Category Archives: Food & drink industry

UK shop prices fall year on year for first time since cost of living crisis began

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Prices down 0.3% in first week of August as food inflation eases and retailers attempt to shift unsold summer stock

UK shop prices have dropped for the first time since the cost of living crisis began nearly three years ago, as food inflation eased and retailers offered discounts on clothes and household goods to shift unsold summer stock.

New data showed prices were down 0.3% in the first week of August, compared with the same period last year. That compares to a 0.2% rise in July, and the three-month average of 0%.

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Owner of 7-Eleven stores receives buyout offer from Canadian rival

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Proposal to Tokyo-based Seven & i by ACT could become biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese firm

The owner of the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven has received an offer from a Canadian rival to buy the company, in what could be Japan’s biggest ever foreign takeover.

The Tokyo-based Seven & i revealed on Monday that it had received a bid from the Canadian convenience store multinational Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) to buy its stake in the company.

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Pay deal for new Starbucks CEO worth up to $113m

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Brian Niccol, who was poached from Chipotle, will get package worth four times that of his predecessor

The new chief executive of Starbucks is in line for a sign-on pay package worth up to $113m (£88m), in one of the largest such executive deals in corporate history and which is four times larger than that of his predecessor. .

The American coffee chain poached the boss of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Brian Niccol, naming him as its new chief executive this week in a surprise management shake-up, ousting Laxman Narasimhan from the job after just 17 months.

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Brexit delays to seed imports could hit crop production, say growers

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Tomato and pepper growers call for UK to strike deal with EU to avoid disruption and duplicate testing

Vegetable growers in the UK have said crops could be adversely hit this year after post-Brexit border changes resulted in delays to seed imports.

Trade bodies representing UK tomato and pepper growers said new rules for seed imports from the EU were causing delays of up to six weeks for deliveries, disrupting their growing schedules and finances.

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Large English vineyards mark boom year as output and investment soars

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Though tiny compared with rivals, English wine trade is thriving as climate crisis fuels flood of new capital from investors

The largest English vineyards increased their revenues by 15% last year, as wine investors respond to the climate crisis by planting more vines.

While the UK still languishes well down the list of the largest wine-producing nations, below countries such as Uzbekistan and Tunisia, the industry’s output has soared in recent years, rising by 77% last year to 161,960 hectolitres, equivalent to 21.6m bottles.

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UK food industry says lack of testing capacity forcing imports back to EU for checks

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Trade bodies blame lack of lab facilities at Brexit border posts for longer delays and shorter shelf life of food

Imported food coming into the UK through Brexit border posts is being sent back to Europe to be tested due to a lack of laboratory capacity in Britain, food bodies have said.

The SPS Certification Working Group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn worth of the UK’s food supply, has written to the government warning that members are being advised that some samples of imported foods are being sent to countries such as Germany to be tested before they can be released at the border.

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Sheep and goat plague won’t halt production of feta, say Greek farmers

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Producers insist they have enough milk despite culling of thousands of animals due to livestock virus

Greek farmers have denied that production of feta cheese is likely to be hit hard by the outbreak of a deadly virus among goats and sheep that has led to the culling of thousands of animals.

Livestock industry officials sought to dispel fears that the cheese, a mainstay of the Mediterranean diet, could be imperilled because of the rate at which the highly infectious disease has spread.

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Greggs adds 5p to cost of sausage rolls despite plan not to raise prices

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Bakery chain says price of meal deals will stay the same but increased costs have put it under pressure

Greggs has increased the amount it charges for some of its items, including an extra 5p on sausage rolls and their vegan equivalent, despite the bakery chain having said earlier this year it had no plans to increase prices.

Roisin Currie, chief executive of the Newcastle-based group, said it had increased prices on a small number of products, including cheese sandwiches, in recent weeks as it continued to come under pressure from a growing wage bill.

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Ocado shares jump as it narrows losses and boosts technology business

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Revenues from technology arm, which sells robots to retailers, climbed by nearly 22% in six months to June

Shares in Ocado jumped by as much as 18% after the UK online grocer reported narrowing losses and raised its annual guidance for its technology arm, which sells warehouse robots to other retailers around the world.

Technology revenues climbed by nearly 22% year on year in the six months to 2 June, while retail revenues were also up by 11%. Ocado sells groceries in the UK through its joint venture with Marks & Spencer and was the fastest-growing grocer for the fifth month in a row based on recent sales figures, according to the data analytics company Kantar.

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Wetherspoon’s boss Tim Martin praises economic ‘pedigree’ of Rachel Reeves

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Brexit supporter calls for new chancellor to ‘rectify tax inequality’ in hospitality industry

Tim Martin, the politically outspoken boss of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain, has praised the new Labour chancellor’s economic “pedigree”, as he called for tax changes to help the struggling hospitality sector.

Martin regularly publishes economic and political commentary alongside his company’s results and has previously voiced support for Brexit and Boris Johnson.

