It’s been another busy week on The Grocer.

As ever we’ve broken a number of exclusives.

The top performing story on thegrocer.co.uk is our exclusive on Cadbury discontinuing its Fruitier & Nuttier trail mix, citing a drop off in demand and availability. It’s the subject of my leader this week too, in which I argue that Mondelez must be having sleepless nights after another failed attempt to introduce HFSS-compliant confectionery and snacking lines.

We also revealed that Tesco is upgrading its rapid grocery delivery service Whoosh to offer full-basket shops – a move that is sure to spark fear at Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber, particularly given other supermarkets are putting more focus on their off-marketplace rapid services.

We also broke the news that Tesco was increasing the price of its bag for life by a third. A trivial story? Not judging by the reaction from punters. We’ve dissected Tesco’s move concluding perhaps more carrot is needed and not just stick.

There’s also a fascinating feature on Tesco’s generative AI ad-maker launch earlier this month, which will create ads for brands based on supplied fonts, brand colours and logos, product packshots, and pricing. “The agency world has 16 months left. Maybe less,” one expert predicted.

Talking of AI there’s a lovely story on how Lervig Brewery used a free ‘AI lawyer’ to put the Portman Group back in its box. As Lervig’s CEO says: “AI is changing the game for small companies like us.”

Technology doesn’t have all the answers however. While high-tech solutions have been heralded as the answer to soaring shoplifting rates, our cover story in this week’s magazine ponders whether a lo-fi, design-led approach could prove even more effective. There’s been a reappraisal of seemingly less sophisticated design and psychology-based techniques that aim to prevent theft from occurring in the first place. It also describes the seven different personas of retail thieves, and how retailers should respond to them.

It’s been a meaty week for news. Quite literally.

After the punchy oped piece last week from Chris Elliott, the doyenne of food safety who spoke out against the continued use of nitrites in processed meats, we pulled together some brilliant analysis using proprietary research, great industry connections and export knowledge to show how the major supermarkets have fared when it comes to stocking nitrite-free options. It’s a compelling read. And it looks like the situation will remain unchanged as the Food Standards Agency is digging its heels in over its position.

Meanwhile, as attention turns towards Christmas it looks like shoppers will be paying a lot more for their turkey this year. And our analysis includes fresh turkey prices for the first time.

And we also revealed how upmarket DTC butcher Farmison has been broken up, with the DTC side of the business merging with Donald Russell, the Scottish online butcher owned by the Vestey Family, best known of course for the Dewhurst butchery chain they founded. Ex-Asda CEO Andy Clarke, who helped save Farmison from administration, will still be involved in the other business being created from the split, as will Andy Adcock.

On the wholesale side we’ve also dissected the liquidator’s report on the collapse of SOS Wholesale. The report details the £10.5m in unpaid bills, including 200 trade creditors not to mention the founders of SOS, who are still owed £1.8m from the sale of the business to RDCP, an investment firm that owns a number of other businesses that have gone into administration.

And finally we reveal the lengths Iceland has tried to go to in order to protect its classic festive favourite the prawn party ring from imitators. It’s another one of those stories that looks trivial on the surface. But despite losing its intellectual property fight Iceland insists it wasn’t a publicity stunt.

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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