News and Trends

May 28, 2021 Le Pain Quotidien introduces made-to-order Picnic Boxes. Available to takeaway from the bakeries or by delivery straight to the park, the new offering contains everything needed to indulge in a spontaneous, alfresco feast. From today and throughout the summer, the ‘Picnic in One Click’ boxes can be instantly ordered to any public place through Deliveroo or by simply scanning the QR code from another diner’s box. Priced at £38, the Picnic Box for two is full to the brim with freshly-made salads, sandwiches, dips, daily bread, patisserie items, cold-pressed juices, and all the necessary cutlery, plates and drinkware. Supplementary items include ice cold bottles of Prosecco, wine, and beer. Everything provided is completely recyclable or compostable. Choose from baked goods like Carrot Cake, Lemon and Strawberry Tarts and a selection of Chicken Club, Salmon or Artichoke Brioches and Mint Pea & Asparagus or King Crab Tartines. Guacamole, Red Pepper Hummus and Babaganou...

Namnews, 28th May 2021 The co-op has signed its next university franchise store, with a shop set to open at Keele University in September. Managed and run by Keele University Students’ Union, the outlet will stock a range of Co-op own-brand products as well as Fairtrade, free-from and vegan options. Keele will be the seventh university franchise store for the Co-op following openings at Leeds, Kent, Newcastle, Oxford Brookes and Stirling. Martin Rogers, head of new channels at Co-op, said: “Our university franchise stores are a great opportunity for us to grow our brand, share our values, and get our products into the hands of the next generation of customers and members and as the exclusive retail grocery store franchise partner for The National Union of Students and we’re already serving c.150k students up and down the country.” NAM Implications: This has to be a pointer for others… …and time for suppliers to propose more branded options?

Namnews, 28th May 2021 Wholesaler Turner Price has launched an online marketplace for foodservice suppliers. According to trade publication The Grocer, the business worked with Mirakl – an e-commerce software company that powers marketplaces for the likes of Carrefour, Auchan and Kroger – to launch the UK-first foodservice platform earlier this month. The  Turner Price marketplace  now lists more than 10,000 products from trusted sellers and aims to have 50,000 products on offer by this time next year. The company’s Sales and Marketing Director Julian Owen is quoted as saying: “We’ve been up to now doing it the traditional way. We’ve got four walls and stocked goods in our warehouses. We felt that was limiting the choice for our customers. We’re stocking the gravy we think they might want to buy, but the chef might be wanting something else. “How do we expand? Do we buy more vehicles and warehousing space? That’s the traditional way for a wholesaler to grow. But why not be a l...

  Namnews, 28th May 2021 At its virtual trade conference yesterday, SPAR unveiled plans to invest £125m in its stores, supply chain, and IT over the next 12 months to capitalise on its strong performance during the pandemic. After benefiting from the consumers shopping more locally during 2020, the convenience symbol group highlighted that its sales were still up 8.5% over the four weeks ended 28 March 2021, compared to the same period two years ago before the crisis. This growth is being driven by bigger baskets (+31%) and changes in the chain’s product mix and pack sizes. “Last year was a year which saw accelerated growth as a result of the dedication and focus of our colleagues. Therefore, we are going to support them by investing £125m in our business in the year ahead,” said SPAR UK Managing Director, Louise Hoste. “We will invest £100m in stores and we will invest £25m in improving our supply chain and IT capability – everything from depots to vans and electric bikes for home...

The Grocer, By Maria Goncalves,  28 May 2021 As full-year results revealed a pre-tax loss of over £200m, new joint COOs Stuart Machin and Katie Bickerstaffe are looking to ‘concentrate on building the M&S of the future’ A year of successive lockdowns has unsurprisingly taken its toll on  Marks & Spencer . This week, the extent of the impact was laid bare, as full-year results revealed a pre-tax loss of £209.4m, compared with profits of £67.2m the previous year. Revenues fell almost 12% to just below £9bn in a year in the 53 weeks to 3 April this year. The food division alone fared better, with total sales of £6bn, down 0.6% from the previous period, but not including  Ocado  joint venture revenues (which are a net income contribution) while like-for-like revenues were up by 1.3%. Food operating profits fell 9.8% to £213.6m. So, behind the numbers, what did we learn of the retailer’s future plans? The estate M&S has a higher number of high street and ...

The Grocer, By  Ian Quinn 28 May 2021 No comments Save article Source: Sainsbury’s Like Tesco, Sainsbury’s has launched an ‘Aldi Price Match’ campaign on some lines Sainsbury’s has asked suppliers to contribute up to a fifth of sales turnover, as it launches a major range reset to compete with the  discounters  and rival supermarkets. The Grocer understands all major suppliers have been contacted by the retailer, with some already having been delisted as Sainsbury’s looks to rationalise and reduce  prices . However, the move, which comes six months after CEO Simon Roberts launched Sainsbury’s Food First strategy and three months after the launch of its  Aldi  Price Match scheme, is believed to have encountered resistance from suppliers. Sainsbury’s squeeze is the latest in a series of gambits by the major supermarkets in an EDLP price war, with  Asda ,  Morrisons  and  Tesco  also having launched major range culls and demanded lower...

