Poor pay and punitive working conditions are common on farms and plantations that supply fresh fruit or tea to major UK supermarkets including Lidl, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons, according to new research published by a leading international charity (The Guardian). Workers on farms and plantations that supply big UK supermarkets are being subjected to poverty and human rights abuses, according to Oxfam (The BBC).
The owner of Flora and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter is in advanced talks to buy a fast-growing maker of vegan cheeses and other plant-based foods in a knockout deal. Upfield, which is owned by the private equity giant KKR, is negotiating to buy Greece-based Violife Foods. (Sky News, The Telegraph)
The takeover of Britain’s biggest pub operator and brewer by Hong Kong’s richest man has been backed by shareholders (The Times £). Fears are brewing over the future of Greene King’s 3,000 pubs after shareholders approved a £4.6bn takeover by Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-Shing (The Telegraph).
Fears are rising for Pizza Express as investors raised doubts about whether it will fully pay off its massive debts – estimated at £1.8million per restaurant (The Daily Mail). Pizza Express has a mountain of debt: a towering £1.12bn is owed to various lenders, a cash sum equal to 77m of its famous Sloppy Giuseppe beef and pepper pizzas (The Guardian).
LVMH, the owner of Dior, Moët & Chandon, posted double-digit revenue growth in the third quarter as the world’s largest luxury group shrugged off the global trade war. (The Financial Times £)
CBRE, the country’s largest valuer, said yesterday that retail property values had fallen by 1.7% in September, the sharpest monthly fall since December last year. (The Times £)
The takeaway from its would-be merger partner’s latest results was clear to investors in Just Eat yesterday. Takeaway.com, the online food delivery service, is now a profitable business. (The Times £)
No comments yet