The turmoil engulfing Britain’s private equity-owned supermarkets is intensifying as Morrisons grapples with an exodus of senior management and Asda scales back long-term investments to try and fix growing problems on the shop floor (The Sunday Times £).
Morrisons “went a bit too far” with self-checkouts, its chief executive has admitted, as the supermarket chain cuts back on the technology across a tranche of its stores (The Telegraph £).
Tesco has armed its delivery drivers with DNA testing kits to help police trace abusive customers who spit at them as part of a drive to clamp down on assaults on staff (The Telegraph £).
Wilko’s founding family was this weekend branded ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism’ after saying it had no plans to help plug the collapsed retailer’s £70m pension hole (The Mail on Sunday).
The Telegraph (£) looks at how Lidl is racing to steal Aldi’s crown as Britain’s favourite discounter.
An opinion column in Financial Times (£) says ultra-processed and fast food is everywhere — and causing us harm. “It’s time we saw these products for what they are, stripped of their disingenuous branding,” the article adds.
The Financial Times (£) thinks Mars will find Pop-Tarts and Pringles hard to digest. “The US confectionery company’s $36bn acquisition of Kellanova makes its health challenge greater,” an opinion column says.
Tesco has recalled its “melt in the middle” meat-free burgers because they might be too hot (The Guardian).
The product recall, issued by the high street giant, is because of a “burn risk” to customers from the 240g Tesco Plant Chef 2 Meat-Free Burgers with Melting Middle (Telegraph £).
Parents are paying too much for baby formula, the competition watchdog has found after a six-month review into profiteering (The Telegraph £).
To many people, it is the place where you buy a book or magazine or to pick up some stationery. However, after 232 years in business, WH Smith has decided to open its first café (The Times £).
Financial Times (£) take an in-depth look at how Starbucks toppled its boss Laxman Narasimhan.
The Lex column in Financial Times (£) reckons Starbucks’ $113mn man, the newly appointed chief executive Brian Niccol, has a China problem. “There is a case for the US coffee group to cut back capital spending and slow expansion plans in the country,” the paper writes.
The fortunes of the casual dining sector, which suffered under the twin pressures of Covid and soaring inflation, have taken a turn for the better. The number of midmarket restaurants is up for the first time since the pandemic (The Times £).
The Observer spends time with the food workers who are up all hours, from the farmer calving at 3am to the fisherman who heads out in the dark.
The Japanese operator of 7-Eleven, the world’s biggest convenience store chain, has received a takeover approach from the Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard, which controls the Circle K brand (Financial Times £).
An in-depth feature in Financial Times (£) examines how Walmart became a force in a $54bn retail advertising industry.
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