Rob Brown
The Grocer
Special reports editor Rob Brown handles The Grocer's weekly category reports (Focus On features), and special projects such as our annual Top Products Survey.
Stories by this contributor.
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‘Terrible’ SEO: how do people find Waitrose online?
31 Oct 2011
Waitrose’s £10m website isn’t just infuriating existing shoppers - it’s also virtually invisible to new ones.
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A right royal knees up? Subscription
19 May 2012
There’s huge potential in the Jubilee for us and we’re working hard behind the scenes to make sure our retailers maximise this potential
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A three Weetabix man
03 Mar 2012
Weetabix boss Giles Turrell tells The Grocer about his plans for stealing more share of the British cereal market and taking the brand global.
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After the party: how local retailers saw the Olympics Subscription
18 Aug 2012
How did shopkeepers local to London 2012’s venues experience the Games? The Grocer’s survey reveals the true impact on trade.
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Aldi to build on high loyalty with launch of three-tier own label
03 Mar 2012
Aldi is drawing up plans to introduce tiered - ‘good, better, best’ - own label ranges as part of a push to widen its appeal.
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Allied force: an interview with Mark Fairweather Subscription
30 Apr 2011
Soaring costs and deep supermarket promotions – it’s tough being a baker today. But, with a little help from a couple from Solihull, Allied Bakeries is succeeding where others aren’t, as CEO Mark Fairweather tells Rob Brown
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Alternative CV: Steve Carter of Frobishers Juices
03 Nov 2012
What was your first-ever job? I read electricity meters for a summer job in the 1980s….
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Are Post Office Locals a panacea for indies? Subscription
15 Sep 2012
The Post Office Local pilot is over. Now the Post Office wants to enlist 2,000 retailers in the rollout.
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Are you ready for a future without water? Subscription
25 Sep 2010
Drought is casting a deep shadow over the business world. But a unified voice remains out of reach, writes Rob Brown
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Asda pitch-perfect, M&S cheap and tacky?
26 Nov 2011
Asda’s surprisingly classy ad leaves M&S in its wake. For proof that Christmas isn’t a slam dunk…
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Asda’s baby brand grows up Subscription
16 Apr 2011
Brands beware. Retailers are looking to steal your customers with revamped own-label lines. Rob Brown meets the team behind Asda’s Little Angels baby range to find out how fresh design and grand ambitions are converting shoppers to own label
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Asda's trumps M&S for quality in seasonal ads
26 Nov 2011
Asda has been placed at the top of the tree in a shopper poll of the supermarkets’ 2011 festive TV ads.
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Ban on booze sales would be final nail in high street's coffin
18 Jun 2011
For areas that have already lost their local off-licences, the proposal would be mark the end of the road.
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Battling to bring home the bacon Subscription
25 Jun 2011
Former Formula 1 champ Jody Scheckter is finding organic farming hard going. His Laverstoke Park brand has yet to turn a profit, but he’s determined to tough it out, he tells Rob Brown
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Bee crisis: The buzz is back Subscription
10 Sep 2010
Alarming media coverage has spurred efforts to keep up Britain's bee population. So what will the results be? Rob Brown & Cedric Porter weigh up the efforts to return the hum to our hedgerows
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Big spirits brands rock with festival crowds Subscription
22 Sep 2012
Smirnoff’s signed Madonna, Bacardi befriended Friendly Fires, and Tanqueray teamed up with soul rapper Aloe Blacc…
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Big spirits brands size down to drive value equation Subscription
22 Sep 2012
In the past year, there’s been a spate of smaller format launches by the big brands…
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Bloch-busting plans for mySupermarket development Subscription
22 Sep 2012
If online success was as simple as getting Google sussed, mySupermarket boss Allon Bloch would be laughing all the way to the bank…
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Boffins look for way to fight organic fraud
10 Dec 2011
The organic sector will soon have a reliable means of identifying conventionally produced food fraudulently said to be ‘organic’.
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Brand ambassadors: sinners and saints Subscription
13 Nov 2010
Sleaze doesn’t sell – which is why some brand owners are rethinking their current roster of sporting ambassadors. But, as Rob Brown and Charlie Wright discover, it doesn’t always pay to switch from sinners to saints
