thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | £4.

50
PEOPLE

Will Covid-19
make
supermarket
pay more
equal?

CORONAVIRUS II Food and Drink

MALE GROOMING
Sales of razor blades slump 17% as
beards make a comeback during
lockdown
CORONAVIRUS Two-thirds of
shoppers would switch supermarket
over safety concerns
Sector Council plots road to recovery
from pandemic 5
RECYCLING Tesco launches delayed
Loop partnership 7
FUNDRAISING Snack brand
Boundless nets £1m investment 10
BREXIT Is the agri-trade
commission a dead duck? 14
BREXIT II Supermarkets under
pressure over food standards 32
BREXIT III Fruit importers look to
37 other UK ports to avoid Dover
disruption 35
ICELAND Joint MD Nigel Broadhurst
4 leaves the business 42

I WANT THAT JOB

Sales representative at Lovenature
Superfoods P44
leader for more opinion see pages 20–23
To comment on an article, or read what
top stories
others say, go to thegrocer.co.uk this week on
thegrocer.co.uk

T
esco et al might be embarking on a recession-driven
price war, but it’s safety measures that will
determine footfall while coronavirus lingers.
Or so suggests a new poll this week, which found
two-thirds of shoppers would switch from their regular
supermarket if safety measures to protect them from Covid-19
didn’t meet their expectations (p4). Tesco: why our push for
It’s something retailers should keep in mind as they low prices isn’t anti-brand
gradually start easing the restrictions put in place during
lockdown. Having reopened its in-store bakeries this week, Lidl
has already faced fire for no longer pre-bagging products, with
customers claiming fellow shoppers were handling them
“Shop workers – without gloves.
and their ability As we’ve seen repeatedly in our Grocer 33, one of the big
to police the rules challenges for supermarkets is the fact the actions of fellow
customers can have as much impact on how safe a shopper feels Iceland joint MD Nigel
without upsetting in-store as the measures that have been put in place. Broadhurst resigns
customers – Store workers – and their ability to police the rules without
are playing a upsetting customers – are therefore playing a crucial role in
maintaining shopper loyalty through the pandemic.
crucial role in And that’s only set to become more pressing as masks
maintaining become mandatory in shops in England later this month,
shopper loyalty” following yet another dizzying u-turn by the government.
Enforcement of the new rule, set to come in on 24 July, will
Carina Perkins, editor,
thegrocer.co.uk ultimately fall on police, but shopworkers are expected to Tesco responds to ‘Aldi
‘encourage’ the policy too, according to No 10. price war speculation’
It’s all putting a huge amount of responsibility on the
shoulders of people who are earning, let’s face it, not very much
– and who are already dealing with “hundreds of incidents of
violence and abuse” every day, according to Helen Dickinson,
CEO of the British Retail Consortium.
So perhaps it really is time for supermarkets to permanently
reassess the wages they pay their shopworkers (p24).
Raising pay might be an unpalatable prospect given the Bare shelves: free-from
looming recession. But with safety still so important to category report 2020
shoppers, it would be a big mistake to forget about the staff still
making a difference on the frontline.

Poundland this week One is a master innovator,

announced plans to revamp
stores and split them into three
different formats: ‘destination’,
‘core’ and ‘convenience’, as well
as launching online.
It’s not hard to guess the
thinking. ‘Destination’ is
taking on Home Bargains and
B&M, ‘convenience’ is going for
the top-up shop and ‘core’ is for
“Poundland is a passing high street footfall.
These ambitious plans
master innovator, sit in stark contrast to
constantly Poundstretcher’s axing of 10
area managers this week.
reinventing itself” They also serve as an
Steve Farrell, explanation for the wildly
deputy news editor diverging fortunes of these two
businesses.
constantly reinventing itself.
The other has gaps in its range, What next for Allied
tired stores and a lack of prime Bakeries?
locations. Sources complain
of buyers too focused on
clearance stock and not enough
on what customers want, and quote of the week
of stores tucked in corners
of retail parks and shopping “The people that
centres for cheaper leases. have suffered and put
The two could serve as a themselves out are the
lesson in how to do retail and ones down there serving
how not to. They both have the customers”
‘pound’ in the name and they p24
both to an extent compete for
the same customers. And that is
where the similarities end.
More on page 6

