Media Bites 3 July: Greggs, Rachel Reeves, farming fears

Gregg’s profit warning features heavily across the business pages of the nationals. Shares in the UK bakery chain fell sharply on Wednesday as it warned this year’s operating profit was expected to be “modestly” below the £195.3 million it achieved in 2024 (The Times).

Sales at Greggs grew 2.6% in the six months to 28 June, but momentum had slowed as customers swerved hot pastries in the unusually high temperatures, Greggs said (The Guardian).

However, analysts at Barclays have questioned how much of Greggs’ warning is related to weather hitting sales and how much is down to management’s concern about the outlook for sales in the second half of the year. (The Financial Times)

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has backed the under fire Rachel Reeves to remain chancellor “into the next election and for many years after” after she was seen crying during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday (BBC).

The pound fell and state borrowing costs rose during a period of uncertainty over the chancellor’s future on Wednesday (Sky News)

M&S chief executive Stuart Machin and Asda boss Allan Leighton have broken cover to voice their opposition to the Government’s plans to tackle Britain’s obesity crisis, reports The Telegraph. Machin said the proposals would “likely add cost with no discernible improvement in public health”, while Leighton urged ministers to “consider the cumulative regulatory burden and costs supermarkets are already bearing to deliver other aspects of the Government’s policy agenda”. Other fmcg executives including the boss of pork giant Cranswick and Ranjit Boparan, of 2 Sister Food Group, have also voiced concerns over the proposals.

The Times has picked up on a report by IWSR that calls Gen Z’s widely reported indifference towards alcohol into question (read The Grocer’s coverage of that report here). The survey over 26,000 people in the world’s 15 biggest drinks markets found 73 per cent of Gen Z respondents — people of legal drinking age to 27 years old — had consumed alcohol in the previous six months, compared with 66 per cent two years ago.

Finally, more than 80% of UK farmers worried about climate crisis harming their livelihood, according to a new study (The Guardian). In new research carried out by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), some 87% of farmers reported reduced productivity in the face of recent extreme weather. Meanwhile, 84% had suffered a fall in crop yields, and more than three-quarters had taken a hit to their income. Just 2% of farmers said they had not experienced extreme weather in some form.