The fallout from the collapse of Palmer & Harvey continues to dominate the papers. The Times has an overview of what happened in a piece headlined “Palmer & Harvey’s collapse leaves victims angry”. The article says it is understood that when Palmer & Harvey made a plea for another £65m of cash, Imperial Brands, which had worked with the wholesaler for about 70 years, indicated that it would be willing to continue talks over options, but Japan Tobacco decided enough was enough. The paper adds that the structural and operational problems at P&H were said to have stemmed largely from a management buyout in 2008, when it took on more than £300m of debt.

The Co-operative has clinched a supply contract with Costcutter a day after its supplier Palmer & Harvey went into administration, as the shake up in the UK convenience market continues (The Financial Times). The Telegraph adds that the demise of P&H caused instant problems for Costcutter after its supply contract ended at midnight on Tuesday.

Britvic has played down fears over the impact of the sugar tax after the maker of Pepsi and Robinsons drinks served up forecast-beating full-year results, The Times reports. The Telegraph notes that shares lifted by 7% despite the soft drink maker posting a 9% fall in profits and cautioning about uncertainty next year following the introduction of the sugar tax. The Times reports that CEO Simon Litherland said that while the introduction in April of the soft drinks industry levy was causing a “high level of uncertainty”, the company was “confident of making further progress next year”.

M&M’s maker Mars has taken a minority stake in fruit and nut bar company Kind Snacks as it looks to cash in on the growing trend for healthier snacks. The terms of the investment were not disclosed, but would value Kind at $4bn, according to people familiar with the matter — compared with a valuation of $728.5m in 2014, The Financial Times writes.

Just Eat, the online takeaway company, was officially promoted into the FTSE 100 list of Britain’s blue chip companies, with a valuation of £5.5bn – making it worth half a billion pounds more than the UK’s second biggest supermarket chain (The Guardian).

Iceland and the Co-op have become the first supermarkets to support a bottle deposit scheme after the government sought views on the idea to reduce plastic pollution in the oceans (The Guardian).

The NHS’s public health boss is urging local councils and shopping centres to ban visits from Coca-Cola’s promotional Christmas trucks because of sugar’s key role in rotting children’s teeth and making them fat (The Guardian).

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