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Coffee prices will rise even higher, says Giuseppe Lavazza

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For UK consumers the cost of beans could increase by up to 25% over the coming year

The price of coffee is set to remain “very high” and is unlikely to drop until the middle of next year amid intense pressure on supply chains, the Italian coffee company Lavazza has said.

“We have never seen such a spike in price as the trend right now,” said Giuseppe Lavazza, who chairs the company. He admitted that he had been wrong to predict last year that prices would begin to fall this year. On Monday, prices reached $4,300 (£3,356) a tonne.

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China to hold hearing into brandy imports as tension grows with EU over tariffs on EVs

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Ministry will discuss investigation into claims that European producers are selling goods below market rates

China has ramped up its anti-dumping investigation into European brandy imports in what appears to be a retaliatory move as the EU imposed higher tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles from Friday.

The commerce ministry in Beijing said it would hold a hearing on 18 July to discuss an investigation into claims that European brandy producers are selling products in China below market rates.

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Hawksmoor for sale in deal that could value restaurant chain at £100m

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Investment bank Stephens hired to find suitors for business, which wants to expand overseas operations

The high-end steakhouse chain Hawksmoor has been put up for sale in a deal that could value it at about £100m.

The restaurant chain has hired the investment bank Stephens to start looking for potential suitors for the business, which is hoping to expand its overseas operation.

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UK consumers seek £382m from salmon producers in price-fixing case

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Law firm’s case against six Norwegian-owned fish companies is over alleged breaches of competition law

A legal firm is seeking £382m on behalf of British consumers from some of the world’s largest salmon producers, which are accused of price fixing.

Legal action filed this week at the Competition Appeal Tribunal said UK consumers overpaid for at least four years because of alleged breaches of competition law by the fish firms Mowi and its subsidiary Mowi Holdings, SalMar, Lerøy, Scottish Sea Farms and Grieg.

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UK children shorter, fatter and sicker amid poor diet and poverty, report finds

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Food Foundation says height of five-year-olds falling, child obesity up by a third and type 2 diabetes by a fifth

Children across the UK are getting shorter, fatter and sicker amid an epidemic of poor diets, food insecurity and poverty, according to a report warning that millions are facing a “timebomb” of avoidable health conditions.

The average height of five-year-olds is falling, obesity levels have increased by almost a third and the number of young people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has risen by more than a fifth, the report by the Food Foundation said.

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Third UK sandwich maker recalls product, saying it is a precaution

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Plant-based food company This has not detected E coli in the wrap but is concerned about possible contamination

A third sandwich and wrap manufacturer has recalled one of its products after an E coli outbreak that has left 67 people in hospital and more than 200 in total seriously ill.

On Sunday evening the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said This had “taken the precautionary step of recalling its This Isn’t Chicken and Bacon wrap because of possible contamination with E coli”.

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Big Mac v Supermac’s: McDonald’s loses EU trademark fight

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Ruling by European court of justice ends 17-year legal tussle between Irish chain and global rival

The small Irish takeaway chain Supermac’s has won a David v Goliath court battle with McDonald’s over the use of the Big Mac trademark, paving the way for it to open outlets across Europe.

The ruling also means the US-founded fast food multinational has lost the right to use the name “Big Mac” in the EU in relation to chicken burgers.

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Orange-juice makers consider using other fruits after prices go ‘bananas’

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Global industry ‘in crisis’ as fears about Brazilian harvest help push wholesale prices to record highs

Orange-juice makers are considering turning to alternative fruits such as mandarins as wholesale prices have “gone bananas” amid fears of poor harvests in Brazil.

Prices of the citrus drink reached a new high of $4.95 (£3.88) a lb on commodity markets this week after growers in the main orange producing areas of Brazil said they were expecting the harvest to be 24% down on last year at 232m 40.8-kg boxes – worse than the 15% fall previously predicted.

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World’s largest food awards move judging panel from UK to Ireland to avoid Brexit red tape

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Due to new import controls, a judging session for the Great Taste awards is being held outside the UK for the first time in 30 years

The Great Taste awards are a British success story – the world’s largest food awards, celebrating the best products on the planet. But new post-Brexit import controls have forced the organisers to hold a judging panel outside the UK for the first time in the awards’ 30-year history.

On Sunday, judges from the Guild of Fine Foods panel will travel to County Tipperary in Ireland to spend three days tasting products that have become much harder to bring to the UK.

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Brexit border IT outages delay import of perishable items to UK by up to 20 hours

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Lorries carrying meat, cheese and cut flowers held up by new checks, with retailers rejecting some orders

Lorries carrying perishable food and plants from the EU are being held for up to 20 hours at the UK’s busiest Brexit border post as failures with the government’s IT systems delay imports entering Britain.

Businesses have described the government’s new border control checks as a “disaster” after IT outages led to lorries carrying meat, cheese and cut flowers being held for long periods, reducing the shelf life of their goods and prompting retailers to reject some orders.

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