A UK ban on the sale of single-use vapes that came into force on Sunday (1 June) will be inadequate to prevent young people vaping or to significantly reduce the dangerous waste created by the devices, experts have warned (Financial Times).
Marks & Spencer is winning the battle for middle-class grocery shoppers despite falling prey to a crippling cyber attack. Food sales at the retailer grew at almost twice the rate of the wider market in the first month after the hack (Mail).
Tesco is to close some stores an hour earlier after being struck by a £235m rise in staff costs. The supermarket is understood to be trialling shorter opening hours at Express stores, shutting some at 10pm rather than 11pm. It is also expected to have fewer staff running those stores (Telegraph).
Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi GB, has criticised Britain’s slow-moving planning system, saying the “spurious” objections from competitor supermarkets were stifling shop openings and job creation. hat was once a relatively straightforward 12-week planning process to open shops had become a two-to-three-year ordeal, he claimed (Times).
Leading UK politicians have accused Cadbury owner Mondelez of being “too busy counting its profits” to respond to criticism about selling chocolate in Russia. More than 70 MPs and peers accused the supplier of “funding Russia’s war machine” by continuing to trade in the country (Mail).
Ben & Jerry’s has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide, a move that risks escalating a legal dispute with parent company Unilever over the brand’s political activism. “Ben & Jerry’s believes in human rights and advocates for peace, and we join with those around the world who denounce the genocide in Gaza,” the brand’s board said in a statement (Financial Times).
Supermarkets could soon be required to inform consumers when they are being asked to pay more for less, under new proposals aimed at tackling shrinkflation. The Liberal Democrats are pushing for an amendment to legislation that would oblige large grocers to notify shoppers when the quantity of goods in a pre-packaged product has been reduced (Independent).
John Lewis Partnership faces demands to reinstate a staff bonus after a three-year drought as the partnership tries to turn itself around. Some disgruntled workers have shared an open letter and launched a petition through Organise, a platform supporting worker-led campaigns, calling on bosses to bring back bonuses (Financial Times).
Beer, wine and spirits groups are devising new tactics to counter a hardening public health stance against alcohol, including promoting the social benefits of drinking and disputing research on the risks of moderate consumption (Financial Times).
Fever-Tree’s international expansion will be in the spotlight when it updates investors this week. The mixers brand has been focused on cracking the US market after a slump in UK sales growth (Mail).
Lyme Bay Winery in Devon is celebrating becoming the first English producer to win the International Wine Challenge for both red and white wine in the same year (Guardian).
Dessert cafes and ice-cream parlours are hoping to play a role in a revival of UK high streets and the night-time economy, as people seek an alternative to going to the pub or an expensive meal out. Their number has soared by almost 700 in the UK in the past decade (Guardian).
The proportion of pubs and restaurants in the red for the first three months of the year was a sharp increase on the previous quarter. Six in ten said they have been forced to cut jobs to stay afloat, after £3.4bn in extra costs hit the industry in April (Mail).
Eating more fiber might help flush out cancer-causing ‘forever chemicals,’ a study suggests. Researchers from Boston University in the US compared men who took a fiber supplement three times a day to those who had a rice-based supplement for four weeks (Mail).
The Independent looks at food waste apps like Too Good to Go, which have turned into a viral phenomenon that sees TikTokers eagerly unboxing £3 mystery bags from Pret and Aldi.
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