Archive of all comment and opinion articles – Page 497
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Comment & Opinion
Thank goodness for the pioneers
Paterson Arran has led by example, reducing its use of palm oil. It's one of a band of independents that put the rest of the industry to shame Being someone who brings a sceptical eye to the mechanics of the food industry, and is alert...
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Comment & Opinion
Don't just ignore c-stores, use credible data instead
Decisions are soon to be made in the Commission's inquiry. It's time to change the way buying power is assessed so we really find out what is happening to small storesThe Commission's working paper on supplier prices is a big step...
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Comment & Opinion
Opinion - "Does the use of selective and limited data reflect a wider malaise of muddled thinking at the Competition Commission?"
Does the CC have the foggiest idea what it is doing? It appears to change its mind at every turn, holding strong opinions until the next persuasive argument comes along, and regularly plays soft and slow, and a little bit loose with facts. Its...
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Comment & Opinion
Letter of the week - Don't demonise bottled water, Tim
Professor Tim Lang's opinion on bottled water lacked understanding about bottled water as a product, its UK market growth and the real eco-cost of the public water supply ('The true cost of bottling water', The Grocer, 14 July, p23). He cites...
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Comment & Opinion
our man from drip Don Pumsey - 21st July 2007
I'm lying low at the moment, gentle readers, for reasons that will become clear. The week started quietly enough with a sortie to the M&S agm to enjoy the spectacle of Stuart Rose's geriatric groupies pin down their CEO with their searching...
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Comment & Opinion
Obituary
Well-known grocery figure Mike Nemeth died on 4 July following a long illness.Nemeth was 56 years old and had worked in the grocery industry for most of his career. He had a considerable knowledge of the cash and carry sector and...
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Comment & Opinion
Benn has to understand: green is not the only issue
Ministers come and go, but the buying and selling of groceries goes on regardless. What significance do the changes in the Cabinet have for supermarkets, processors, farmers and the rest of the supply chain?Isuppose that, as a member of...
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Comment & Opinion
our man from drip Don Pumsey - 7th July 2007
All of us are lying in the gusset, dear reader, but with apologies to Mr Wilde, some of us are looking at the bras. This was my thought as I tripped lightly from Number 10 on Friday. I had greatly feared that after shoving my former boss Darling...
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Comment & Opinion
Opinion - "Supermarkets exploiting their power by pushing up prices? These statistics don't tell the whole story"
Food price inflation is a hot topic right now. And to prove it a flurry of new figures came out this week suggesting variously that grocery prices in the UK are up 6% year-on-year (ONS), which means they're rising faster in this country than...
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Comment & Opinion
Get real. Forget codes of conduct
The supermarkets code of conduct is ineffective and legislation is pointless. Supply and demand will always drive the market.So the competition authorities have concluded in a working paper that the voluntary code of conduct dealing with...
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Comment & Opinion
Too much candy can rot your soul
Spot anything wrong with the chocolate bars in this picture? California cops did when they stumbled across them during a recent raid on a drugs factory in Oakland. The products, which were designed to look like beloved confectionery...
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Comment & Opinion
Let people make their own choices
Dosing up the nation with folic acid is not the answer to cutting defects. A targeted campaign and more research is so much more practical When is the government going to get the message that people don't want to be told what to...
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Comment & Opinion
our man from drip Don Pumsey - 26th May 2007
Idon't know what the collective noun for BBC undercover journalists is but I'd imagine Messrs Leahy and King would have a few monosyllabic suggestions. Speaking as a purely impartial Minister of State, my main impression from the Whistleblower show...
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Comment & Opinion
Go on Gordon, surprise me...
A Gordon Brown-led government offers new possibilities for food policy but whether he will take the issues seriously remains to be seen Tony Blair's departure has been painfully slow and the arrival of a Gordon Brown-led government...
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Comment & Opinion
It's a funny old thing, this healthy eating
It looks like our special friends across the Atlantic are gearing up to get rid of junk food from schools. But they don't do things by halves do they?Last week, activists wheeled out Hollywood comedy star Chevy Chase, who testified in...
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Comment & Opinion
China beckons, but work out the puzzle carefully
There are many retail opportunities - but significant problems - in the rapidly expanding Chinese marketThis week the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that retail sales during the May Day holidays hit 320 billion yuan, or £21bn -...
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Comment & Opinion
Opinion - "Not all their premium lines are perfect but multiples' own labels are now often better than brand rivals"
I'm sure you read Bob Farrand's comments about own-label in this mag a couple of weeks ago. The director of the Guild of Fine Food said top-of-the-range own-label lines were "average food in fancy packaging". Hats off to Bob for speaking out on...
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Comment & Opinion
our man from drip Don Pumsey - 19th May 2007
I don't know which is Sarah Brown's supermarket of choice, but when I received an email last week in the distinctive lumpen prose of El Gordo I thought I'd better sit up and take notice. He may not have a real job for much longer but there's still...
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Comment & Opinion
our man from drip Don Pumsey - 12th May 2007
Dreamt last night I was in bed with the wife of a junior minister. A bit too damned realistic - I was halfway down the Victorian guttering of Pumsey Place when I realised it was true. The said lady was none other than the delightful Veronica Pumsey...
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Comment & Opinion
Single payment is not the answer to farmers in crisis
Cash-strapped farmers face an uphill battle to get fair prices for livestock and the EU subsidies they rely on are dwindlingA businessman won't last very long if he supplies something for a price that is below the cost of...