Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and the UK’s largest asset manager are among 87 major companies and investors who have written to Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, urging his government to stop further deforestation of the Amazon for soy production (The Guardian). Companies and investors including Tesco, Asda, Carrefour and LGIM urged the Brazilian government on Tuesday to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation by renewing its commitment to limiting soya cultivation (The Financial Times £).

Quorn is replacing its chief executive after a decade as the vegan brand seeks more partnerships to take advantage of rapidly changing consumer tastes. Quorn told employees yesterday that Kevin Brennan, who has led the business for the past ten years, will be replaced by Marco Bertacca in January. (The Times £)

Argos customers could face more than a fortnight of disruption over Christmas after staff at one of the retailer’s distribution centres voted to strike in a long-running pay row. (The Daily Mail)

Retailers enjoyed a reprieve from the high street gloom after Black Friday delivered record sales for a string of companies including John Lewis and Boohoo (The Telegraph). Barclaycard, which processes nearly £1 of every £3 spent in the UK, says that sales volumes from 25 November to 2 December were up 7.1% compared with 2018, while sales value rose by 16.5% (The BBC).

Black Friday helped John Lewis ring up its best-ever week of sales with a 9.5% rise over 10 days (The Guardian). Black Friday helped John Lewis record its best ever week of sales (The Daily Mail).

The Dutch food delivery group seeking a merger with Just Eat yesterday accused a rival bidder of scaremongering in a bid to persuade shareholders to accept a “low-ball” cash offer (The Times £).

Higher turkey, pork and Brussels sprouts prices have increased the cost of a Christmas dinner in the UK for the second consecutive year. (The Financial Times £)

Paris reacted with indignation to American threats to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on champagne, cheese, handbags and cosmetics. The Federation of Wine and Spirit Exporters that “we deplore” the US threat and demanded “urgent action” from President Macron (The Times £). Champagne, luxury handbags and Roquefort cheese could be affected under the proposals, which are in response to a new French tax on big US tech firms (Sky News). The Trump administration is threatening to slap import taxes on $2.4bn worth of French goods, including cheese, champagne, make-up and handbags (The BBC).

Boris Johnson is adamant global tech giants should pay more tax in the UK, despite similar action by France intensifying a trade war with the US (Sky News). The repercussions could be even more severe for Britain, which, after Brexit, would not have the weight of the EU behind it to fight American aggression on digital sales taxes (The Times £)

A TV advert for Deliveroo has been banned for misleading customers after triggering a spike in complaints (Sky News). An advert featuring a woman diving into a Deliveroo delivery bag to retrieve multiple food orders has been banned (The BBC).

The maker of Dove soap and Marmite is replacing the head of its North American division as part of a reshuffle of its top team. Unilever said yesterday that Amanda Sourry, president of Unilever North America, would retire after more than 30 years with the business to be replaced by Fabian Garcia, a former boss of Revlon, the cosmetics group. (The Times £)

The FT looks at how technology will change retail in the future, writing: “The task of searching for the best deals and comparing products will fall to chatbots and avatars, raising the bizarre prospect of companies marketing not to an individual, but to that person’s cyber space presence.” (The Financial Times £)

By 2050 experts hope that traceability will be so refined that shoppers will be able to use their iPhone 59X to scan a code and find the exact source of a product and all its constituent parts. (The Financial Times £)

Underground delivery systems could overhaul how our shopping is delivered. Backers say the technology is an efficient, climate-friendly transport option. (The Financial Times £)

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