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 3

news
Groceries Code
Adjudicator still
‘highly effective’
says review
Steve Farrell
The Groceries Code
Adjudicator is still
needed to ensure
retailer compliance with
Groceries Supply Code
of Practice, the govern-
ment’s latest review of
the body has concluded.
The GCA will therefore
be maintained with fund-
ing to continue policing
the code, according to the
statutory review, which
assesses the ongoing
need for the role every
three years.
“The GCA continues
to be highly effective in
enforcing the Code and
in exercising its powers,”
the report published this
week concluded.
The executive sum-
mary said: “The
Government will there-
fore maintain the GCA
and ensure that the
office is funded and
resourced to carry out
its statutory functions
under the Groceries Code
Adjudicator Act 2013.”
The report concludes
there should be no
change to the maximum
fine the Adjudicator can
impose and no change
to the information the
Adjudicator can consider
in deciding whether to
Christine Tacon stayed on
in the role due to Covid-19
4 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020
launch an investigation.
Current Adjudicator
Christine Tacon, who is
due to hand over to an as-
yet unnamed successor,
welcomed the conclu-
sions. “This is a highly
positive report that rec-
ognises the importance
of the GCA in creating a
more level playing field
for the groceries sector,”
she said.
However, critics have
slammed the report for
being a long time com-
ing, given it has brought
with it no changes to the
Adjudicator’s remit.
The review covers
the period April 2016 to
March 2019, taking in 85
responses from a range of
shareholders.
A source told The
Grocer: “The review was
until the end of March
2019, it is now July 2020
and the conclusion is eve-
rything is highly effec-
tive, we’re not going to
change anything and it’s
all working fine. There is
no reason why that had
to take 17 months.
“There has been impa-
tience within the sec-
tor. In the review, a lot of
people wrote in saying
more retailers should be
covered, so a lot of peo-
ple have been waiting to
see whether the govern-
ment is going to take the
opportunity of the review
to change the remit and
that has not happened.”
The last review, cov-
ering 2013 to 2016, came
with a parallel call to evi-
dence on whether the
remit should be changed.
Two-thirds of shoppers said their loyalty would be tested by ineffective safety measures
Shoppers ready to
switch supermarket
over safety worries
Edward Devlin
The majority of shoppers
would switch from their
regular supermarket if
safety measures to pro-
tect them from the spread
of coronavirus didn’t
meet expectations, a poll
has revealed.
Two-thirds (69%) of
shoppers admitted loy-
alty to their favourite
supermarket would be
tested if safety measures
were deemed ineffective,
found a survey by bank-
ing tech firm Cennox.
It follows the prime
minister’s announce-
ment that face coverings
would be compulsory
in all retail stores across
England from 24 July.
Failure to follow the
new rules will lead to a
fine of up to £100, with
enforcement to fall on
police – though shop-
workers are expected to
encourage the policy,
according to No 10.
The move, which
brings England into
line with Scotland and
other European coun-
tries, would give people
“more confidence to shop
safely”, said health secre-
tary Matt Hancock.
Despite the govern-
ment’s ‘Shop With
Confidence’ message to
the public, almost half
(46%) of shoppers in the
Cennox survey believed
the safety measures put
in place by supermar-
kets and retail stores
had been inadequate or
poorly managed. Just 7%
said they had “complete
trust” retailers would
keep them safe.
And 13% of consum-
ers had managed to avoid
supermarkets altogether
since lockdown began,
the report found.
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
“If shoppers don’t feel
protected, they will vote
with their feet,” said Nick
Cockett, chief operating
officer at Cennox, which
last month unveiled a
device it claimed killed
Covid-19 on chip & pin
machines using ultravio-
let light.
“These results show us
that robust in-store safety
is the new gold stand-
ard to win the hearts and
minds of consumers – at
least for the foreseeable
future.”
In other results, more
than half (54%) of all
shoppers already wear
some form of PPE while
out shopping, such as
masks or gloves.
The government’s
announcement on face
coverings was welcomed
by retail industry bodies,
such as the BRC, Usdaw
and ACS.

