The Co-op news and analysis – Page 103

News
Hard grind for buyers

2003-08-02T00:00:00Z

Overworked, stressed and burnt out at 35? As the multiples pile on the pressure, Elaine Watson talks to the people at the coal face.Over at Tesco and the Co-operative Group, buyers have in turn seen their in-trays expand as...
News
Double blow for JS

2003-08-02T00:00:00Z

Overtaken by Asda and with its Somerfield hopes dashed, what are the options now for Sainsbury? Elaine Watson reportsPlot the market share of Asda and Sainsbury on a graph since 1999 and it doesn’t take a genius to work out that their...
News
Halal meat strips launched by Aria

2003-08-02T00:00:00Z

Former farmer co-op Aria Foods is launching halal meat strips.The newcomer, rolling out this month, comes as Aria bids to develop its range following a management buyout in March.The National Halal Food Group will supply halal meat...
News
Opinion

2003-07-26T00:00:00Z

The Co-op won more than a few friends this week when it jumped the gun and began to put health warnings on 240 of its own brand wines, spirits and beers. As the Government debates the voluntary drinks labelling issue with industry bodies, the...
News
Opinion

2003-07-26T00:00:00Z

The calls for unity which have coloured the Co-op's vocabulary since Andrew Regan's aborted attempt to take over the CWS will ring out again this weekend. But before they are heard, the roof of the national concert hall in Cardiff will be raised by...
News
Opinion

2003-07-26T00:00:00Z

It's always dangerous to judge the entire fleet by its flagship, but if Budgens could replicate its new Midhurst store across all its 105 sites, most of them situated in the south, it could certainly give Somerfield a run for its money. The...
News
Opinion

2003-07-26T00:00:00Z

The Rochdale Pioneers have been turning in their graves. It is unlikely that the Co-op Movement has ever been thrust so savagely into the media spotlight during its 153 chequered years. But although the much publicised bid by City whizzkid Andrew...
News
Opinion

2003-07-26T00:00:00Z

Working on the maxim that all publicity is good publicity, Max Clifford would say the Co-op has enjoyed pretty good times recently. It is unlikely the trade historians will see it that way. The shock waves of the Andrew Regan saga are still being...
News
The Saturday Essay

2003-07-26T00:00:00Z

>>Martin Oakes, board director responsible for Somerfield’s development within the c-store sectorOur new business development teams have been busy in recent weeks with the purchase of Aberness, the award-winning convenience...
News
The Saturday Essay

2003-07-26T00:00:00Z

>>retailers cannot work alone in improving diets. Susan Bromley, marketing development manager, Co-operative GroupOnly individuals can take the decision to choose to live a healthy lifestyle. However, that doesn’t mean others don’t...
News
Irresistible is ‘tangibly better’

2003-07-26T00:00:00Z

The Co-op is bidding to change consumers’ perceptions of its stores by introducing a ‘super premium’ own label range.Products in the new Truly Irresistible range started hitting shelves at selected stores this week and are being backed by a...
News
Shaping up well?

2003-07-24T00:00:00Z

Given there are always plenty of people predicting a rather gloomy future for Somerfield, being invited to meet with executive chairman John von Spreckelsen at World’s End seemed somewhat ironic. But there were no prophets of doom to be found at the...
News
Co-op society boosts local sourcing with new scheme

2003-07-19T00:00:00Z

Oxford, Swindon & Gloucester Co-op has launched a scheme to drive up the number of locally sourced products available in stores. Dubbed Local Harvest, the scheme has been launched at 20 stores with over 100 products from 11 suppliers in the...
News
Inter Link Foods makes Paul Griffiths group MD

2003-07-12T00:00:00Z

John Wood Inter Link Foods has appointed Paul Griffiths, the former chief of United Co-op's food group, as group managing director. Griffiths will take control of the management of Inter Link Foods' manufacturing and distribution...
News
Somerfield lifts lid on rotisserie offer

2003-07-05T00:00:00Z

Julian Hunt Somerfield has come up with an ingenious way of offering hot rotisserie chicken in stores without room for the traditional serveover counter. Shoppers at its store on the King's Road in London one of those testing the idea ...
News
John von Spreckelsen tells Julian Hunt why he's confident he

2003-07-05T00:00:00Z

Given there are always plenty of people predicting a rather gloomy future for Somerfield, being invited to meet with executive chairman John von Spreckelsen at World's End seemed somewhat ironic. But there were no prophets of doom to be found at the...
News
Balfour to run as standalone

2003-07-05T00:00:00Z

The Co-operative Group plans to run the newly acquired Balfour chain of stores as a standalone unit while it gets on with the task of merging former Alldays stores into the business. Co-operative Group chief operating officer Malcolm Hepworth...
News
You can't live by food alone

2003-07-05T00:00:00Z

Somerfield's results this week demonstrate how hard it is for retailers to generate strong like-for-like sales when their focus is on grocery and they have little in the way of non-food to boost top line growth. The Tradetrak figures from...
News
Shares in Somerfield have almost doubled over the last quart

2003-07-05T00:00:00Z

However Mark Hughes of Numis Securities believed the shares had peaked and would not trade any higher than 130p this year. The big loser this month was Unilever after it cut its full-year target for growth of its top 400 brands. The share price...
News
The fact that the Co-operative Group paid £30m to capture Ba

2003-07-05T00:00:00Z

Consolidation of the market has been going on for the best part of a decade with the likes of T&S Stores competing fiercely with its peers to swallow up other chains like M&W, One Stop Convenience Stores and Day & Nite. But at the end of...