Long reads – Page 337
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Analysis & FeaturesHow wholesale is chopping and changing
With fuel costs and and commodity prices still going up, wholesalers are feeling the heat. Can diversification keep heads from the block?
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Analysis & FeaturesFirst milk, now cream: dairy takes another hit
Until recently, dairy processors under pressure from the mults’ milk price war could take solace in the fact that at least cream prices were strong.
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Analysis & FeaturesAsda price advantage eroded, but it's hanging on to shoppers
A year after owners Walmart made aggressive investments in price that helped sow the seeds of the market…
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Analysis & FeaturesTen commodities to watch in 2012
Forecasters believe higher production and less speculator interest will lead to lower prices this year. Just don’t mention the weather.
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Analysis & FeaturesThe Carbon Trust: too slow-footed to save the planet?
Tesco has pulled out of the Trust’s CO2 scheme, but the industry had already been seeking more effective routes to sustainability.
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Analysis & FeaturesSupermarkets pile on promos to win post-Christmas pounds
Remember Philip Clarke’s words after those miserable Tesco Christmas numbers? “We backed off some of our promotional and couponing activity too early.”
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Analysis & FeaturesSovereigns, sport and cigs
The Olympics, Euro 2012, the Jubilee and the supermarket tobacco display ban could lead to a more than £1bn windfall for independents.
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Analysis & FeaturesIs a lower abv a small price to pay for Stella Artois?
AB InBev can play the health card by cutting its premium lagers to 4.8% and save £9m a year in duty - but may regret the move.
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Analysis & FeaturesDoughnuts battered by sugar, oil and dairy hikes
Homer Simpson would not be amused. First, rising prices on malting barley threaten to send the cost of beers soaring. Now raw material hikes spell bad news for his favourite snack.
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Analysis & FeaturesIs it just Tesco slowing the pace in the space race?
Asda has proclaimed no halt to expansion, but Tesco’s rivals are already placing more emphasis on refurbs instead of newbuild.
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Analysis & FeaturesWhat's beneath the lid as Müller corners Wiseman?
Experts are struggling to see how the pairing could be “highly complementary”.
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Analysis & FeaturesChained... but for how much longer?
The latest Pursuit NHA Salary Survey shows pay is picking up, but fmcg employees feel safer staying put in their current jobs than moving on.
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Analysis & FeaturesStrikes at Unilever herald a new age of union discontent
Profits and pay at fmcg giants, against a backdrop of coalition austerity cuts, mean workers are in no mood to conciliate.
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Analysis & FeaturesBrazil scare could ease EU orange juice prices
Orange juice concentrate has emerged as an early contender for commodities rollercoaster ride of 2012.
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Analysis & Features
Christmas deals at an all-time high, but January still a record
January sales? The run-up to Christmas saw the number of promotions offered reach record levels, with more than 10,000 deals in the four weeks to 23 December.
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InterviewsA single-minded man
Poundland boss Jim McCarthy is pushing ahead with ambitious European expansion plans - despite the Eurozone crisis - and his aspirations don’t end there.
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Analysis & FeaturesShifting Sands: what The Co-op's acquisition means
The Co-operative Group’s purchase of a 200-year-old independent has taken the trade aback. What happened - and what comes next?
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Analysis & FeaturesHelping out the hungry... under cover
His Food started out with half a pallet of soup and a makeshift office in a shipping container. Now the charity operates out of a 50,000 sq ft depot - not that you’ll be able to find it.
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Analysis & FeaturesPotato market recovery sees spud prices tumble
Wholesale prices for potatoes have plummeted by 41% since mid-2011 and are now 30% lower than they were this time last year.
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Analysis & FeaturesBooze behind December price drop but staples go up
There was little festive cheer beyond the alcohol aisles for supermarket bargain hunters in the run-up to Christmas.