Category Archives: Supermarkets

Aussie classics Vegemite and Tim Tams cheaper in UK supermarkets than Australia

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Vegemite sells for 30 cents more per 100g in Australia, a salty byproduct of lower supermarket competition sure to leave a bad taste

Shoppers in the UK are paying less for Australian brands including Vegemite and Tim Tams than customers in Australia, despite the classic products being made in Australia.

A comparison of seven Australian products stocked in UK supermarkets shows they are often cheaper to buy in Britain than at Australia’s two major supermarket chains.

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Tesco boss says new workers’ rights laws must not hurt growth

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Bill is likely to include measures such as ending ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts and changes to sick pay

The boss of Tesco has called on the UK government to work with business to ensure new legislation to improve workers rights also increases productivity and growth as the retailer revealed better-than-expected profits.

Ken Murphy, the chief executive of the UK’s biggest supermarket, said he was keen to use a planned consultation on the wide-ranging employment rights bill, announced by the government in the king’s speech in July, to “make sure that whatever the government decides to put forward has the intended consequence of stimulating productivity and growth and protecting workers at the same time”.

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Mirror-like offering by supermarket giants may be stifling vigorous competition, ACCC report says

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Australian Competition and Consumer Commission uses special information gathering powers to examine ‘concerning’ reports from grocery suppliers

Australia’s major supermarkets provide broadly similar products, prices and loyalty programs in an oligopolistic market that may limit incentives to compete vigorously, the competition regulator has found in its interim report on the sector.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also said grocery suppliers had raised “concerning” issues – such as being required to pay rebates for promotions to supermarkets – prompting the regulator to use its compulsory information gathering powers to examine the reported behaviour.

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Morrisons agrees £331m property deal on extra long leases to cut debt pile

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Transaction will reportedly provide investment firm Song Capital with ground rent on 76 supermarkets for 45 years

Morrisons has raised £331m to cut its debt pile through the sale of ground leases on 76 supermarkets as part of a turnaround plan under the new chief executive, Rami Baitiéh.

If all the proceeds are used to pay down debt, Morrisons would have net debt of £3.6bn, down from as much as £8.6bn at the end of last year.

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How ‘was/is’ pricing works – and why it’s landed Coles and Woolworths in court

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ACCC has accused supermarket giants of breaching consumer laws with alleged ‘price spike’ practices

The competition regulator has taken Coles and Woolworths to court over what is commonly known as “was/is” comparative pricing.

The allegations, which Coles said it would defend and Woolworths said it would review, could result in large fines and unravel the supermarkets’ well-known “Down Down” and “Prices Dropped” promotions, which are at the heart of their marketing campaigns.

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ACCC sues Coles and Woolworths over allegations of ‘illusory’ discounts on common products

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Competition watchdog alleges supermarkets briefly increased prices on hundreds of products before placing them in discount promotions

The competition regulator is suing Coles and Woolworths over allegations they misled shoppers by engaging in “illusory” discounts on hundreds of common supermarket products.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claimed on Monday that the major chains derived significant revenue from the sale of tens of millions of products sold through promotions that the regulator says breached consumer law.

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UK’s ‘not for EU’ meat and dairy labelling plan postponed indefinitely

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Policy devised under Conservatives will be reviewed after warnings of chaos for producers and suppliers

Government plans to force food manufacturers to put “not for EU” labels on all meat and dairy products sold across Britain next month have been indefinitely postponed after warnings that the scheme could cause “chaos” for producers and suppliers.

The government will instead review the policy, which was devised under the Conservative administration. Legislation to implement the changes has yet to be brought in.

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Aldi says a basket of its goods is cheaper than a year ago as it cuts prices

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Supermarket has come under pressure as rivals such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s have promised to match its prices

Aldi has said the price of a basket of its goods is lower than a year ago despite ongoing grocery inflation, as the discount chain tries to fight back against increasing pressure from rivals’ price-matching schemes.

The German-owned budget retailer said a slowdown in growth this year – sales are rising by just 0.5% compared with 16% last year – was partly caused by a decision to cut prices as big chains including Tesco and Sainsbury’s have won back customers by promising to match Aldi on key items.

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Drinking wine to 5: Dolly Parton launches prosecco and rosé range in UK

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Country music star’s ‘down to earth’ range at Asda goes head to head with Kylie for the ‘easy drinking’ top spot

Whether it’s 9 to 5, Jolene or Islands in the Stream, Dolly Parton fans are no stranger to belting out her hits with a glass of wine in hand, but now they can sip her vino, too, as the singer’s “down to earth” wine range goes on sale in the UK.

The brains behind Dolly Wines say they have bottled Parton’s “vivacious spirit and love for life” with the decision to branch out from selling albums to alcohol pitting the US country music star against the pop princess Kylie in the battle for the “easy drinking” top spot.

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Coles profit surges to $1.1bn as shoppers grapple with cost-of-living crisis

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Greens accuse company of price-gouging, as supermarket attributes sales boost to seasonal campaigns and rising digital revenue

Coles has posted a surge in revenue from its groceries business and expanded supermarket profit margins to the highest level recorded in the pandemic era, even as shoppers grapple with fast-rising household costs.