Coronavirus recovery plan
launched for food & drink
Edward Devlin
A Covid-19 recovery plan
has been launched by the
Food and Drink Sector
Council (FDSC) in a bid to
get the industry back on
its feet ahead of the end
of the Brexit transition
period on 1 January.
The report is aimed at
governments and policy-
makers in Westminster,
Cardiff, Holyrood and
Stormont, council co-
chairs NFU director gen-
eral Terry Jones and FDF
CEO Ian Wright told The
Grocer. The pair said it
had already been given
“a good hearing”.
The plan takes a
12-month horizon and
will feed into the long-
term National Food
Strategy work.
“In the past three
months, the Covid-19 cri-
sis has dramatically rein-
forced both the strength,
and the fragility, of our
food system,” the report
said.
“The challenge now
is to successfully restart
Felix Project to run FareShare operations in London
London-based food redis-
tribution charity The
Felix Project is set to take
over FareShare’s opera-
tions in the capital.
The move sees The
Felix Project join the
FareShare network as
its 18th regional deliv-
ery partner, making it
the largest last-mile food
redistribution charity
in the UK. Meanwhile,
FareShare will expand its
main focus of sourcing
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
GET READY FOR CHANGE
My message, loud and clear, is we need to prepare for
change regardless of whether there is a deal or not –
Terry Jones, co-chair, FDSC
prevent any compromise
of UK food safety and
animal welfare stand-
ards; and to keep food
industry-specific PPE
protocols under review
and track continuing
availability of supply.
The plan also under-
lines the importance of
securing an “ambitious”
free trade agreement
with the EU and ensur-
ing an orderly end to the
transition period.
FDSC co-chair Terry
Jones called for food and
drink businesses to be
prepared for change.
“Moving from
Key recommendations in the report include a phased, co-ordinated and flexible restart membership of the cus-
toms union, even to an
all sectors of the indus- key recommendations such as the temporary all-singing all-dancing
try, protect food industry including a phased, removal of VAT on food FTA, is going to require
employees and custom- co-ordinated and flex- and drink out of home a change in approach,”
ers, and support busi- ible restart, the exten- and reducing the two- he said.
nesses in each sector of sion of industry support metre distancing protocol “My message loud and
the food chain through schemes, protecting the when supported by Sage. clear, whether it is to
to recovery. And to do so health of food industry It also calls for govern- farmers in Cumbria or the
with an understanding workers and protecting ment to review whether CEOs of big manufactur-
of changing public sen- the supply chain. a full return to pre-Covid ers, is we need to prepare
timent and new behav- Details include meas- competition law is “nec- for change regardless of
iours and needs.” ures already imple- essary or desirable”; to whether there is a deal
The plan has seven mented by government monitor food imports to or not.”
surplus food from the a Felix Project opera- “We are absolutely Felix Project CEO Mark
food and drink industry tion. It will be Felix’s thrilled that The Felix Curtin said: “This is a an
for redistribution to its third London depot and Project are going to be exciting, game-chang-
network of partners. will enable the charity joining the FareShare ing development. Having
In addition to the food to redistribute food to all network formally as successfully grown to
The Felix Project sources London boroughs. our delivery partner redistribute the equiva-
itself, the charity will FareShare CEO Lindsay for London,” he said. lent of 7.1 million meals
also benefit from hav- Boswell said the move “Together we will be able in the first half of 2020,
ing FareShare as a major would take away the to grow our dual impacts partnering with our
food supplier. confusion some food of reducing the amount friends at FareShare will
The move is set to be companies had in decid- of perfectly good-to-eat mean Felix will be able to
effective as of October ing which charity to food that goes to waste continue to grow across
when FareShare’s donate food to, and also and reduce the burden London and get much
Deptford food redistribu- drive efficiency on food of hunger for vulnerable more food to those com-
tion centre will become redistribution. communities in London.” munities that need us.”
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 5
news
Poundstretcher
area managers
facing the axe
as part of CVA
The axe has started
to fall at struggling
Poundstretcher, as 10 out
of 23 area managers were
told they face redun-
dancy this week.
Six more staff in buy-
ing and loss prevention
also face redundancy,
The Grocer has learned.
The job losses follow
the approval by credi-
tors earlier this month
of a rescue plan for
the variety discounter.
The company volun-
tary agreement (CVA)
put more than half of
Poundstretcher’s roughly
450-store estate at risk as
it seeks rent reductions.
A source told The
Grocer the redundancies
left the remaining 13 with
the “impossible” task of
overseeing between 40 to
50 stores each.
Neither Poundstretcher
nor Farmfoods provided
a comment.
Asda claims supermarket first Iceland cuts carbon
with recyclable Snax crisp tube footprint by 74%
Asda has claimed a
supermarket first with
the launch of a 100%
recyclable crisp tube.
Moving its entire own-
brand Snax range into
cardboard packaging
will cut 98.2 tonnes of
non-recyclable packag-
ing from Asda’s opera-
tions each year, the
equivalent of 2.34 million
crisp tubes.
Previously made from
a mix of foil, metal and
cardboard materials, the
tube was not fit for recy-
cle bins. With the new
launch, the only part
of the packaging not
6 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020
Poundland to launch
‘destination stores’
Steve Farrell
Poundland is to launch
‘destination stores’ with
bigger ranges as well
as an online shopping
service.
In what the variety
discounter is calling its
biggest-ever transfor-
mation programme, the
estate is to be revamped
and stores split into three
types: ‘destination’, ‘core’
and ‘convenience’.
Destination stores will
get the “fullest range
of products including
food, homeware, health
& beauty and clothing”,
Poundland said today.
Core stores will offer “a
wide range of products
on high streets custom-
ers love”.
Convenience formats
will provide “grab-and-
go easy shopping”.
Asda’s own-brand Snax has
been made recyclable
recyclable is the peel-
off lid.
Asda said the lid was
necessary to keep the
crisps fresh and it was
“working hard” to find a
recyclable solution.
The new Snax prod-
ucts, made by Kolak
Poundland is splitting its estate into three types of store
Meanwhile, one of
three stores in Cannock
will close on 18 July to be
converted into an online
fulfilment centre. The
home delivery service
will be offered through
Poundland.co.uk.
“We’re stepping up
to support high streets
after the impact of cor-
onavirus by being
Snack Foods, come in
two varieties – Original
and Sour Cream & Onion
– and are available in
store and online.
“We’ve been continu-
ing to work hard with
our supplier to introduce
a solution for our crisp
tubes that’s easy and
simple to recycle,” said
own-brand packaging
development manager
Fiona Dobson.
She added the switch
was part of Asda’s
accelerated commitment
to reduce own-brand
plastic packaging by 15%
by 2021.
customer-focused, peo-
ple-led and tech-ena-
bled,” said Poundland
MD Barry Williams.
“This is the biggest
transformation in our
history as we look to
secure our future for
another thirty years.”
Stores to be revamped
in ‘Project Diamond’
will go live this month
Iceland has cut its opera-
tional carbon footprint
by nearly three quarters
since 2011, the frozen
specialist said this week.
The retailer claims
its footprint has fallen
74%,from almost 250,000
tonnes of CO2 in 2011 to
46,000 tonnes in 2020.
It is well ahead of
Iceland’s own target for
2020, which initially
aimed for a 30% reduc-
tion on the 2011 baseline.
The retailer now aims
to be carbon neutral by
2042, putting it ahead of
the government’s target
for businesses to become
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
stretching from Consett,
Newcastle and Cleveland
in the north east to
Slough, Thurrock, Pitsea
and Borehamwood in the
south east, Poundland
said. All are getting the
discount chain’s fro-
zen and chilled ‘shops
in shops’, launched as a
pilot last year.
The transformation
plan includes completing
the rollout of new price
points, also launched
last year. By autumn this
year, “every category will
have extended ranges at
prices above and below
£1” Poundland said.
Meanwhile a new type
of general merchandise
shop-in-shop would be
launched this summer,
Poundland said, with
details to be announced
in future.
carbon neutral by 2050.
The reduction comes
despite Iceland adding
181 stores to its estate in
that period. That was
down to an investment
of over £35m in more
energy-efficient equip-
ment and innovations,
along with only using
electricity from renew-
able sources since 2019,
Iceland said.
“Our planet is fac-
ing an unprecedented,
global environmental cri-
sis, and we believe every
business has a responsi-
bility to take action,” said
MD Richard Walker.

