It’s been another busy week on The Grocer. The understated launch of Joybuy, the UK online retail offshoot of JD.com, should not mask the serious infrastructure and investment underpinning it and, make no mistake, it’s a major milestone for UK retail.
From the get-go (and unlike Temu and Shein), delivery will come from multiple UK warehouses, while the fleet of liveried drivers suggests Joybuy will look to up the ante on customer service versus other outsourced logistics solutions. The ‘double 11’ promise is not the fastest, but it’s pretty fast. It’s well priced, too. And it will offer ambient and frozen food, including a Morrisons own-label range and plenty of Chinese brands, of course. We’ll be sure to track its development in the coming weeks/months/years ahead.
In the meantime we’ve published a timely report on trade in the opposite direction: how China is emerging as a major export opportunity for British food and drink.
The other big piece of news concerns Unilever’s official confirmation it is mulling the sale of its remaining food businesses, including Marmite and Pot Noodle. It’s a fast-moving story: on Wednesday we learned it had held unsuccessful talks with Kraft Heinz in February; and as analysts considered the merits and risks so soon after the Magnum Ice Cream spinoff was completed this morning it’s emerged that it’s received an official offer from McCormick.
Unilever brands (and ex-Unilever brands) also feature prominently in our annual supplement of Britain’s Biggest Brands this week, in which we examine just how healthy the leading food and soft drink players all are (see inside). In a sign of our changing times the fastest-growing brand is Fage, the Greek yoghurt brand. Talking of Greek goods, one interesting new launch this week is Mythos ‘Greek-style’ lager. It’s the latest in a growing lineup of brands of questionable origin and we’ve created a Lager Authenticity Index to provide context.
There’s also a Focus On category report on the beer & cider market in print, including low & no options, and it features a new look. Please let us know what you think.
There’s good news for chocoholics this Easter. Thanks to the abolition of multibuys and possibly lower cocoa costs there are more deals available on Easter eggs.
It would be nice but also remiss not to mention Donald Trump and the growing impact of the US-Iran war. While the government is focused on pump prices and how consumers heat their homes, we’ve turned our attention to the challenges for logistics fleets, growers and fishers. With talk of rationing, it’s starting to dawn on businesses that we could soon see empty shelves again.
And finally, it’s World Oral Health Day today (you knew that of course). And we have a wonderful interview with Ordo co-founder Barty Walsh about taking on Oral-B and Philips and how Ordo broke America almost by accident. In a good way, of course.
Of course there’s loads more stories brilliant stories in this week’s magazine. 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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