Budgens is to sponsor the British Food Fortnight, for the second year running, from September 24 to October 9.
Stephanie Rice, Budgens head of marketing, said: “We are really proud to be associated with British Food Fortnight. Local sourcing is extremely important to Budgens, and we are committed to supporting British producers and giving them a wider commercial platform to reach the public.”
All its fresh own-label meat and in-season fruit and veg are sourced from England.
Alexia Robinson, organiser of British Food Fortnight, said: “There will be a huge increase in the availability and awareness of British food during the event.”
French politicians have mounted a campaign to prevent leading food company Danone falling into the hands of foreigners, namely US giant PepsiCo.
The French press reports that Danone president Franck Riboud is lobbying the prime minister and senior government ministers, as he believes PepsiCo is preparing for a hostile takeover. Despite denials from PepsiCo that it has already built up a stake in the company, the rumours have driven Danone shares sky high.

Brewing giant SABMiller has bought South American brewer Grupo Empressarial Bavaria, of Columbia, for $7.8bn. Bavaria makes and distributes beer, bottled water, juice, malt beverages and soft drinks across Columbia and Peru. The deal will create a rival to InBev.
Wal-Mart has applied to establish an industrial bank in Utah to process credit and debit card and electronic cheque transactions from its stores. It currently uses a third-party processor, but said it could make significant savings by handling the work itself.

The Finnish supermarket chain SIWA has switched all its bananas to Fairtrade. It follows in the footsteps of the Co-op in Switzerland, which changed its bananas to 100% Fairtrade last year.

South African foodservice giant Bidvest has agreed to buy Deli XL from Ahold for E140m. Deli XL operates in Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium. Fred Barnes, CEO of Bidvest Europe, which owns 3663, said: “3663 and Deli XL will together provide a complementary offering to caterers throughout the UK and Europe.”

InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, is set to buy Russia-based brewer Tinkoff for E167m. Heineken also recently announced its purchase of Baikal Beer, its sixth Russian acquisition. InBev is the second-biggest brewer in Russia behind Baltic Beverage Holding.
n french drive
n Giant buyout
n banking bid
n Fair Bananas
n bidvest Move
n russian deal