news technology & logistics
Segro allots
more space to
City Harvest
food charity
Real estate investment
firm Segro has provided
two of its warehouses to
food redistribution char-
ity City Harvest to help
vulnerable Londoners.
City Harvest collects
surplus food from all sec-
tors of the industry and
delivers to more than
300 local organisations
across the capital. It pro-
vides about 80,000 meals
on average every week.
The space on Segro’s
Acton Estate in West
London will complement
an existing City Harvest
facility on the site.
“We have established
a very good relation-
ship with City Harvest to
ensure that the needs of
specific locations can be
met and that a real dif-
ference is made to thou-
sands of people’s lives,”
said Alan Holland, Segro
business unit director in
Greater London.
Aldi doubles size of Deliveroo
trial, adding 11 more stores
Aldi has more than
doubled the size of its
Deliveroo trial, rolling
out the service to 11 fur-
ther stores.
They include branches
in Greater Manchester
and Cambridge, where
the service is arriving
for the first time, along
with five more stores in
London.
The 11 new branches
join the eight that first
offered the service in
Nottinghamshire in May
and a Camden store that
joined in June.
It means customers liv-
ing near 20 stores can
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
Loop refillable system
makes delayed debut
George Nott
The UK pilot of reusable
packaging platform Loop
launched this week in
partnership with Tesco,
having been delayed due
to coronavirus.
From this week, cus-
tomers can shop a range
of products packaged in
durable, refillable con-
tainers on a dedicated
website and have them
delivered to their homes.
Users pay a deposit fee
on each piece of packag-
ing. Once the products
have been consumed, the
containers are put back
in the tote they arrived
in, then dropped off at
one of 2,500 DPD collec-
tion points across the UK
or picked up by Loop. The
containers are cleaned
for reuse, before they are
refilled by suppliers.
Aldi began the trial in
Nottinghamshire in May
now choose from about
200 essential Aldi grocer-
ies on the Deliveroo app
and have them delivered
in as little as 30 minutes.
If successful, the
Deliveroo service could
be rolled out across more
stores in other towns
Companies to sign up include CCEP, Unilever and Danone
From 2021, Loop-listed
products in reusable con-
tainers will also be avail-
able in dedicated aisles
in Tesco stores.
Tesco CEO Dave Lewis
said the partnership had
been “designed to test a
new way of helping cus-
tomers use less plastic
and explore the exciting
potential of reuse”.
and cities across the UK
before the end of the
year, Aldi said.
“Even as many lock-
down restrictions are
lifted, we’re aware that
there are still many peo-
ple who are shielding
and would like to shop at
Aldi but can’t,” said Aldi
communications director
Richard Thornton.
“In extending this trial
further, we are making it
even easier for thousands
more people in different
parts of the country to
get hold of great-quality
food at Aldi’s unbeatable
prices.”
SUSTAINABILITY AT SCALE
We will learn what works at scale as we develop
plans with Loop to introduce reusable packaging
into our business – Dave Lewis, CEO, Tesco
“We will learn what
works at scale as we
develop plans with Loop
to introduce reusable
packaging into our busi-
ness,” he said.
Several major and
emerging fmcg compa-
nies have signed up for
their products to be listed
on the platform. They
include Heinz, Coca-Cola
Waitrose online sees
surges in demand
Waitrose has enjoyed a
further surge in demand
for its online operation,
with customers order-
ing groceries for holi-
day homes as lockdown
measures ease.
An increasing num-
ber of Britons are look-
ing to UK destinations for
a summer holiday this
year, rather than abroad,
on the back of coronavi-
rus fears.
Waitrose reported a
boost for customer orders
for deliveries to holi-
day spots such as Truro
and Weston-super-Mare,
as well as Swaffham
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 7
European Partners,
Danone, Beiersdorf, REN
Clean Skincare, Unilever,
RB and BrewDog.
DHL will provide
warehousing, fulfil-
ment, returned deposit
scanning, and process
all cleaned containers
for distribution back to
manufacturers.
Tom Szaky, founder
and CEO of Loop and
TerraCycle, said Loop
was inspired by “the
milkman from yester-
year”, but with “the con-
venience afforded by our
single-use consumption
of today”.
It is understood an ini-
tial 5,000 early adopters
in the UK will be given
access to the platform.
The UK launch follows
pilot launches in the US
and France last year.
and North Walsham in
Norfolk, Saxmundham
in Suffolk, Menai Bridge
in North Wales and East
Cowes on the Isle of
Wight.
Last week, Waitrose.
com recorded its biggest
ever week for online as
orders hit 163,000 – a
rise of 185% compared
with the start of the year.
The supermarket has
increased capacity by
100,000 weekly orders
since lockdown.
The supermarket has
also added 35% more
driver hours to its fleet of
delivery vans.
news wholesale & convenience
Time to open
second depot
on back of
doubled sales
Time Wholesale Services
is bringing forward its
plan to open a second
depot as weekly cash &
carry sales have doubled
over recent months.
The wholesaler aims
to have secured the
additional premises
in the London area by
September 2020.
Co-owner Sony Bihal
said the business was
considering either the
acquisition of an existing
business or developing a
vacant site.
Bihal told The Grocer
weekly sales from its
existing cash & carry in
Barking had hit £2.2m in
May and June compared
with £1.1m for the same
period last year.
Online sales had also
doubled, he said, to
£500k a week, and aver-
age basket spend had
grown from £2.6k pre-
coronavirus to £3k.
Nisa range for reopened Haven DCS Group to move
Holidays stores given overhaul manufacturing site
Nisa has carried out a
major range review for its
stores on Haven Holidays
parks, in response to the
coronavirus pandemic.
Nisa’s category man-
agement team spent
three weeks in June
reviewing the ranging
and planograms created
for Haven – which oper-
ates 37 parks in the UK
and has just reopened.
The leisure company
has increased its range
by 14% to cater for hol-
idaymakers anxious
about visiting super-
markets, pubs and
restaurants.
8 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020
Foodservice groups
report slow reopening
Lyndsey Cambridge areas performed better
Foodservice wholesalers over the weekend and
are reporting a slow start overall trading is improv-
to the reopening of the ing across the group,”
hospitality sector, with she said.
