insight
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Comment and Opinion
Defending margins while earning volume growth won’t be easy
Retailers aren’t in the mood to wave through another round of pricing, says Warren Ackerman, head of European consumer staples research at Barclays
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Category Report
How can ambient win back thrifty shoppers from own-label?
Brands are weighing up their future as the scales tip in favour of cheaper own-label cans. How can they win back thrifty shoppers?
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Comment and Opinion
GSCOP needs an overhaul to properly protect fmcg suppliers
In GSCOP there remain loopholes that enable retailers to wreak havoc with suppliers, says Karen Green, author of Buyer-ology
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Category Report
How can beauty brands fight the ‘dupe’ boom
Beauty brands are losing out to lower priced ‘dupes’ and own label. How can they salvage sales?
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Comment and Opinion
As trust in digital systems plummets, cash is back
In 2022 cash use grew for the first time in a decade, says Joanna Blythman, food journalist and author of Swallow This
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Comment and Opinion
Minimum wage, maximum effort: the pay conundrum for food and drink
Skills, expectations and stakes are higher than ever, but the rewards are increasingly in inverse proportion
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Analysis and Features
Inside the shrinking fmcg wage purse: why isn’t pay keeping pace?
The pandemic days of employers making strenuous efforts to support staff are over, as pay lags inflation and competition for roles increases. Instead, more sustainable – and cheaper – support is being offered
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Comment and Opinion
Panic! New Brexit border checks causing food industry angst
On Wednesday, the government finally revealed how much it is charging businesses for importing goods from the EU into the country to help fund new border controls.
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Profiles and QandAs
James Cadbury on chocolate, greenwashing and Dragons’ Den
From a River Island stockroom to his own chocolate empire, James outlines his sweet tooth for success
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Comment and Opinion
The election offers a golden chance for food industry policy
Business leaders in retail, hospitality, farming and manufacturing should consider sinking their differences to make a bigger splash, says Ian Wright, co-chair of the Food & Drink Export Council
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Comment and Opinion
Regulation will do little to stop supermarket abuse of farmers
The myopic exploitation of market power in price negotiations may give UK citizens cheap food in the short term, but in the long term it will destroy the UK farming industry, says Guy Singh-Watson, founder of Riverford
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Category Report
The great drinkflation: Beer & cider category report 2024
Duty changes are shaking up beer and cider, leading to a stream of lower-abv innovation. But are shoppers being short-changed?
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Comment and Opinion
Bananas are sold too cheap. Retailers must face the reality
The economics of selling bananas too cheaply makes no sense, says Alistair Smith, international co-ordinator at Banana Link
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Analysis and Features
Food security: the 10 biggest threats to the UK supply chain
As farmers demand government support, food supply chains are under growing pressure from climate change, policy, crime and economics
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Comment and Opinion
How grocery and CPG players can both win as inflation cools
Seemingly asymmetrical collaborations can raise value for both parties through more sophisticated benefit-sharing models, says Google’s Kathy Lee
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Comment and Opinion
Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget is all hat and no rabbits
Dubbed a pre-election giveaway budget, the most notable giveaways were towards the bastions of Fleet Street who had already been tipped off about all the major announcements
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KVI Tracker
Salmon producers facing legal action from UK retailers over price-fixing claims
Asda, Iceland, Marks & Spencer, Ocado, Morrisons, Aldi and Co-op have appointed Stephenson Harwood to seek compensation on their behalf
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Analysis and Features
What will change under regulated dairy contracts?
New rules and the creation of an Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator are set to shake up producer-processor relationships
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Analysis and Features
When will the price be right to get deal volumes moving?
Newlat’s exit from Princes takeover talks reflects a market in which deals are not getting done. What’s stalling activity, and will it pick up?
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Comment and Opinion
Has the economy really ‘turned a corner’ after January’s resurgence?
Economists remain divided on whether January signalled a turnaround for consumer spending and retailer sales, says Alex Lawrence, senior strategic insight director at Circana