French food retailer Carrefour has said it will no longer sell PepsiCo products because they have become too expensive, marking the latest spat between food manufacturers and retailers over high food prices (Financial Times £). The French supermarket chain Carrefour has said it will stop selling PepsiCo products in stores in four European countries because the global food company has put its prices up by too much (The Guardian). A supermarket chain has said it will no longer sell Pepsi and 7up in protest against “unacceptable” price rises (Telegraph £). Pepsi faces supermarket boycott in four European countries. Its drinks and snacks are already reportedly unavailable at some of the more than 9,000 stores which are not stocking products due to “unacceptable price increases” (Sky News). The supermarket started putting up signs in stores on Thursday to inform customers of the decision, which will affect products such as Pepsi soda, Doritos and Quaker cereals (BBC).

Boots reported “strong” Christmas trading as it chalked up a 9.8 per cent increase in underlying sales growth for the three months to November thanks in part to a stand-out performance from its No 7 make-up brand. (The Times £)

The owner of Boots has said “everything is on the table” amid talk of the high street pharmacy chain pursuing a potential £7bn listing in London. (Telegraph £)

The government will offer farmers in England bigger subsidies to grow produce sustainably in a bid to drive take-up of its flagship post-Brexit agricultural policy, as businesses in the sector struggle with high costs and low returns. (Financial Times £)

Tightening environmental standards for British farmers while importing food produced to lower standards risks making eco-friendly food an unaffordable luxury item, farmers have said. (The Guardian)

Sainsbury’s is increasing the hourly wages of 120,000 staff as part of a £200million investment in pay increases (Daily Mail). Sainsbury’s has announced pay rises from March as supermarkets continue their battle to retain workers (BBC).

Next has warned supplies of its products could be delayed if disruption to shipping in the Red Sea continues (BBC). Next has upgraded profit hopes for the year after ringing up £38m more in sales than expected in the run-up to Christmas, but warned that difficulties in the Red Sea could delay deliveries and hit sales in the year ahead (The Guardian).

Tea People, an award-winning fine tea social enterprise, were expecting a delivery on 13 December, but it had to be rerouted an extra 3,500 miles and barely arrived in time for the Christmas trade. Vishaka Chhetri Agarwal, chief product officer, said their costs have increased four-fold too: “For a container if you paid $1,000 to ship it from Sri Lanka to the UK, all of a sudden we have to now pay $5,000.” (Sky News)

Dutch flower growers have called on the UK government to delay post-Brexit border controls on plants and food set to come in from this month, claiming exporters are not ready and that any delays at customs could result in “substantial damages and losses”. (The Guardian)

McDonald’s said it was seeing a “meaningful” hit to business, as customers in the Middle East and elsewhere boycott the firm for its perceived support of Israel. (BBC)

Two baby formula products have been recalled from sale in the UK over concerns they could contain dangerous bacteria. Batches of Reckitt-owned Nutramigen could contain bacteria that causes fever and diarrhoea. (Telegraph £)

Topics