The revenue bump underpinned a robust rise in annual profit to $1.1bn. It threatens to draw Australia’s second largest chain back into the public limelight as cost-of-living pressures become a central political issue for the next federal election.

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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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‘On the front foot’: Waitrose boss confident chain is getting its mojo back

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James Bailey is confident the market has swung in its favour, with more customers and plans to open new stores

Waitrose is getting its mojo back, according to the boss of the upmarket supermarket chain, with shoppers treating themselves more often to pricier items such as green harissa paste and organic beef fillet steak as the cost of living crisis subsides for them.

James Bailey says Waitrose is selling nearly double the amount expected of its range of branded ingredients for recipes by the celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi, which launched in April, while sales of its Duchy Organic range are up more than 10%, as are those for its premium No 1 own label range, while sales of its budget Essentials range are falling back.

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Union calls for urgent action to protect jobs as Asda ‘fights for survival’

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GMB accuses owner TDR Capital of mismanagement as sales at supermarket fall 6%

The GMB union has called on the owner of Asda to take “urgent action” to protect jobs amid signs the supermarket is “in a fight for survival”.

On Tuesday data revealed sales at Asda fell 6% in the three months to 4 August, despite continuing grocery price inflation, taking the retailer’s share of the UK take-home grocery market to 12.6% – the lowest level in at least 13 years.

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Sun, sea and sales … Britain’s delayed summer arrives to thaw the retail chill

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After a difficult period on the high street, base rates are falling, temperatures are rising and things are looking up

It’s been a second cruel summer in a row for retailers and the hospitality business, but a more prolonged spell of warmth – and the first cut in interest rates in more than four years – may finally heat up the market, if it’s not too late.

From Argos paddling pools and outdoor furniture at garden centres to Heineken beer and Unilever’s ice-cream brands, sales have been dampened by poor weather, which has added to the pressure from high interest rates and energy bills. Sales volumes were down in June and July in the UK, according to the latest CBI distributive trades survey, with retailers expecting more falls in August.

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Australia’s health star rating system exploited by companies making ultra-processed foods, experts say

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Labelling focused on nutrients such as protein or fat distracts from ‘poor quality’ or ‘chemically transformed’ products, according to experts

The food industry in Australia is allowed to use labelling and marketing tactics to distract from the harmful ingredients in ultra-processed foods due its outsize political power, health experts say.

As state, territory and federal health and food ministers meet on Thursday, experts are concerned the current voluntary food labelling regimes are failing to meet international standards for warning consumers against industrial techniques used in food processing.

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Indonesians who paid thousands to work on UK farm sacked within weeks

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Exclusive: Several sent home for slow fruit picking face debts as watchdog investigates alleged illegal fees

Indonesian workers who paid thousands of pounds to travel to Britain and pick fruit at a farm supplying most big supermarkets have been sent home within weeks for not picking fast enough.

One of the workers said he had sold his family’s land, as well as his and his parents’ motorbikes, to cover the more than £2,000 cost of coming to Britain in May and was distressed to find himself unemployed with few possessions.

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Queensland Greens unveil plan to cap grocery prices and ‘smash up’ Coles and Woolworths duopoly’

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Party’s new policy includes limiting cost increases on 30 essential items, with the shopping list to be determined by a ‘Fair Prices Authority’

The price of 30 basic essentials such as bread, milk and nappies would be capped, with increases tied to wages, under a new policy to be announced by the Queensland Greens on Wednesday.

The party will also lay out a plan to break up the Coles and Woolworths “duopoly” by requiring the companies to sell supermarkets if they own more than 20% of the market.

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Cost of toothpaste can double through the year in UK, study finds

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Research discovers the cost of some healthcare products fluctuates wildly, according to time of year you buy them

Dentists agree that brushing twice a day is the best way to look after your teeth. But depending on what month it is, dental hygiene can be a dramatically more expensive habit to maintain.

New research has shown that the cost of a tube of toothpaste at some times of the year can be double its price at other times. The price of other popular health products such as Gillette razors can also double depending when they are bought.

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John Lewis is ‘back on track’, says outgoing chair Sharon White

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Return to profit will enable ‘significant investment’, including Waitrose refurbs and more convenience stores

The outgoing chair of John Lewis has insisted that the retail group is “back on track” and “more fit for the future” with an improving financial position enabling it to spend money refurbishing Waitrose supermarkets and opening convenience stores.

Sharon White, who will retire as chair of the John Lewis Partnership in September, said the upmarket Waitrose brand was “underrepresented in convenience” as it sought new avenues of growth.

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Typical Aldi grocery bill 25% cheaper than at major supermarkets, Choice research finds

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Undercover shopping study on 14 common items part of move to provide transparency after Coles and Woolworths accused of price gouging

A basket of Aldi groceries is typically 25% cheaper than an equivalent purchase at major chains Coles and Woolworths, according to government-funded research conducted by consumer group Choice.

The price comparison of 14 common grocery items is part of an initiative to provide better transparency of the supermarket sector, which has faced allegations of anti-competitive price gouging during a cost-of-living crisis.

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