The Grocer’s 15 most-read opinion articles of 2017

Every week, The Grocer brings together thought leaders and opinion makers and invites them to share their take on the issues shaping food & grocery.

From Tesco-Booker to Amazon, Scottish salmon to food audits (and in no particular order), here are 15 of our most-read opinion pieces from the past 12 months – all free for you to read and enjoy.

1. You are wrong, wrong, wrong on Tesco-Booker, CMA! – Steve Parfett

The Tesco-Booker mega merger dominated grocery retail news in 2017, and this punchy August piece by Steve Parfett about the merger inquiry run by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) struck a chord with many readers – or at the very least captured their attention.

2. Scotland’s farmed salmon industry stinks – Joanna Blythman

Food writer and long-standing Grocer contributor Joanna Blythman is no stranger to controversy and this February piece, in which she took the Scottish salmon industry to task, was delivered with trademark punch. Industry responses to the piece were vociferous and numerous – so much so that we published a separate piece on industry reactions.

3. What kind of leader does Unilever need after Polman? – Warren Ackerman

Reports started emerging in late November that Unilever had appointed an executive search firm to start scouting for a success to current CEO Paul Polman. In this widely read column for us, Société Générale’s Warren Ackerman looked at the key internal and external candidates in the running – and the attributes Unilever’s next leader will need.

4. Goodnight Irene. And good riddance – Edward Devlin

Speaking of iconic leaders…Irene Rosenfeld’s departure from Mondelez in August sparked plenty of column inches. Our deputy finance editor didn’t need many words to capture his thoughts on the controversial Mondelez boss’s track record but what he wrote clearly resonated, making this one of our most-read opinion columns of 2017.

5. Food plant audits need a rethink – Professor Chris Elliott

Food audits and inspections have been in the spotlight ever since the 2 Sisters poultry scandal. In this article from October, Professor Chris Elliott – author of the government-commissioned report into the horsemeat scandal and regulator Grocer writer – made the case for a complete overhaul of the system.

6. Fmcg must be bold for change – Cassandra Stavrou

To mark International Women’s Day in March, Propercorn founder Cassandra Stavrou took to the Grocer opinion pages to call on the fmcg industry to step up and do its bit for female empowerment. “Yes, women can leave careers to become full-time mothers. That’s just fine,” she wrote. “But all business leaders must continue their mission to provide a fair playing field. Not so we can patronise or mollycoddle, but to unleash potential, inspire ideas and drive our industry forward.”

7. Amazon’s algorithms are in control of UK grocery’s margin – David Sables

Amazon-mania showed no sign of slowing down in 2017, with retailers of all sizes scrambling to work out precisely what their response to the online giant’s increasingly aggressive push into grocery should be. Here, David Sables of Sentinel Management Consultants makes the case for why Amazon should be held to greater account over how it sets its pricing algorithms, given their huge impact on margins across the industry.

8. As Aldi flourishes in the UK, what can we learn from it? – Jeremy Garlick

2017 wasn’t just about Amazon, of course. The discounters continued to pile pressure on traditional retailers, prompting Jeremy Garlick of Insight Traction to put together this May piece on the key lessons rivals should take from Aldi’s success – including the importance of having a clear and consistent offer.

9. Strip the taboo from home working – Steve Simmance

Flexible working and home working have become increasingly hot issues in food & grocery, but many employers continue to struggle to offer more flexible working hours. This April piece from recruitment expert Steve Simmance examined the most common stumbling blocks and made an impassioned plea to employers to change corporate attitudes to home working.

10. We are food citizens, not consumers – Dan Crossley

People – particularly younger demographics – want to know more about where their food comes from and how it is produced. That’s a potential challenge for food producers, especially in meat and dairy, but also a huge opportunity – provided companies move with the times and treat people not just as shoppers but as food citizens that deserve to be empowered, argued Dan Crossley of the Food Ethics Council in this article from July.

11. C-stores need their own data revolution – Tim Mason

Convenience stores face unique challenges when it comes to loyalty schemes and reward cards – and the time has come to stop shirking those challenges, argued Eagle Eye CEO Tim Mason in his September column for us. “To get the balance right between loo rolls and ready meals, the business needs customer basket data to make ranging decisions. So new data collection techniques are needed to optimise these smaller stores.”

12. What to expect when taking the leap from big brand to startup – Thea Alexander

Collaboration between corporates and startups was all the rage in 2017, with a growing number of ‘big food’ employees exploring opportunities with startups. For those brave enough to take the plunge, Young Foodies co-founder Thea Alexander had some crucial bits of advice – such as ‘expect to use gut feeling over insight’ (the budget for expensive data just isn’t there).

13. Data will win at Christmas – Martijn Bertisen

Christmas is the crucial trading period for much of fmcg, so it’s no surprise that this November piece from Google’s Martijn Bertisen caught the eye of many of our readers. “Supermarkets that focus on capturing actionable insights from the data at their disposal will be well placed to succeed this Christmas,” Bertisen wrote and offered tips on best practice.

14. Coffee: a new age of quality across retail and hospitality – Matthew Tuffee

People are hugely passionate about the quality of their cup of coffee, so when Keurig Green Mountain’s Matthew Tuffee promised ‘a new age of quality across retail and hospitality’, our readers quickly started paying attention. Tuffee’s key message? Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy about coffee – offering sub-par quality just won’t do anymore.

15. A call to action on childhood obesity strategies – Dame Fiona Kendrick

“Voluntary action and regulation both have important roles.” That was the key message from Nestlé’s Dame Fiona Kendrick, when she penned this Saturday Essay for us back in March. With childhood obesity in the headlines throughout 2017, this piece kept getting views as the year went on, making it one of our most-read comment pieces.