A Christmas update from Aldi was under the spotlight in this morning’s papers. “Posh party food, 30 day-aged roasting joints and 13.5m bottles of wine, prosecco and champagne help Aldi to record Christmas sales,” The Mail writes. The Telegraph adds that the discounter’s cheap Prosecco and premium lines helped total sales climb 15% higher during December compared to the same month in 2015. Aldi’s premium products, such as Specially Selected Argentinian Malbec and its 30-day aged roasting joint, were so popular that total sales across the range increased by 27% cent year-on-year during December, The Times reports. The grocer also sold more than 2 million bottles of prosecco — equivalent to almost 69,000 a day.
News that Tesco is to axe 1,000 jobs in a restructuring plan also gets plenty of coverage. The supermarket is closing two distribution centres in a shakeup of its UK operations that will reduce staff numbers by about 500 (The Guardian). The Financial Times writes that some of the job losses would be offset by plans to increase capacity in its centres in Reading and Middlesbrough, which is expected to create 500 jobs. At the same time Britain’s biggest grocer is axing its warehouse relationships with logistics experts DHL and Wincanton and bringing all of those operations in-house (The Telegraph).
Pet food and sweet maker Mars is buying animal healthcare company VCA in a deal valued at $9.1bn (£7.48bn), cementing the company’s position as the largest provider of veterinary hospitals in the United States (The Telegraph). Mars said the deal would increase the number of animal hospitals it owns in North America by about 800 to 1,900, although this remains a small proportion of the region’s 24,000 clinics, which are mostly independently owned, The Financial Times adds.
McDonald’s is giving up the controlling stake in its Chinese business to a state-owned conglomerate as part of a global strategy to sell off more of its restaurants (The Telegraph).
A Guardian opinion piece on the national living wage says wage hikes at Aldi and Lidl are welcome news, but warns not to get too excited.
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