Sainsbury’s has linked with Deliveroo to offer hot takeaways via the delivery app. It launched a trial on Monday to deliver a range of almost 50 products, including pizzas, from five stores – Cambridge; Selly Oak, in Birmingham; West Hove in Sussex; and Pimlico and Hornsey, both in London (The Times £) . The Independent says the trial will last for two months. It is the first time a UK supermarket has offered takeaways through Deliveroo. Asda recently signed a deal with Just Eat to drop off groceries to shoppers within 30 minutes of ordering (The Telegraph).
Barclays has upgraded Sainsbury’s from “equal weight” to overweight”, commenting on recent improvement in market share data and expectations that cash generation could meet its peers’ levels. The shares climbed 0.5% to 207p (Financial Times £).
Drinkers are suffering from “gin fatigue”, says The Telegraph, which claims Britons appear less likely to quench their thirst with one of Fever-Tree’s tonics. The newspaper says Fever-Tree’s sales are expected to fall by more than half in its results this morning.
The devastating impact of African swine fever on the Chinese pork industry is trumping concerns about trade wars and tariffs (Reuters). US producers of ractopamine-free pigs could benefit, either by supplying China or making up shortfalls in other regions targeting the Chinese market, the report says.
Casino has agreed to sell its Indian Ocean Vindémia subsidiary to GBH for €219m (£197m) – the latest step in a wide-ranging asset disposal by the French retailer (Financial Times £).
Starbucks is taking a stake in San Francisco-based restaurant tech company Eatsa which is being rebranded as Brightloom (Financial Times £). It will have a seat on the board. It is contributing to a $30m (£24m) fundraising alongside other investors. Eatsa has shut all its automated cafes. It is trying to sell its systems to other chains.
Anheuser-Bush InBev’s enthusiasm for cutting costs leaves little fat for Asahi to trim says Lex in the Financial Times (£). Ashai lost more than $2bn of its market value on Monday in the wake of an $11.3bn deal to buy AB InBev’s Australian operations (Financial Times £).
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has warned of a one-in-four chance that Britain is entering into a recession. The outlook was “very murky” the think tank said and cautioned about the possibility of a “severe downturn” if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal The Times (£). NIESR said UK economic growth would slow this and next year even if a no-deal Brexit was averted, (The Independent).
Shares in Whitbread, which sold Costa Coffee last August for £3.8bn, fell almost 5% on Monday as short-sellers moved in (Financial Times £). Whitbread said it was not planning any return of cash to shareholders. The shares closed at £46.85 (The Times £).
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says the apprenticeship levy has been a failure in a report published today. Official figures show apprenticeship starts fell by 134,000, or by 26% to 375,000 in the two years after its introduction (The Times £).
Fairtrade changed the way we shop but major companies have begun to ditch it and set up their own in-house me-toos, threatening the very idea of fair trade, says The long read in The Guardian.
The Telegraph visits Market Square in Cambridge, a city that topped a “vitality index” by Harper Dennis Hobbs for its retail health. The newspaper says a rather more nuanced picture lies behind the headline glad-tidings.
The Financial Times (£) asks if British farmers can achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
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