All analysis & features articles – Page 334
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Analysis & Features
World Food Special: Game over for importers?
With multiple retailers increasingly sourcing foreign lines direct from producers, what does the future hold for specialist food importers? Richard Ford reports on global sourcing developments and the search for exciting new products
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Analysis & FeaturesHow tasty are the top 50 independents?
The Top 50 posted a whacking 35% hike in profits last year. But that doesn’t mean they’re all in rude health.
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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 & FeaturesStuart Rose and Andy Bond: tips for the next generation
After stepping down from Marks & Spencer and Asda, retail legends Sir Stuart Rose and Andy Bond give Charles Wilson and Adam Leyland their tips for the next generation
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Analysis & FeaturesCharles Wilson Q&A: Tesco 'is the scariest beast in UK grocery'
Everyone should worry about Tesco, says Charles Wilson. This week’s guest editor tells Adam Leyland why – and what else he’s keeping an eye on
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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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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