n The Grocer has bought £100 of shares in ten top firms for our major new regular update on sector performance Just how well are the top retail and manufacturing companies doing? Ignore the spin and check out The Grocer's new Portfolio page for a concise view of the movers and shakers in the FTSE 100. To give you a better insight, The Grocer has bought £100 worth of shares in each of 10 food retailers and manufacturers ­ Safeway, Sainsbury, Somerfield, Morrisons, Tesco, Unilever, Cadbury Schweppes, Dairy Crest, Northern Foods and AB Foods ­ and will report back on our gains and losses each month. We'll compare our basket of shares with the FTSE and highlight any company which is storming ahead or sinking slowly. Retail and food analysts will comment on the top performers as well as highlight general trends and make a few predictions. This month the focus is on Dairy Crest which is riding a wave thanks to the acquisition of Unigate and its plans to reduce costs by £25m over the the next two years. Our other manufacturers fared less well over the last month, with ABF, Cadbury and Unilver all dropping in price. Williams de Broë analyst David Hallam said Unilever was driving its top line and margin growth, while Cadbury was reaping the rewards of acquisitions. He added that UK confectionery markets were relatively flat, and without further acquisitions Cadbury might not continue to perform as well. However Hallam added that AB Foods had more than £1bn in net cash which could be better utilised. The month saw an interesting period for the retailers with Tesco, Morrisons, Safeway and Sainsbury shares all on the rise, with only Somerfield's price dropping. However, according to retail analyst Rowan Morgan of Tether and Greenwood, the whole sector has been underperforming during the past three months which has attracted investors looking for a potential recovery. "Morrisons has been one of the best performers, but Safeway is probably the best value of those five stocks," said Morgan. Any profits made in our share basket will be given to the trade's charity Caravan. {{MISCELLANEOUS }}