The UK’s competition watchdog has accused manufacturers of branded products of contributing to food price inflation by pushing up their prices by more than their costs (The Financial Times £).
Suppliers of branded goods such as baby formula and baked beans have fuelled higher food price inflation by putting up prices faster than their costs rose, the competition watchdog has found (The Times £).
It said around three-quarters of companies making products such as infant formula, baked beans, mayonnaise, and pet food were making more profit per item than they were two years ago (The Telegraph £).
The competition watchdog is to investigate the effect on consumers of the rise of loyalty card price cuts amid concerns that they could limit competition and lead to price rises for shoppers not signed up to such marketing schemes (The Guardian).
Tesco’s Clubcard and Sainsbury’s Nectar Prices are to be scrutinised by the UK’s competition watchdog in a probe into supermarket loyalty schemes (The Mail).
The Lex column in The Financial Times (£) writes that UK supermarkets have absorbed a thing or two from Big Tech about network effects.
A business editorial in The Guardian says the watchdog is right to investigate supermarkets’ two-tier pricing tactics. “Loyalty schemes are listing more and more products at cheaper prices for cardholders, but many shoppers are missing out.”
A headline in The Mail on an editorial by Alex Brummer says the report lifts the lid on “greedflation, pandemic profiteering and rip-off Britain”.
Read the full story, with industry commentary and insight, at The Grocer here.
Deliveroo is planning to start selling everything from hammers and drills to makeup in a bid to boost its flagging growth rate (The Telegraph £).
No-frills baker Greggs has upped the ante with its guerrilla marketing this Christmas by debuting a “fine dining” offering (The Guardian).
For one month, Greggs is serving its staples with a “decadent” twist in its new restaurant in Fenwick’s Newcastle department store (The Times £).
The petrol station group whose owners hold a majority stake in Asda has blamed a fall in fuel volumes for an 18% drop in profits (The Times £).
A homegrown commercial crop of haricot beans is being canned in the UK for the first time (The Times £).
Sultan al-Jaber, president-designate of COP28, has promised to make adapting and transforming food systems a priority at the climate talks in Dubai (The Financial Times £).
Croatian tycoon Pavao Vujnovac is expected to gain a majority share of the retail giant Fortenova, one of the biggest companies in the Balkans, which has struggled for more than a year to get rid of its large Russian shareholder (The Financial Times £).
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