All comment & opinion articles
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Comment & OpinionOur final issue of the year is a cracker!
The headline has to be the healthy switches consumers have made, with vape sales falling dramatically, while the biggest category volume increase was seen in smoking cessation products
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Comment & OpinionMaybelline’s movie stars enact festive romance with a twist
Maybelline has hired the stars of Hot Frosty… but one of them’s concealing something
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Comment & OpinionTop Products 2025: cash-strapped shoppers seek added value
Intentional spending doesn’t automatically translate into a single-minded hunt for the lowest prices or loyalty-led discounts, says Julian Crane, MD UK&I at NIQ
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Comment & OpinionThe Great British Seafood Revival: insightful guide to UK’s underused species
The book showcases a host of varied-yet-achievable recipes - megrim and witch are featured in innovative dishes alongside more familiar turbot and sole
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Comment & OpinionIt’s the most wasteful time of year: how to help cut festive food waste
Jenny Costa of Rubies in the Rubble is encouraging everyone across our industry to help narrow the gap between abundance and need
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Comment & OpinionWhy Guinness picked London for its new Open Gate Brewery
Guinness’ £73m Open Gate Brewery throws open its doors in Covent Garden today. But why has arguably Ireland’s most famous export picked London for its latest brand home?
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Comment & OpinionShopper insight is great, but you have to ask: so what?
Retailers and suppliers say consumer insight is crucial, but if you ask what they really mean the answer often lacks substance, says Jeremy Garlick, partner at Insight Traction
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Comment & OpinionOrganic produce offers huge social value - we need better access
Contrary to popular belief, people on the lowest incomes are as likely to champion organic food and its health benefits as anyone else, says Hannah Gibbs, programme manager at Sustain – Bridging the Gap
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Comment & OpinionScaremongering about emulsifiers ignores the crucial nuance
Reporting of a trial looking at emulsifiers’ effect on Crohn’s sufferers has spread way beyond what was intended, says Anthony Warner, development chef at New Food Innovation
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Comment & OpinionWot, no OOH? Why the HFSS ad ban doesn’t go far enough
In anticipation of the ban, some food brands have spent on reformulating their products. But some have simply shifted marketing spend to billboards
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Comment & OpinionWhat challenges and opportunities do farm shops face in 2026?
Emma Mosey, chair of the Farm Retail Association, looks at what the coming year could mean for farm shops and other independent food and drink retailers
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Comment & OpinionWill Brussels finally bin plant-based ‘meaty terms’ ban?
Europe’s powerful agrifood lobby has long campaigned for a ban… but shoppers understand what a ‘veggie burger’ is
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Comment & OpinionWhy the outcry over BrewDog’s ‘commercial suicide’ ad is a storm in a teacup
The latest scandal in which BrewDog finds itself embroiled feels entirely manufactured
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Comment & OpinionRetailers must navigate grocery’s trickiest Christmas trends
Financial pressures remain front of mind for many households across the UK, notes Luke Hand of Mail Metro Media
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Comment & OpinionDon’t let TikTok Shop be the turkey of your Christmas strategy
TikTok Shop demonstrates that discovery commerce demand is now large enough to shape holiday grocery outcomes, says Eva Liu, social commerce director at Samy
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Comment & OpinionBudget drama distracts from its very real consequences
A lot of hot air has been expended on attacking Rachel Reeves for ‘misleading the public’ – this has meant that real focus on the radical changes she made has been lost, says Ian Wright, partner at Acuti Associates
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Comment & OpinionCollaboration is key for Fairtrade’s fairer food systems
Shared Impact changes the game by making collaboration across the supply chain central to its DNA, says Kerrina Thorogood, partnerships director at the Fairtrade Foundation
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Comment & OpinionThe UK’s recycling system is about to undergo a sea change
The government’s recent decisions on landfill tax and plastic packaging tax (PPT) reforms signal both progress and missed opportunities, says Carla Brian, head of partnerships at Biffa
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Comment & OpinionEditor’s picks: Graze, Maltesers and value Christmas dinners
There are new warnings that fresh turkey supply may be impacted by bird flu. In some years the industry has been guilty of crying wolf (or fowl?)
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Comment & OpinionEndless delays, moving goalposts: HFSS policy farce deepens
Having presided over this farcical mismanagement of the HFSS advertising restrictions, the government looks set to cause more chaos