sales down 50% despite Many of the group’s
the return of pubs, cafés hotel customers were
and restaurants. waiting until the end
Chris Binge, CEO at of July to reopen, she
buying group Fairway added.
Foodservice, told The “The hope is that con-
Grocer his members had sumer confidence will
seen a small increase in grow as they see and
sales for the week ending Hospitality sales remain 50% down despite reopening hear reviews and feed-
10 July. However, on aver- back from other visitors.
age this took them from more outlets reopened. return. CEO Coral Rose “We still have a long
40% to 50% of sales for “If all schools return said that while its 13 way to go, but most of
the same week last year, in September I think we independent wholesale our members have had a
he added. could be back to 65% to members had some good better week and we hope
The uplift marks the 70%,” he said. “October initial orders ahead of this will continue.”
first week restaurants, is traditionally a poor 4 July, many of the cus- Both Binge and Rose
cafés, pubs and other month for sales but I tomers didn’t experience welcomed the support
food outlets have been hope for 80% by year the footfall they were from Chancellor Rishi
permitted to open their end.” expecting. Sunak with the move
doors since March. Binge Rival foodservice buy- However, “members to cut VAT on food from
said he expected sales to ing group Country Range trading across the south 20% to 5%, and the Eat
continue to improve as has seen a similarly slow coast and Lake District Out To Help Out scheme.
crisis. There has also DCS Group is moving headquarters will remain
been a significant its manufacturing oper- at the 200,000 ft facility
increase in own-label ation from Stratford- in Banbury, Oxfordshire,
products from Nisa upon-Avon to new larger where it operates its dis-
owner Co-op, up from premises in Redditch, tribution and repackag-
400 to just over 700. Worcestershire. ing arms.
“We knew the shops on The distributor said the “Finding the right site
the parks would need a move to the 90,000 sq ft so we could retain our
Nisa’s team spent three complete overhaul to pro- facility would increase its brilliant team was the top
weeks on the overhaul vide customers with an warehousing capacity by priority,” said DCS Group
offer more aligned to that 50%. It said it expected CEO Michael Lorimer.
This includes add- of a traditional c-store, it to be fully operational “The move to the new
ing more meal solutions, and less around holiday by October, producing 12 facility in Redditch will
chilled lines and fresh missions,” said Nisa cat- million units of product a strengthen our reputa-
produce as well as run- egory management man- month. tion as a leading UK man-
ning more promotions. ager Ross Wright. DCS also said the move ufacturer and distributor,
The stores now offer “All park shops there- would see the company enabling us to continue
580 chilled lines com- fore have been ranged to add an additional 10 jobs to provide excellent ser-
pared with about 350 better fulfil the evening to its workforce. vice to our branded sup-
before the start of the meal mission.” The company’s pliers and customers.”
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
news finance
Boundless seals £1m
expansion funding
Abbie Dawson
Activated snacking brand
Boundless has netted
£1m funding to boost its
expansion into Europe
and the Middle East.
The funding came
from angel investors and
high net-worth individ-
uals, and will be spent
primarily on overseas
marketing, working
with distributors across
these regions on in-store
sampling, virtual trade
shows and social media
campaigns.
“Our aim is to bring all
the natural health ben-
efits of activated nuts and
seeds to the nation, and
to do this at an accessible
price point, whilst inject-
ing bags of flavour and
personality into the cat-
egory,” said the brand’s
founder Cathy Moseley.
Company Shop sales rise 17%
following estate expansion
Food surplus retailer
Company Shop has
posted a double-digit
rise in revenues last year,
driven by investment in
expanding its estate.
Sales rose 17% to
£44.2m in the year ended
30 September 2019, and
adjusted operating profits
were up 15% to £3.7m.
During the year the
company opened its first
retail store in Scotland,
doubled the size of its
Corby store and opened
its fifth Community Shop
in Halton, representing a
total investment into the
business of £3.7m.
10 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020
Boundless makes ‘nutritious and gut-friendly’ snacks
It comes on the back the snacking brand said
of substantial success its online sales were up
for the brand in the UK: 2,000%, with retailer
Boundless products are sales in March 2020 up
now available across 600% on the same period
Sainsbury’s full estate of the prior year.
stores after an initial trial Boundless’ range of
in the retailer’s Taste of activated nuts and seeds
the Future bays, and it uses a ‘Flood, Activate,
has listings at Ocado and Bake’ method, which
Holland & Barrett. means they are “not
In the past six months, only nutritious but are
delivering on our ambi-
tious growth plans. In
2019/20, we expect to
develop regional distri-
bution hubs alongside
securing additional new
stores for Company Shop
and Community Shop.
Company Shop buys & sells This growth will be deliv-
surplus stock from retailers ered in tandem with driv-
ing organic growth from
“We have further ambi- our existing estate.”
tious expansion plans, The for-profit business
including the develop- – founded in 1985 – buys
ment of regional dis- and sells surplus stock
tribution hubs in the from retailers and manu-
coming year,” the com- facturers, which would
pany added. have otherwise gone to
“Looking forward, waste, passing on dis-
we are committed to counts to its members.
gut-friendly”, it said.
This consists of flood-
ing the nuts and seeds
in salt water to kick start
germination before acti-
vation, which draws out
the bitter phytic acid that
sits in the nut and can
be difficult to digest. The
products are then baked
at a low temperature to
retain nutrients, while
creating a crunch.
The brand’s cur-
rent portfolio spans
four flavour combina-
tions; Tamari & Aleppo,
Turmeric & Smoked
Paprika, Cayenne &
Rosemary and Orange,
Ginger & Maple.
The snacks are high in
protein, gluten-free and
suitable for vegans.
Its products are also
stocked at TK Maxx, John
Lewis and Boots Ireland.
Petfood maker IPN
outgrows the market
The maker of Wagg and
Harringtons petfood
grew sales ahead of the
wider market again last
year, but input costs and
investment behind its
brands continue to weigh
on the bottom line.
