Ocado’s upgraded sales and profits guidance in its latest quarterly update did not achieve the same blanket coverage as the results from fashion retailer Next but there were stories in the Daily Mail and The Times. After posting a 15% increase in sales, to £658m, in the 13 weeks to September (up from £569m last year) the online grocery retailer is promising low double digit sales growth, rather than the high single-digit growth it had earlier indicated. As well as consistent switching gains from Tesco for 12 months in a row, CEO Hannah Gibson said Ocado was “winning business from Aldi and Lidl”, the Daily Mail also reported.
A Bloomberg exclusive reveals that Campari CEO Matteo Fantacchiotti’s abrupt departure last week, after only five months in the role, resulted from the board losing faith following a series of missteps.
English wine maker Gusbourne has warned that the 2024 harvest would be “challenging”, the Daily Mail and The Times reported. The AIM-listed boutique winery, which was put up for sale in July, said it would produce “significantly less fruit than last year’s bumper harvest” due to a “persistently wet growing season”, but promised it had built up stocks so would not face supply issues. It also noted that the quality of the wines was still expected to be “exceptional” and would be able to apply a price premium in what will become a rare vintage year.
The ‘troubling halo of health’ behind cult US energy drink Celsius is the topic of a feature in The Guardian. Celsius, which chalked up sales of $1.3bn last year, has become ’Red Bull for women’: its ’skinny white cans’, which promise “essential energy” to “accelerate your metabolism” and “burn body fat”, and feature ’cheerful images of fresh fruit, graphics of people working out and the slogan “Live Fit”’ mask the fact it contains 200mg of caffeine in each 350ml can - the equivalent of two cups of coffee.
Campbell Soup Co has announced plans to drop the word ‘Soup’ from its name, The Independent reports. The 155-year-old food manufacturer, which makes sauces, crisps, biscuits and other snacks, is most famous for its canned soups, and has said it would now like to identify as The Campbell’s Co
China is awash in unwanted milk, as falling birth rates and cost-conscious consumers have cut demand, Reuters reports. With dairy farms expanding in recent years, smaller farmers are being forced out of business and it’s also squeezing shipments into the world’s top importer.
And finally, Tupperware has filed for bankruptcy in the US, The Independent reports. The iconic homeware brand was once a household name in the UK, and its airtight containers were even used by Queen Elizabeth II, but the Orlando business has run up debts of $700m.
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