Just Eat Takeaway.com is set for a showdown with investors at next week’s annual meeting, with one top shareholder alleging that the company misled shareholders on its financial firepower ahead of two crucial votes to approve last year’s $7.3bn Grubhub deal. (The Financial Times £)
Tesco has become the latest supermarket to ration cooking oil as the Russia-Ukraine war chokes off the flow of sunflower oil to the UK food industry, further raising the cost of popular items such as crisps and chips (The Guardian). Supermarkets across the UK have placed limits on how much cooking oil that customers can buy due to supply-chain problems caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Sky News). Tesco is allowing three items per customer. Waitrose and Morrisons have limited shoppers to two items each (The BBC).
AB InBev warns of $1bn hit from Russia exit – the world’s largest brewer plans to sell its Russia-Ukraine joint-venture stake to Turkish partner (The Financial Times £). The world’s biggest brewer will take a $1.1 billion financial hit after finally bowing to pressure to withdraw from the Russian market after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine (The Times £). The brewing giant behind Budweiser is in talks to cut off supplies of the beer to Russia (The Telegraph).
Morrisons says it has cut the prices of hundreds of products to help customers with the rising cost of living. The supermarket, which is under threat from discounters Aldi and Lidl, said it would offer an average 13% price cut on more than 500 goods including eggs, beef and rice. (The BBC)
Speeding up food shopping is the latest job for the former boss of Asda as he invests in Plate Up, an online recipe app. Roger Burnley has taken his first post since leaving the supermarket last August as chairman of PlateUp after personally investing in the business. (The Times £)
The boss of B&M has announced that he is stepping down after more than 17 years in charge of the discount retailer, during which he transformed it into a FTSE 100 powerhouse worth more than £5bn (The Times £). Simon Arora, the billionaire co-owner and chief executive of B&M, the discount chain that cemented its place as one of Britain’s most successful retailers during the pandemic, is to retire (The Guardian). B&M boss Arora to retire next year after taking discounter to FTSE 100 as the group’s shares fall after architect of retailer’s expansion signals departure (The Financial Times £).
Consumers tightening their belts in the face of soaring inflation dealt an even more severe blow to retail spending last month than had been expected (The Times £). UK retail sales dropped in March as the rising cost of living hit consumer spending, according to official data (The BBC). Figures showed that a bigger than expected decline in March retail sales was followed by a slowdown across the economy in April, with record inflationary pressures hitting businesses (The Guardian). The pound has fallen sharply after several pieces of data raised fears of a slump ahead for UK economic growth, driven by surging inflation (Sky News).
A Scottish start-up aiming to reduce the world’s seafood waste has bagged more than £17m from top investors. Rooser, which has built an online platform for traders of fish, scooped the funding from firms including Index Ventures, Google Ventures and Point Nine Capital. (The Daily Mail)
WPP is set to pile fresh pressure on embattled THG founder Matt Moulding with a move into online retail that poses a direct challenge to the health and beauty tycoon’s tech division. (The Times £)
British supermarkets battle rising wages as pandemic resets market. Staff shortages force UK grocers to increase hourly rates and find savings elsewhere. (The Financial Times £)
Turkish-born entrepreneur Kagan Sumer is not short of confidence about the potential of Gorillas, which he claims is already a market leader in Europe only two years after its launch. While a $5 billion valuation has been mooted, he claims to be uninterested. (The Times £)
The Telegraph’s Questor shares column tips Reckitt Benckiser, writing: “Its wide range of strong brands puts it in a better position than most businesses to overcome a period of high inflation. Further investment in product innovation and e-commerce, alongside mergers and acquisitions activity and asset sales, should improve its growth potential.” (The Telegraph)
The technology partner to the National Lottery has launched a claim for damages against the Gambling Commission after it awarded the contract to Czech operator Allwyn. (The Times £)
With its ingredients of just flour, water and salt, sourdough bread may seem to be one of life’s simpler and unambiguous pleasures. But it is now under scrutiny in a government review over the longstanding claims that a “sourfaux” scandal is undermining the traditional genuine loaf. (The Guardian)
UK crackdown on CBD upends rapidly growing market. Food safety watchdog reopens approval process after hundreds of cannabinoid products fail to comply. (The Financial Times £)
The pandemic provided an unexpected silver lining for enterprising distillers who diverted the surplus of fruit into a slew of new spirits that are helping to cut down on food waste. (The Guardian)
A local council has extended a huge loan to billionaire Matt Moulding, the founder and boss of beleaguered online retailer The Hut Group. (The Daily Mail)
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