Inspired Pet Nutrition
Input and investment costs
have hit the bottom line
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
Skinny Brands has seen
sales soar during lockdown
Skinny raises
£635k to fund
rapid growth
Low-calorie drinks sup-
plier Skinny Brands has
raised £635k to capitalise
on “incredible” growth.
The cash injection
from existing investors,
including private equity
firm Mosaic, will be used
to fund rapid growth.
CEO Adrian Hirst said
like-for-like sales rose
about 250% during lock-
down. “The extra cash
will help fund the incred-
ible growth curve we are
experiencing, unlocking
more potential in the off-
trade and to support on-
trade sales,” he said.
grew sales by 3.7% in the
year to 30 June 2019 to
£94.7m, with an underly-
ing growth rate of 11.9%.
Harringtons grew by
21.2% against market
growth of just 1.6%.
MD Richard Page said
growth was “driven by
investment in our brands
and unswerving focus
on offering great value
across all brands and pet
categories”.
Pre-tax profits fell back
by 28% to £4.8m due to
commodity price rises
and a £1.3m exceptional
charge related to its stra-
tegic review.
 ONLINE COMMITMENT
The mults have indicated online is their least profitable
channel. But we think it should be their most profitable
channel if it was done well – Tim Steiner, CEO, Ocado
Ocado predicts online
grocery’s share will
double in ‘few years’
George Nott
Online grocery will
become the primary
means of food shopping,
Ocado boss Tim Steiner
has predicted, following
a doubling of the chan-
nel’s market share “in the
next few years”.
Speaking to media
on the company’s half-
year results, Steiner said
growth in online grocery
would soon make many
stores unviable.
“When you reach the
type of levels of 20, 25,
30 per cent [online mar-
ket share], you’ll start to
see some of the econom-
ics of some of the stores
be quite challenging,” he
said. “And then you’ll see
a continued channel shift
to significantly greater
market share.”
Ella’s Kitchen confident as sales
increase 4% over the past year
Ella’s Kitchen has said
it continues to perform
“well” despite the cor-
onavirus disruption,
after posting a 4% sales
increase for last year.
The Hain Celestial-
owned brand reported
revenues of £73.4m for
the year ended 30 June
2019, up from £70.6m the
prior year.
UK sales were up 3%
during the year, with the
brand increasing mar-
ket share to 28.6%, while
international growth –
excluding the US and
Canada – rose 6%.
Operating profits rose
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
Ocado revealed it had a
million-strong waiting list
Adoption of online gro-
cery has rocketed during
the pandemic. According
to Kantar, in the month
to mid-June nearly one in
five British households
bought food online.
While good for coping
with “short-term bursts
of activity like we’ve seen
now” as well as “less
dense areas” the store-
pick model for online
was not sustainable,
Ella’s Kitchen saw sales up
in the UK and overseas
6.7% to £11.1m, driven by
increased international
and UK sales as it “out-
performed” the UK baby-
food market.
The coronavirus pan-
demic, and the associ-
ated uncertainty, were
noted as one of the risks
Steiner said. “They [the
mults] have all indicated
it’s their least profitable
channel. But we think it
should be their most prof-
itable channel if it was
done well.”
Without physical stores
and unable to build new
CFCs quickly enough,
Ocado has been limited
by the number of custom-
ers it can serve. It said
this week it had a million
people on a waiting list to
join the service.
Ocado grew reve-
nues by 23.2% for the
six months to 31 May to
£1.09bn. However its pre-
exceptional loss before
tax grew to £79.7m from
£48.5m as the costs of
coronavirus and its inter-
national partnerships hit
the bottom line.
the company is facing.
But Ella’s said it was con-
fident it would continue
to “perform well”.
“The directors have a
shared sense of passion
and excitement for the
future of Ella’s Kitchen,
with both entry into new
markets and innovative
products on the horizon,”
the company added.
“We are confident in
our ability to exceed
ever-changing consumer
expectations – delivering
healthier food they desire
and being a business that
operates with a purpose
beyond profit alone.”
city news
HEINEKEN SHARES
Dates: 16 July 2019 – 16 July 2020
100
90
80
70
J A S O N D J F M A M J J
2019 2020
Heineken laid bare the catastrophic cost of the
coronavirus shutdown on the global beer indus-
try this week by announcing it expected to lose
€300m in the second quarter because of the virus.
The Dutch brewing giant reported a 16.4% first-
half revenue slump amid the “unprecedented vol-
atility and uncertainty”. Heineken said its volume
sales had dropped 13.4% in the period, including
an 11.5% fall in organic beer volumes amid wide-
spread lockdowns and bar closures.
Heineken said it would take exceptional costs of
around €550m of impairments on its assets in the
second quarter, which would lead to a reported
net loss of around €300m compared with a €1bn
profit in the same period last year.
Even without these one-off hits, overall operat-
ing profit declined organically by 52.5%, while net
profit slumped by 75.8% – an even bigger profit
hit than the market had been expecting.
Broker Jefferies said the numbers should “help
to clear the air” and allow the City to focus on the
positives, including volume improvements, cost
control and a new strategic direction. “Consumers
are going for well-known brands, with limited
downtrading despite significant stress during the
outbreak. This is important for the longer-term
premiumisation strategy,” it stated.
Heineken shares fell 2.4% on Thursday to
€84.54, now down 15.5% year on year.
Elsewhere, mixer maker Fever-Tree announced
the acquisition of Global Drinks Partnership, the
group’s sales agent in Germany, in a package
worth €9.5m. It has worked with the sales agent
for seven years and said the German market rep-
resented a “notable opportunity” for the group as
one of the largest mixer markets in Europe.
Hargreaves Lansdown said the deal increased
the size and organisational complexity of the
company and marked a departure from the exist-
ing business model. “We may look back on this as
the beginning of a larger strategic shift, but it can
be risky when businesses divert their attention
away from core competencies.”
Shares fell back 4.9% to 2,300p on the news.
Track the latest share price movement and
performance of 200 UK and international grocery
and fmcg stocks via the new Grocer Finance
channel at thegrocer.co.uk
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 11
analysis payments

