It’s been another busy week on The Grocer.

This week’s issue marked the launch of the Top 150 UK Food & Drink Supplier Rankings Report for 2025, which The Grocer releases annually in association with OC&C Strategy Consultants. It’s fascinating to chart the ups and downs. And overall there’s good news, because after a period marked by crises from the pandemic and supply chain disruption to the worst of the cost of living crisis, the UK’s biggest food and drink companies have moved out of survival mode through investment in capex, including increased M&A, extra capacity, and, most poignantly, automation.

But for how long? It seems unlikely, judging by the noises from No 11 Downing St, that next Wednesday’s budget will deliver the ‘growth’ Chancellor Rachel Reeves keeps insisting she’s focused on. Indeed, as I argue in my leader, there is no growth strategy not just at a macroeconomic level but in terms of the National Food Strategy either.

There are also fears the Chancellor will increase the unpopular and ineffective plastic packaging tax in terms of both the rate and the threshold, as we revealed earlier in the week. And it heaps more pressure on retailers and suppliers as they battle to keep inflation at bay in the wake of the double whammy from PPT and the overlapping EPR.

Meanwhile farmers are concerned that the government’s schizophrenic approach to inflation will result in an influx of cheap (caged) eggs from Ukraine.

There’s also a question to be asked about where all the chicken will come from following the explosion of chicken shops. With it comes news that Domino’s Pizza has concluded if it can’t beat them, it might as well join them in targeting poultry as a growth opportunity.

Talking of inflation, another interesting development was the pledge by Tony’s Chocolonely not to shrink or reformulate its bars in the face of cocoa inflation. It’s a refreshing change for fmcg brands to be transparent about inflationary pressures and comes as shelf prices have risen as much as 20% this year, according to The Grocer’s analysis.

We’ve also explored the response of rivals to Asda’s latest salvo in the supermarket price war. It’s fair to say Tesco isn’t taking it lying down.

One area of focus in terms of inflation is horticulture. As we report, the price of many key Christmas veg is up by double digits for the second year running. That’s a product of historically low rainfall (in contrast with the previous hikes) over the past 12 months. And there are fears that without rainfall over the winter the crisis will escalate exponentially. It seems farmers are stilling awaiting the Cinderella weather we’ve always come to expect in this Fair Isle.

Talking of climate change, we report on the outcome of the COP30 conference in Brazil where, in a metaphor for the whole event, a fire broke out.

Meanwhile, with news that the planned ban on plastic in wet wipes is finally going ahead, we argue this legislation doesn’t address an even bigger problem, and one that retailers and manufacturers need to clear up.

And finally, there are lots of changes in personnel going on right now in the trade. But as a parting shot it’s worth waving farewell to Clare Blampied, who is stepping down as Sacla’ boss after 30 years. Thirty years! That’s a long shift.

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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