Long reads – Page 351
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Analysis & Features
Food inflation worsens as more categories report rises
Two-thirds of the GPI categories saw prices rise this month, thanks to input costs, oil hikes and the effects of the VAT increase.
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Analysis & FeaturesProduct Placement: Brands get their big TV break
From Monday, brands will be able to pay to appear in British TV programmes for the first time. Insiders expect product placement to be worth £100m in five years. But what will the latter-day Hilda Ogdens be pushing? Rob Gray reports
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Analysis & FeaturesFairtrade: A fairer share for all
Bananas, Dairy Milk and even condoms (in Waitrose from this week). It’s official – Fairtrade’s gone mainstream. But how much are farmers benefiting? Ahead of Fairtrade Fortnight, Beth Phillips visited a cocoa co-operative in Ghana and Sarah Butler met coffee farmers in Uganda to find out
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Analysis & Features
Commodities: Why the world is starting to worry about the cost of rice
Concerns are increasing that rice – the staple food of half the world’s population – will soar in price. Julia Glotz looks at the facts behind the fear
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Analysis & FeaturesAcid Test: Salto
The Brazilian tipple – a citrus-flavoured cachaça – aims to extend the appeal of cachaça drinks outside its caipirinha cocktail heartland.
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Analysis & FeaturesGet drizzling: we’ve found a commodity getting cheaper
Against a background of soaring crop, fuel and packaging cost inflation, a few foodstuffs – notably olive oil – are getting cheaper. Why, asks Alex Beckett
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Analysis & FeaturesOne year on, can Kraft now celebrate its Cadbury deal?
It’s just over a year since its $19bn acquisition of Cadbury. Kraft’s results have given Adam Leyland a proper opportunity to examine progress
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Analysis & FeaturesAcid Test: Douwe Egberts Aromettes
The single-portion blocks of coffee would appeal to the one in four UK instant coffee drinkers who think ground coffee is “too difficult to make”
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Analysis & FeaturesStorm-tossed Young’s seeks a better catch... as Young’s
The launch of the number one fish and seafood company? Or a confusing retrenchment that has left buyers scratching their heads? Richard Ford reports
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Analysis & Features
Retail Prices: Top grocery brands offering greater savings to shoppers
In stark contrast to the festive period, over the past month the number of deals and the savings offered have risen year-on-year, reports Alex Beckett
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Analysis & FeaturesTesco loses fizz as its dotcom queen quits for M&S board
Why did Tesco.com’s leading lady walk from Tesco just two weeks after her elevation to the retailer’s UK executive committee? Rob Brown reports
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Analysis & FeaturesStella launches a cider? How very ‘reassuring’, say rivals
Will AB InBev reverse slowing category sales or is it taking too much of a risk venturing out of its heartland, ask Anna-Marie Julyan and Alex Beckett
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Analysis & FeaturesAcid Test: Kabuto Noodles
Kabuto Noodles is a samurai-themed pot snack, which has been designed to “inject a bit of fun and life into a known product”, much like Innocent and Gü have done in their respective categories.
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Analysis & FeaturesBargain hunting: buyers eye cut-price M&A bonanza
After Premier finally managed to offload Quorn in a cut-price deal, the market is bracing itself for a flurry of M&A activity. But will the £4bn worth of food and drink assets still up for grabs achieve ‘cheap as chips’ prices, asks Selwyn Parker
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Analysis & Features
The spread of viral advertising
As more and more people switch off the television and go online for entertainment, advertising is changing. Growing numbers of advertisers are getting more bang from ad budgets by going viral. So how do you get ahead in viral advertising, asks Simon Creasey
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Analysis & FeaturesCurrency swings so extreme that hedging is a crapshoot
Inflation and soaring commodity costs are forcing more producers to try to hedge against currency fluctuations – with mixed results, says Michael Kapoor
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Analysis & FeaturesAcid Test: O! So Natural Fruit Crisps
The freeze-dried fruit crisps are aimed at plugging a gap for more flavourful fruit crisps.
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Analysis & FeaturesAcid Test: Pizza Express sauce
The premium-priced sauces are aimed at encouraging current pasta sauce users to trade up, as well as recruiting new users from the brand’s restaurants.
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Analysis & FeaturesAcid Test: Aero Caramel
Nestlé predicted the new bar would meet a consumer preference for lighter, portionable bars over larger “gut fill” bars such as Mars and Snickers.
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Analysis & Features
Acid Test: Limoncé
The shape of the bottle is interesting and the colour gives it instant shelf appeal, but the fact that it doesn't say Limoncello on the label might mystify potential buyers as to what is in the bottle.