It’s been another busy week on The Grocer.

The big news was the appointment of Sir Dave Lewis as the new CEO of Diageo. Lewis has nothing to prove after an outstanding career but it’s fascinating to consider why he’s chosen, at the age of 60, to take on another CEO role, after five years in non-exec roles. One wonders too if he is motivated by the fact he was overlooked for the role (in favour of the late Ivan Menezes) in 2013. It’s certainly a mouth-watering prospect as to what he might do in the role. As this excellent piece from drinks editor James Beeson points out, Lewis’s 30 years of brand and category experience at Unilever will probably be more valuable than his time at Tesco. The latter role was more high profile, political and public facing, whereas at Diageo Lewis is likely to do his most important work in the field – doubtless racking up a lot of air miles as he familiarises himself with Diageo’s global operations, its leadership teams, its myriad brands and the unique attributes of the on-trade, which will be a new challenge.

Also on the alcoholic drinks side it was interesting to see another ABV change, with Foster’s lowering alcohol levels to 3.4%, amid significant sales and volume declines, to take advantage of a tax break. Will it save the brand? Based on the evidence it is hard to say – reformulating has revived Carlsberg Pilsner but is yet to do the likes of Sol or John Smith’s any favours, NIQ data from the year to April shows. Of the mainstream brews still left at 4% abv, Carling and Strongbow Dark Fruits look likely to be next in line to be watered down. Both are in sales freefall.

Innovation pays off

The start of the week also featured a $40m fundraise by adult soft drinks brand Trip. Nothing unusual there, you might say. It’s raised an impressive amount of money over the years to fuel its impressive growth (and tallied up some impressive losses in the process) but it was the $300m valuation that made the story particularly newsworthy. It’s the subject of my leader this week, in which I argue that, having overcome a number of challenges, and in a market where growth is so hard to come by, its success should inspire other entrepreneurs, including some of the winners from last week’s New Product & Packaging Awards. Held at the iconic Wembley Stadium, the champions featured kimchi, a fun new take on candy floss, a plant-based ‘Super Block’ and “revelatory” barbecue fire lighters.

With Christmas fast approaching we’ve also picked out some of our favourite launches in our Christmas Product Advent Calendar. From brussels sprout kimchi to a pigs in blankets quiche, there’s plenty of exceptional new products to, literally and figuratively, whet the appetite!

There have been a lot of interesting developments In the convenience market in recent weeks and senior reporter Alice Leader offered some great insight into what is happening at Select & Save. It looks like it could become a real challenger to the established symbol groups. Alice also gave us a great understanding of what AF Blakemore has done to secure and service its new M&S contract.

Talking of M&S, international trade editor Kevin White reported this week on the “error” that meant UK veg ended up in Irish supermarkets last weekend carrying ‘Not for EU’ labelling – in clear contravention of the Windsor Framework. Error or not, it demonstrates the difficulties M&S is facing with its operations on both sides of the Irish border. Stuart Machin has been very vocal on this issue in recent months. In July Machin said he couldn’t wait for the “bureaucratic nightmare” to end (as it will when that SPS deal is finally agreed) and last month he admitted the framework had added “a lot of cost” and “a lot of complexity” for M&S, which was ultimately “impacting our product range and product shelf lives”. The European Council confirmed on Thursday that the 27 EU member states had greenlit a negotiating mandate on reducing trade frictions, offering a glimmer of hope, but even with a fair wind, no one, including the UK government, is expecting an SPS deal to be agreed until well into next year – and given the need for both sides to then ratify the agreement, it will be 2027 at the earliest before we see the current friction at the border ease.

Of course 2027 is the date earmarked for the introduction of a deposit return scheme. But there’s speculation this might be in jeopardy, as chief reporter Ian Quinn revealed how the Welsh government’s determination to plough its own furrow with ambitious reuse plans is expected to cost manufacturers millions, while the inclusion of glass from day one of the DRS launch in Wales could have a knock-on effect on the proposed October 2027 launch date for DRS across the UK. It’s not the only issue likely to hike costs. Ian also reported on how supermarkets will have to pay “tens of millions” to meet the government’s plans for mandatory reporting of health targets.

Thursday theftday

Another massive cost is retail crime. And this week’s issue includes some fascinating insights, including AI analysis of shoplifting footage by Tesco-backed Trigo, which found that theft peaks on Thursday afternoons. It also found 80% of stolen items were hidden in clothing or bags before reaching the checkout – suggesting the self-checkout focus of surveillance tech found in supermarkets is misplaced. Meanwhile Morrisons is eyeing customers as they enter. Technology editor George Nott revealed how it aims to deploy a criminal intelligence sharing system by Auror in all 500 of its supermarkets by early 2026. And it’s not just theft within stores proving a persistent problem. The peak time for hampers and foodie gifts delivered to doorsteps is also being exploited by porch pirates, finds research by Quadient. Based on freedom of information requests to UK police forces, the tech company estimates the total value of parcels stolen has nearly doubled in the past year to £666.5m. Nor is the pilfering restricted to products and parcels. Stu Macdonald, founder of ManiLife, writes in The Grocer about the experience of a Manchester-based nut butter brand called TuniVibe having “nicked our content” as well as his likeness. “A real person, now AI’d into someone else’s marketing,” he said.

In lighter news everyone has been talking about the Waitrose Christmas romcom ad starring Keira Knightley and Joe Wilkinson. You can check out the reviews for both the Waitrose and Tesco ads by our expert panel of judges here. With all these commercials the $64m question (or whatever the cost is) is whether they result in a commensurate (or ideally greater) uptick in sales. But we also broke the news that Iceland isn’t running a Christmas ad for the second time in three years. It’s promised to invest the savings in prices – though senior reporter Stephen Jones also points out that Iceland isn’t exactly flush with cash right now.

The little green frog is back. No, not Kermit – the Rainforest Alliance mascot, a red-eyed tree frog, which will make an appearance on the group’s new ‘seal’, starting in the coffee aisle in early 2026. Our Focus On Ethical Trade this week considers the impact of the RFA’s new scheme and whether it can bring more brands to the table. It’s a moot point, with Innocent pulling its bananas out of the scheme, as we revealed this week. It’s a big call for Innocent, as data editor Elinor Zuke noted in a thought-provoking piece. But it raises questions over how great the appetite is for certifications among mainstream brands these days. And our report considers the costs and whether such schemes really help make food systems more sustainable.

And finally, as Christmas approaches, it’s worth keeping an eye on the bird flu threat. Early in the week we reported on how calls from poultry producers for a GB-wide housing order to combat bird flu had still not been answered. Soon after Wales heeded the advice. It means Scotland is the only devolved government to not implement one and, after it sent us comment, the first confirmed case of bird flu in Scotland was revealed on Wednesday.

Of course there’s loads of other brilliant stories in this week’s issue. And even more on thegrocer.co.uk. But those are some of my faves. And we would love to know your thoughts on our coverage. Or is there anything we’ve missed? We’re all ears! Get in touch via LinkedIn or adam.leyland@thegrocer.co.uk.

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