All articles by James Ball – Page 11
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News
Retail butter prices remain high despite wholesale price fall
The wholesale price of butter has fallen by more than a third while retail prices have risen more than 20%, leaving analysts concerned retailers are profiteering. The wholesale spot price of UK butter fell to £2,150/tonne last month, down 34.8%...
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News
Companies face pension deficits as shares slump
Leading food manufacturers are facing massive, in some cases devastating increases in their pension deficits as a result of the tumbling stock markets. Uniq’s situation in particular was “increasingly desperate and fraught”, said analyst Panmure...
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NewsGrocer 33: Asda basket beats closest rival by £2.14
Asda was comfortably this week’s cheapest retailer, with its £49.33 basket coming in at £2.14 less than nearest rival Tesco’s
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Analysis & Features
Promo Dynamic: A good week for fans of canned food
Promotional activity remained as fierce as ever this week, with more than 1,300 lines on offer in featured space in the top 50 categories alone. But some retailers were promoting far more than others.
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News
Suppliers fume as M&S fails to deliver on sales
Leading suppliers to Marks & Spencer have hit out at the retailer for failing to deliver increases in sales volumes promised under the terms of its Project Genesis. The controversial scheme – earlier dubbed ‘Project Genocide’ by one supplier – came...
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News
Premier hit by share price collapse
Shares in Premier Foods, the UK’s largest food supplier, tumbled 30% yesterday to 35p among fears about the company¹s high debt levels.
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NewsGrocer 33: Tesco comes in 22p less than Asda
'Britains biggest discounter' emerges as the cheapest of the bunch in the latest G33
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News
Brands threatened as own label gains fans
Coca-Cola remains the most valuable grocery brand in the UK – but big brands are coming under increased pressure as consumers switch to own-label goods in the credit crunch, according to a new report from Intangible Business. The report, which...
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News
Uniq shares plunge as City winces over pessimistic update
Shares in beleaguered European chilled food supplier Uniq fell sharply after the company issued a gloomy Q3 trading update. The company’s share price fell by over a third, falling as low as 42p during Wednesday trading, after a previous close price...
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News
Cost-hit Irish suppliers ‘should plan relocation’
Food manufacturers operating in the Republic of Ireland are facing such stiff cost pressures they could be forced to relocate to Eastern Europe, industry experts have warned. Food suppliers in the country had traditionally benefited from low costs,...
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News
Retailers must do more to keep prices down, say shoppers
More than four in five shoppers say the credit crunch has forced them to change their grocery shopping habits – and only one in five think the supermarkets are doing enough to help, exclusive research for The Grocer has revealed. Consumers said they...
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NewsThe first signs emerge of a slowdown in food inflation
Food price inflation is finally showing signs of levelling off, with Asda the first multiple retailer to record a fall in price. James Ball reports
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News
Will Jamie and £1m entice advertisers to Channel 4?
Channel 4’s £1m pot to subsidise advertising for food brands has drawn a mixed reaction, being branded alternately inspired and gimmicky. James Ball reports
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NewsGrocer 33: Great service above border at Morrisons
Inverurie’s Morrisons grabbed the top store award this week with a winning combination of great service and 100% availability – despite being only the fourth best suited retailer to the area
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News
Block chocolate’s back in fashion with sales up 7%
Shoppers have been turning their back on premium chocolate, returning to everyday block chocolate for their credit crunch treats. Sales of block chocolate jumped 7.3% year-on-year [TNS 15 June 2008], significantly outperforming overall...
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News
Britain's biggest discounter? The title should go to Asda
Retailers are quick to boast that they are the cheapest in specific categories but their claims are not always backed up by the facts. James Ball reports
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NewsGrocer 33: Asda reigns supreme once again
Asda has bounced back from last week’s £6 drubbing by Morrisons to retake the cheapest retailer title by a comfortable £2.02 margin
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News
Longer trade terms ramp up pressure from credit crunch
Cash-strapped suppliers will struggle to stay afloat as a “credit crunch within the credit crunch” threatens the entire food chain. This was the stark warning from experts across the industry, who also claimed supermarkets’ lengthening trade terms...
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Analysis & Features
Promo Dynamic: Sainsbury’s dominates in price deals
The price war may be hotting up, but it doesn’t seem to have reached as far as supermarkets’ prime promotional spots, where activity was subdued at the weekend
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News
UK wheat takes further battering from weather
Wet weather has ruined at least a third of the UK wheat crop, farmers and millers have claimed. The crops still to be harvested would almost inevitably be no better than animal feed quality, they said, adding that they would find out how much of the...