Source: Getty The move marks a change in Tesco’s supply plans Tesco  will task suppliers with taking food across the Irish Sea border under plans to tackle the burden of supplying Northern Ireland once full checks begin in October. Two suppliers told The Grocer they had been asked by Tesco to start shipping directly from Great Britain into the Republic of Ireland, from where the supermarket will transport their goods north of the border. Tesco still intends some products to come into NI direct from GB, but suppliers have been told they may have to navigate the border themselves. The move would mark a significant change in Tesco’s supply chains as it looks to adapt to the post-Brexit border arrangements, which impose checks on goods moving from GB into NI. Until now, Tesco has typically arranged for goods to be collected from suppliers’ depots in GB before transporting the stock directly into NI itself. But with full checks set to begin between GB and NI in October, this arrangement...

Save article Source: JJ Foodservice The new app gives customers the option to save favourites and access previous orders Wholesaler JJ Foodservice has launched a new “faster and easier-to-use” shopping app following record orders on its app and website in 2020. It comes as online orders surged to account for 85% of total orders in January, compared with 70% for the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, almost half of the London-based wholesaler’s orders are now made on a mobile device, up from 32% in January 2020. The new-look app includes the full JJ range, with ‘swipeable’ banners to allow products to be searched quickly and by category. In addition, a predictive function automatically suggests relevant products, helping to reduce the time of searching from scratch. Customers can start shopping using products saved in their ‘favourites’ or ‘previous orders’ and can amend or save their shopping basket at any point. “Our customers are busy people, so we’ve invested in making online shopping ...

Namnews, 27th May 2021 Free-from innovations could help maintain the long-term growth of the frozen food market. This is according to the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF), which said its recent industry awards highlighted that companies are increasingly developing high-quality frozen free-from products. For the second year running, the BFFF Retail Product of the Year went to a free-from product: in 2019, Yorica’s Double Chocolate Cookie 14 Allergen Free Frozen Dessert took the title, and now Crown Foods No Duck Chinese Selection product holds the accolade. Richard Harrow, BFFF Chief Executive, said: “Although lockdown has undoubtedly given frozen a sales boost, it has also introduced the category to younger consumers who are looking to improve their own health and that of the environment. “I’m confident the quality of frozen free-from, plant-based and meat-free products has helped attract this new generation of frozen shoppers who will drive continued growth post-pandemic.” As wel...

Namnews, 27th May 2021 Bakery giant Warburtons is launching a new range of “premium” sweet treats under the brand Ellie Warburtons Cakes. The cakes will initially be trialled at two pop-up shops in Skipton and Harrogate, which will open on 28 May and 4 June, respectively. Trading throughout the summer, they will offer eight flavours of sweet cakes, including a Cookie Dough with Caramel Slice and Lemon with Blackberry Compote, priced at £3 each. The company will also be launching an  online store  from 21 June where consumers can order the cakes for home delivery. Warburtons did not say whether it was planning a rollout into supermarkets. Jonathan Warburton, Chairman of Warburtons, commented: “We are thrilled to introduce the Ellie Warburtons range of deliciously indulgent cakes. This is an exciting new venture for our family business and we are taking very much an entrepreneurial approach to how to build the brand while bringing with us the core of Warburtons ethos – quality a...

  Namnews, 27th May 2021 Tesco is taking on Deliveroo and the numerous start-ups in the on-demand grocery market with the launch of a new rapid delivery service. Called Whoosh, the online service will offer the delivery of groceries to customers within an hour. It will initially be trialled in selected postcodes in Wolverhampton with orders being fulfilled from its Willenhall Express store. Products will be delivered by bike, moped or car, with a delivery fee of £5 for orders over £15. All prices on Whoosh will be set at the same level as they are in the Express store, with shoppers eligible for any discounts or promotions currently running. Like other supermarket chains, Tesco has seen soaring demand for its standard online grocery delivery service during the pandemic. It briefly trialled a fast delivery service back in 2017 but has since refrained from following rivals into the increasingly crowded on-demand market. Chris Poad, Online Managing Director at Tesco, said: “Customers ...

Namnews, 26th May 2021 The recent online grocery shopping boom looks set to continue over the long term after a recent survey of British consumers found that 90% were planning to keep shopping in the channel once the pandemic passes. Meanwhile, just 5% of shoppers said they are planning to stop doing so. The study by Mintel found that 59% of consumer are online grocery shoppers, up from 50% in 2019 – this represents the highest level of growth recorded in the past decade. In addition to user growth, the category is experiencing increased usage from existing users, with over half (53%) of online grocery shoppers doing more shopping through the channel as a result of Covid-19. Less than one in ten (7%) current online grocery shoppers had not used the online channel before the pandemic, rising to 14% of over 65s. Mintel forecasts that British consumers will spend £19.4bn on online grocery shopping in 2021, a decline of 13% compared to 2020, as the market rebalances following extraordinary...