only in the UK, Ireland, Gibraltar and Seychelles.
Continue reading...Owner ABF says its grocery brands such as Twinings and Kingsmill also increased trading
Strong sales of heels, baggy suits and knitwear propelled Primark’s sales ahead of expectations over Christmas as shoppers returned to city centres and consumer spending was more resilient than anticipated.
Sales at the cut-price fashion chain’s established stores rose by 11% in the four months to 17 January, compared with the same period a year before, as the owner, Associated British Foods (ABF), said it had sold more items of clothing while prices had also risen by about 8%.
Continue reading...Surprise December drop a result of cost of living crisis forcing people to cut budgets in run-up to Christmas
Retail sales in Great Britain unexpectedly fell by 1% last month as the cost of living crisis forced households to cut back on spending in the run-up to Christmas.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the surprise decline in sales volumes – economists had forecast a rise of 0.5% – was down to factors including rampant increases in food prices and a decline in online purchases as consumers worried about a wave of postal strikes affecting Christmas deliveries.
Continue reading...Bank of England must proceed with caution as households are still cutting back and business confidence is weak
There is hope for households across Britain that inflation, finally, has peaked. After hitting a 41-year high of more than 11% in October as energy bills soared, the fall in the annual inflation rate in December for a second consecutive month will come as a relief.
However, prices remain high and are still rising fast. Lower inflation rates do not mean prices are falling for consumers; it is just that they are not rising quite as fast as a month ago. The cost of living crisis may be fading but it is very far from over.
Continue reading...One in five takeaways in some areas of UK did not satisfactorily meet required standards, data shows
Takeaways in poorer parts of England are twice as likely to need improvement in food hygiene as those in wealthier areas, with as many as one in five in some parts of the UK falling below required standards, according to Guardian analysis.
Almost one in 10 takeaways in England’s poorest neighbourhoods did not satisfactorily comply with food hygiene standards, compared with just one in 24 in the richest, according to an analysis of almost 600,000 inspection reports at the beginning of December, 64,000 of them takeaways.
Continue reading...Rush of startups creating alcohol-free spirits, wines and beers is a departure in a country with a vast booze industry
When Nicole, a retired executive assistant, began preparing her new year get-togethers with family and friends, her first purchase was an artisan bottle of French alcohol-free gin.
“There’s something in the air right now,” the 71-year-old said. “Young people in their 20s and 30s drink so much less booze than we did. My generation was rock’n’roll, we drank a lot, smoked a lot. Times have changed. Young people are finding alternatives – and it’s benefiting us oldies too as we try to step back from bad habits.”
Continue reading...More than 1,000 baristas at 100 stores are planning to walk out to show support for unionizing, an effort that Starbucks opposes
Starbucks workers around the US are planning a three-day strike starting Friday as part of their effort to unionize the coffee chain’s stores.
More than 1,000 baristas at 100 stores are planning to walk out, according to Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing the effort. The strike will be the longest in the year-old unionization campaign.
Continue reading...Unilever sold business in June to local licensee but Ben & Jerry’s tried to block sale, saying it did not want to sell products in occupied West Bank
Unilever said on Thursday that its litigation with the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s over the sale of its Israeli ice cream business has “been resolved”.
The company did not provide details of how the litigation had been resolved.
Continue reading...Scrapping of adverts for foods high in fat, salt and sugar before 9pm will not now take effect until 2025
Rishi Sunak faces a furious backlash from health experts after his government yet again delayed plans for a ban on pre-watershed TV advertising for junk food.
A ban on adverts for foods high in fat, salt and sugar before 9pm was due to come into force from January 2023, as well as a ban on “buy one get one free” deals on junk food. However, in May, it was delayed for a year by the then prime minister Boris Johnson.
Continue reading...Pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers lauds sales rise but warns of risks ahead
The All Bar One owner, Mitchells & Butlers, has lauded recent encouraging sales at the pub and restaurant group but warned that risks from rising food and energy costs lie ahead.
The hospitality chain, which also owns Toby Carvery and Harvester, told shareholders on Wednesday that like-for-like sales had increased by 6.5% since the end of its latest financial year in late September.
Continue reading...Consumer body says one in three lone parents forced to miss meals or visit food banks to make ends meet
Close to a third of single parents have resorted to skipping meals to make ends meet because of rising food costs, according to research revealing the household types worst hit by the cost of living crisis.
Three in 10 single parent households surveyed said they had missed meals as a consequence of runaway food prices. That compared with one in seven parents in couples and an overall figure of 14% in the poll by the consumer group Which?
Continue reading...Closures rise by 60% in past year, including 453 in most recent quarter, says advisory firm Mazars
UK restaurants are going bust at a faster rate than during the Covid crisis owing to a “toxic mix” of surging energy costs, staff shortages and falling bookings.
Closures in the sector rose by 60%, with 1,567 insolvencies over 2021-22, up from 984 during 2020-21, according to a study by the advisory firm Mazars. The figure includes 453 over the past three months, up from 395 in the previous quarter.
Continue reading...Chefs are hoping the concept will tempt diners to spend a little more and fight the cost-of-living crisis
Linden Stores, in the Cheshire village of Audlem, has started a whole sharing menu of modern British food, with two people sharing seven dishes including charred pepper and Cornish Quartz cheddar croquettes, hake wrapped in wild boar pancetta and chocolate and peanut butter tart.
Laura Christie and her partner, Chris Boustead, relocated the restaurant to the village from London in 2020. She has been surprised by the reaction.
Continue reading...Nepali workers who quit jobs and borrowed cash to come to UK are out of work just weeks after arriving
Nepali workers hired to pick fruit on British farms say they have been left thousands of pounds in debt after being sent home only weeks after they arrived.
The fruit pickers were recruited under the government’s seasonal worker scheme and say they were offered work for six months. But less than two months after arriving, they were told they were no longer needed and instructed to book flights home.
Continue reading...Marks & Spencer profits fall by almost 24%, although clothing, food and international sales rise
Marks & Spencer has said it faces a “gathering storm”, with next year likely to be more challenging than this after reporting a near 24% fall in profits.
The clothing, food and homewares retailer said sales rose 8.8% to £5.6bn in the six months to 1 October but underlying pre-tax profits sank 23.7% to £205.5m as its Ocado online grocery joint venture fell into the red and it pulled out of Russia.
Continue reading...Rise of 11.6% in October from 10.6% a month earlier comes as milk, teabags and sugar become more expensive
Food prices in the UK soared by 11.6% in October – the fastest rate on record – as staples such as teabags, milk and sugar became more expensive along with fresh food, data shows.
Annual food inflation rose from 10.6% in September, the latest monthly report from the British Retail Consortium and the data firm Nielsen showed.
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