Lovely weather, isn’t it?

I’ve heard the sun has extended as far North as Bradford. Along with a second consecutive four-day weekend and the Royal Nuptials, the sunshine has unquestionably (and at last) been kind to grocery retailersm.

However, as we report, it appears to have caught quite a few stores out in terms of availability, as many lines - indeed, whole stores in some cases - sold out.

The flipside of the dry conditions is the possible impact on food prices. As we report this week, British fruit and veg growers are already voicing fears over damage to their produce, and while it’s too early to say if the all-important wheat crops will be unalterably affected, these conditions extend across Northern Europe. So commodity experts will be watching the weather even more keenly.

In any discussion of the weather and its impact on this sector, however, no-one could have expected bankers to play such a part. And I’m referring not to the oft-heard lament over unpredictable borrowing policies. It’s the fact that speculation from investment banks is playing such a part in fuelling food price inflation and instability.

We’ve written about this before. It is an international scandal that famine in the Third World is fuelled by Goldman Sachs & Co (and, for that matter, that gas-guzzling 4x4s are running on biofuel, ie food).

But this week I read an article that really got me thinking. In discussing Robert Schofield’s decision to step down at Premier Foods, a piece by Simon English in the Evening Standard suggested that, in his final year in office, Schofield could eradicate the question marks against his record if he devoted his energies to driving Wall Street speculators from the markets. It would be a wonderful legacy, but I doubt he has the appetite or the power.

My question is: who does? If you know a way, or think The Grocer can help, please let me know. 

Read more
Boiling point: commodities speculators turn up the heat (27 November 2010)

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