US President Trump has revived his trade war with Europe threatening to impose tariffs on $3.1bn of goods, including British beer, whisky and biscuits. This comes as part of the wider Airbus case won by the US last October, when the WTO ruled that the US could impose tariffs on $7.5bn of goods from the EU because the bloc had illegally subsidised Airbus (The Times £).
John Lewis has appointed Pippa Wicks has head of its department stores operations, succeeding Paula Nickolds, who left in January. Wicks - Co-op deputy chief executive - will join in August to oversee trading, merchandising and marketing at John Lewis, while the retailer adapts to the “new normal” (The Telegraph). Wicks’ appointment comes as new chair Sharon White decided to shake up the management team, separating John Lewis and Waitrose under two bosses (The Guardian). As John Lewis is expected to face more tough decision following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the retailer has appointed turnaround specialist Wicks, who joined Coop in 2013 when its chairman was filmed taking crack cocaine and an accounting black hole was discovered (The Times £).
The boss of Waitrose meanwhile has joined farmers and food campaigners in calling for the protection of British food standards post Brexit. James Bailey said any regression from current standards would be “an unacceptable backwards step” and said Waitrose would not be selling products that did not meet its own standards (The Guardian). The upmarket grocer said it would never sell chlorinated chicken, hormone-treated beef or any product below its food standards as Bailey argued that it would be “simply wrong” to import food produced under weaker standards than in the UK (The Times £).
Premier Foods shares have risen 14% as the Mr Kipling maker after it said sales were expected to surge as UK families turned to home cooking during the pandemic (The Guardian). The company added that revenues rose by a fifth during lockdown, boosted by soaring demand for baking products and new recipes (The Times £).
Naked Wines sales rose 81% in April and May as Britons and Americans stocked up on alcohol during lockdown. With the closure of pubs and restaurants, demand surged so much that the retailer was forced to halt orders from new customers last month to make sure it could accommodate loyal shoppers (The Telegraph). Naked Wines said Covid-19 could accelerate the tends toward DTC, online models after it experienced an “unprecedented acceleration of the business” to levels “typically only seen during peak seasonal trading” (The Financial Times £).
Hospitality firms have demanded for extra help to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic as they prepare to reopen on 4 July, such as extending the furlough scheme until next year and reducing VAT to 5% (The Telegraph).
Meanwhile, pubs and restaurants have been urged by ministers not to raise prices to make up for lost sales during lockdown as they reopen, as consumers have already paid out millions in tax support (The Telegraph).
Social distancing measured adopted by shopping centres to safely reopen during the crisis could cause their failure, analysts have warned, as without sufficient footfall shops will have no alternative but closing (The Telegraph).
Consumer groups giants such as Unilever and Danone are racing to ensure their operations are as sustainable as possible, including raising the temperature at which they ship ice creams to reduce emissions from -18 to -12 degrees(The Financial Times £).
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