Raw dogfood on a roll

New Product Awards

Sir, Some marketers and brand owners can get a little sniffy when it comes to awards season, especially the ones who lose! There are undoubtedly some industry awards with the gravitas of ‘sticky back plastic,’ but not The Grocer New Product Awards, which provide a beacon of hope for any startup on a shoestring. The right award opens doors, underpins your stance as a game-changing category pioneer, and tickles the interest of any food writer. The right award can spark a little PR commotion, cut through category clutter and assist in underlining core brand values.

In the case of BARF (raw) petfood, which has been re-energising the independent petfood sector for a couple of years, we hope our freezer-friendly, conveniently packed ‘dog sausages’ will encourage a few of the major retailers to reconsider a ‘raw’ option.

Chris Brierley, co-founder Cotswold RAW, winner of Best Petfood/Treats 2017, The Grocer New Product Awards

Data risk

Sir, The current High Court case on the 2014 leak of almost 100,000 staff members’ details will have significant implications for all UK organisations if Morrisons is held liable for the criminal actions of its disgruntled ex-employee who posted the data on the internet. Following the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation in May 2018, both data controllers and data processors may be sued for compensation by any person who has suffered damage (which under the UK Data Protection Bill includes financial loss, distress and ‘other adverse effects’) as a result of a breach. This means that any organisation handling any kind of personal data (even just on someone else’s behalf) may be sued. To avoid liability the organisation would have to prove it was not in any way responsible for the event that caused damage, even if that damage were caused by a disgruntled ex-employee.

Nadia Avraham, solicitor in the commercial team, Ashfords LLP

Questions over EVs

Sir, Installing some charging points for EVs at fuels stations is appropriate (‘Is there a good business case for EVCs,’ 9 September, p16).

However, the promotion of EVs is being driven by government diktat rather than the market. EVs should justify their presence. Why should one buy an EV when normal car engines are getting ever greener and efficient? And many people’s livelihoods revolve around fuel stations.

There are safety issues around EVs that need to resolved. As EVs are silent, what about the safety of staff working in supermarket car parks, clearing the trolleys? And working with electricity has obvious safety ramifications.

John Barstow, member, Usdaw executive council