UK grocery price inflation eased for a third consecutive month in June, with new data suggesting it might have peaked, according to research company Kantar (Financial Times £). The pace of grocery inflation has eased to its slowest monthly rate this year, according to industry data that backs hopes the worst may be over (Sky News). The pace of grocery price rises has eased to its lowest monthly rate this year, but it is still at the sixth highest level since 2008 (The Times £)
Supermarkets are increasingly pricing budget items at £1.25 rather than £1 as retailers balance attempts to draw in shoppers through bargain deals with stubbornly high grocery inflation. (The Guardian)
The march of the discounters continues as Aldi and Lidl steal customers from rivals – which are now cutting prices in a bid to win back business. (Daily Mail)
Marks and Spencer, WHSmith and Argos are among the high-profile retailers heading a list of more than 200 companies named and shamed by the UK government for failing to pay staff the minimum wage (Financial Times £).WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos are among a string of companies named for failing to pay the minimum wage (BBC).
WH Smith has been ordered to pay more than £1m to thousands of its staff after a requirement to provide their own uniforms pushed salaries below the national minimum wage (The Times £).
Ocado shares fell as analysts sounded the alarm over a cocktail of economic woes. In a setback for the FTSE 100 online supermarket, investment banks JP Morgan and HSBC cut their target prices on the stock to 400p and 370p respectively. (Daily Mail)
European pasta producers are facing growing pressure to lower prices as simmering tensions surrounding the rising cost of fusilli, spaghetti and other household staples threaten to boil over. (Financial Times £)
A major supplier of chicken to UK supermarkets is sourcing birds dosed with antibiotics “critical to human health”, according to a new investigation, as concerns grow about the spread of deadly superbugs. (The Guardian)
Is Brexit behind the UK’s inflation shock, asks The BBC. Researchers at the London School of Economics said the extra red tape could have added £250 in total to the typical household’s grocery shopping bills between December 2019 and March 2023, with meat and cheese particularly affected. (BBC)
The murky world of global food trading is too important to ignore, writes Helen Thomas in the FT. Dominance by a handful of companies over the flows of grain and other commodities deserves much more scrutiny. The combination of US-listed Bunge with Glencore-backed competitor Viterra, in an $8.2bn deal, is the biggest reshaping of the top tier of agricultural commodities since Cargill, long the biggest of the pack, bought the grain assets of Continental in 1999. (Financial Times £)
If US companies ‘go woke’, do they really go broke, asks the BBC. Observers believe boycotts of brands or firms are likely to increase in the coming years, partly as a result of the debate over “woke” ideology playing a key part in the upcoming 2024 election. On commentator said the US was likely to experience a “boycott fever”. (BBC)
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