Payment
terms:
who are
the real
villains?
Supermarkets have led
the way in paying
suppliers more quickly
– but many of fmcg’s
biggest players are
taking longer than
recommended
collect the money owed, accord-
Edward Devlin
THE MULTS

P
ing to figures from Pay.UK. The
Source: UK government
rompt payment could number of SMEs experiencing
make the difference AVERAGE % INVOICES NOT PAID overdue payments hit 54%, the
TIME TO PAY WITHIN AGREED TERMS
between survival and highest level since 2015.
oblivion for some SME food and Current Year ago Chg Current Year ago Chg Before the pandemic struck,
drink suppliers as cashflow Aldi 41 42 –1 6 8 –2 United Biscuits, Britvic, Kerry
stretches to breaking point dur- Asda 43 44 –1 4 5 –1 Foods, Hovis, Magners and
ing the coronavirus pandemic. Iceland 50 51 –1 4 4 0 Burton’s Biscuits were among
However, many of fmcg’s big- Lidl 48 49 –1 6 6 0 companies taking more than
gest players are still exceeding Marks & Spencer 31 31 0 1 1 0 60 days to pay suppliers and
the recommended 60-day limit Ocado 32 30 2 9 25 –16 paying at least 15% of invoices
set out by the Prompt Payment Sainsbury’s 51 51 0 2 2 0 outside agreed terms, data cov-
Code (PPC), analysis of the gov- Tesco 41 40 1 3 4 –1 ering six months reveals.
ernment’s latest payment prac- Waitrose 37 38 –1 3 3 0 Of the 19 fmcg manufacturers
tice data by The Grocer shows. Morrisons 47 48 –1 0 0 0 we looked at, 13 improved pay-
Supermarkets, on the other ment times over the past year
hand, took an average of just villains? And is the current cri- Federation of Small Businesses and 12 also brought down the
42 days, paying at least 95% sis likely to worsen or improve (FSB) study of more than 4,000 percentage of late payments.
of their invoices within their payment terms? firms across all sectors. However, 16 were still well
agreed terms to boot. The majority of small busi- That builds on the troubles above 60 days and seven paid
But do the numbers tell the nesses (62%) have been sub- of last year, when SME late 30% or more invoices outside
whole story? Are supermarkets ject to late or frozen payments payment ballooned 80% to agreed terms, with Hovis on
really the heroes of prompt pay- during the coronavirus out- £23.4bn, with businesses fac- 60%, Burton’s on 52%, Magners
ment while big suppliers are the break, according to the latest ing a total bill of £4.4bn just to on 51% and Britvic on 48%.

