You might need to sit down: An English rosé wine just won an international competition outright June 29, 2016 We've finally done it. An English wine just won an international wine competition outright for the first time. An East Sussex born and bred wine from Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard won the only "Top Gold" medal awarded for rosé at the International Organic Wine Awards. The 2015 Regent Rosé beat 61 other wine from eight, more established [...]
Sainsbury’s to double the number of click and collect grocery sites as full-year results loom May 3, 2016 Sainsbury's is doubling the number of click & collect sites in its store car parks over the next 12 months to take the total number to 200. The supermarket chain said its "drive thru" service was proving popular with customers as shopping habits change and plans to launch a further 100 sites by May 2017. “We know that time is precious [...]
Sales at Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s all drop for the first time in a year May 4, 2016 The supermarket sector has suffered yet another setback, with sales at all of the Big Four declining in the last quarter, while – you guessed it – Aldi and Lidl posted double-digit growth. Asda was the poorest performer of the biggest supermarkets, with sales dropping 5.1 per cent according to Kantar Worldpanel, followed by Morrisons, which dropped 2.6 per cent. Sales at Tesco [...]
Asda toasts £850k deal to stock 25 beers from 13 Scottish craft breweries, including Isle of Arran, Isle of Skye, Loch Ness and Kelburn April 18, 2016 The unstoppable cultural phenomenon that is craft beer has just ratcheted up even more mainstream support. Supermarket giant Asda has agreed a listings deal with 13 breweries to put 25 new craft beers on its shelves in Scotland, in a deal worth more than £850,000. An industry source told City A.M. that if sales in Scotland are robust and [...]
Bonmarche’s share price rises as it names Asda director Helen Connolly as new chief executive March 30, 2016 Bonmarche has named Asda director Helen Connolly its new chief executive, replacing Beth Butterwick at the helm. Connolly will take up the role at the womenswear retailer later this year. Bonmarche's share price rose almost two per cent on the news this morning. She is currently senior buying director for George at Asda, where she is responsible for all women's [...]
Supermarkets brace for fresh CMA criticism in latest phase of pricing super-complaint investigation April 26, 2016 The competition watchdog is expected to crack down on pricing in the UK’s supermarkets tomorrow morning. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is set to publish the latest phase of its response to a so-called super-complaint raised last year about predatory pricing tactics by major grocers. Earlier it was reported by Sky News that Asda has been [...]
Supermarket wars: Big Four in big trouble as Tesco, Asda and Morrisons register more declines August 25, 2015 Tesco is still struggling to shrug off competition from the discount supermarkets, as data released this morning reveals yet more declines. While consumer spend within the grocery sector rose 0.9 per cent for the 12 weeks to 16 August, at Tesco it dropped by the same proportion. The price of a comparable basket of [...]
Aerobics in the aisles: How supermarkets could solve the obesity crisis, according to Oliver Wyman May 16, 2016 Are the UK's Big Four supermarkets responsible for the obesity crisis? Global management consultancy Oliver Wyman seems to think so. In a report released today, Oliver Wyman has said the Big Four "hold the answer" to the crisis should be using their "considerable influence" to save one million people from being obese and 1.5mn from being [...]
Aldi, Ocado, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s are all making moves to win market share, but Asda’s next step is unclear March 9, 2016 The latest supermarket sales data has painted a slightly less gloomy picture than has become customary for Britain's big four grocers, hinting that the billions poured into lowering prices and luring back customers might finally be paying off. Despite a brutal price war that has savaged Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, data from Kantar has shown [...]
Sainsbury’s beats Tesco, Asda and Morrisons as only top supermarket in growth while Kantar warns of impact Amazon Fresh will have on sector September 22, 2015 Yet more bad data for the Big Four was released today – plus a hint that there could be a fresh problem facing the UK's supermarket sector, in the form of Amazon Fresh. Sainsbury was the only supermarket among the Big Four to keep pace with the sector's growth over the last quarter, with Asda's [...]