Tesco has warned suppliers that price rises must be “legitimate” in the wake of a high-profile dispute over increases with the maker of Marmite and PG Tips. Dave Lewis, the supermarket’s chief executive, said that multinational producers should not lift the prices of their products in the UK in a bid to shore up their corporate results after the fall of sterling. (The Times £)

Lewis has warned suppliers against using the plummeting pound as an excuse for illegitimate price increases, even as he conceded that “inflationary pressure” was increasing the price Britons pay for staple foods such as pork. (The Financial Times £) He accused large suppliers of trying to wrongly pass on costs to British consumers as he said he wouldn’t hesitate to remove products from his shelves (The Telegraph). Dave Lewis says he accepts inflation is starting to raise prices but vowed to fight unjustified hikes based only on currency fluctuations (The Guardian).

Meanwhile, Tesco is to deepen its relationship with Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia group, potentially opening dozens more concessions for its Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Evans and Wallis chains in supermarkets. (The Guardian)

UK retail sales growth surged to a 14-year high in October as consumers kept spending and colder weather boosted clothing sales (The Financial Times £). A surprise leap in retail sales volumes last month has boosted hopes the UK economy will end the year on a high note, as consumers continue to shrug off the shock of the Brexit vote (The Guardian). Sterling surges in value as Halloween and the return of colder weather boost business for UK retailers. (Sky News)

Another quarter, another drop in sales for Asda but the pace of decline is moderating, writes The Financial Times (£). The third biggest supermarket chain in the UK by market share said sales, excluding petrol, fell 5.8% per cent in the third quarter of the year - its ninth consecutive quarter of declining sales. “Asda remains firmly rooted at the bottom of the league table of big UK supermarkets”, writes The Times (£), while The Telegraph says Asda’s sales slump “reaffirms its uncomfortable position as Britain’s worst performing supermarket”. Asda only operates large outlets and has been unable to tap into the rise of convenience stores, unlike Tesco and Sainsbury’s, writes The Guardian.

Walmart’s ecommerce sales rose 20.6% in the third quarter, in a sign that its strategy to play catch up in capturing online growth is starting to pay off. The acceleration in growth from the second quarter came as the company this year has made several key investments, including forming a partnership with China’s JD.com, acquiring marketplace startup Jet.com and rolling out a mobile payments system across its US stores. (The Financial Times £)

The chief executive of Majestic Wine lifted the lid yesterday on a secret weapon in his three-year plan to restore the struggling drinks retailer’s fortunes: shelving. Rowan Gormley, who made his name building online businesses for Sir Richard Branson, said that the company was conducting a trial in 20 stores to install shelves for displaying its wine bottles, rather than perching the bottles on boxes of wine. (The Times £)

Majestic Wine is hoping a Christmas sales surge will return it to profit after a misguided US marketing campaign and increased investment helped to push it into the red in the first half (The Telegraph). Meanwhile, English fizz and South African wines are likely to enjoy a sales boost as the price of European and US vintages rises with the falling value of the pound, according to the boss of Majestic Wine (The Guardian). Wine prices will rise in the coming months because of the fall in the pound, according to the boss of Britain’s largest wine retailer, but Majestic Wine chief Rowan Gormley said his firm would do everything it could to prevent increases. (The Daily Mail)

The Co-operative Bank is cutting 200 jobs as it struggles to restore its finances. Redundancies are aimed at employees in Manchester and Stockport while branch staff are not expected to be affected (The Times £). Unions say reduction of workforce to 4,015 could affect customer service as bank struggles to return to profit (The Guardian).

They are billed as the ‘lighter way to enjoy chocolate’, and it now appears that the Maltesers slogan has come true. Bags of the chocolates appear to be 15% lighter, following the controversial shrinking in size of Toblerone bars. (The Telegraph)

PepsiCo, the food and beverages group, is facing a boycott of its products by supporters of US president-elect Donald Trump, after rightwing political websites misrepresented comments by its chief executive. A number of sites, including Truthfeed and The Conservative Treehouse, directly quoted Indra Nooyi as telling Mr Trump’s supporters to “take their business elsewhere” — a remark she did not make. (The Financial Times £)

McDonald’s will introduce in-store mobile orders and payments next year as the world’s largest fast-food chain embarks on the next stage of its turnround plan to improve its image and attract millennial consumers. (The Financial Times £)

Henkel plans to use “targeted acquisitions” to help fuel its future growth, as the German consumer goods conglomerate unveiled its new four-year plan on Thursday. This year, Henkel completed the second-biggest acquisition in its history, buying US laundry group Sun Products for €3.2bn, and new chief executive, Hans van Bylen, who took over from Kasper Rorsted in May, said that he was aiming to generate “more profitable growth” over the next four years. (The Financial Times £)

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