12 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

 Brewing giant AB InBev UK risk is if you don’t pay them,
took the longest to pay at 120 they won’t succeed, and the
days on average. supply chain contracts. As we
A spokeswoman claims the come out of Covid, big busi-
figure is driven by large busi- nesses are going to need small
nesses and intracompany pay- businesses that are agile, flex-
ments, which represent 83% ible and fleet of foot; if they are
of invoices. The group has no longer there, there is going to
improved terms for small and be a real challenge for them and
micro suppliers to 60 days, she the economy.”
adds. AB InBev UK is also work-
ing towards cutting late pay- Permanent change
ments – which stand at 14% These changes could have an
(5% when removing intracom- impact beyond the pandemic.
pany payments) – to below 10%. Sainsbury’s scrapped its com-
Unilever, Diageo and AB
FMCG SUPPLIERS mitment to immediate pay-
Source: UK government
World Foods all remain sus- ments from 15 July, but stressed
pended from the PPC, which COMPANY AVERAGE TIME TO % INVOICES NOT PAID PAYMENT it was moving to permanently
PAY (DAYS) WITHIN AGREED TERMS TERMS
requires signatories to pay 95% shortening terms for smaller
of suppliers within 60 days, Current Year ago Chg Current Year ago Chg Standarddays suppliers to 14 days, which it
to aim towards 30 days and to Ab InBev UK 120 132 –12 14 16 –2 Variable said meant they were better
encourage good payment prac- Kellogg Company 88 92 –4 2 1 1 60 off than before the crisis. The
tices across supply chains. United Biscuits 86 86 0 39 40 –1 75 supermarket also encourages
Unilever, which latest data Mondelez 68 74 –6 11 20 –9 60 all suppliers to get in touch if
shows reduced average days Molson Coors 80 81 –1 10 15 –5 90 support is needed.
from 62 to 60 and pays 97% of Heinz 75 79 –4 12 29 –17 90+7EOM One owner of a mid-sized
invoices on time, insists how it Britvic 69 78 –9 48 35 13 75 ambient supplier believes that
did business didn’t change “in Diageo 78 76 2 7 6 1 60 is the right approach. He was on
any way” before the late-2019 Kerry Foods 78 75 3 16 17 –1 90 standard 60-90-day terms, and
suspension, with all payment Magners 62 73 –11 51 48 3 EOM+90 is “forever grateful” the super-
terms mutually agreed up-front. CCEP 71 72 –1 10 16 –6 Variable markets moved to seven days.
The Persil and Ben & Jerry’s Hovis 65 69 –4 60 83 –23 75 “They really saved us. It meant
owner says it prioritises smaller Burton's 67 69 –2 52 57 –5 Variable the business had more of a sure
suppliers, SMEs and charities Heineken 78 68 10 13 19 –6 Variable footing when there was a real
with terms of 30 days, which Weetabix 59 64 –5 43 58 –15 60 cash crunch.
the PPC took into consideration Young’s Seafood 66 63 3 4 4 0 60 “Now the worst is over, I
in the past. “We believe we are Walkers Snacks 67 62 5 14 9 5 Variable think it’s completely reason-
still fully honouring the spirit of Unilever 60 62 –2 3 7 –4 90 able for Sainsbury’s and others
the code,” Unilever adds. Yoplait 53 61 –8 41 36 5 90 to adjust terms again. Any busi-
ness that hasn’t got their act
Passing on the pain suppliers’ money. But the big- requested to be removed in together by now doesn’t deserve
Ged Futter, director at consul- gest offenders who work with December 2019. preferential treatment.”
tancy The Retail Mind, argues other people’s money are the But there is good work However, Swift at account-
the system is tough on SMEs, retailers because they get paid going on, too. Small Business ancy firm Moore predicts late
who are increasingly reliant instantly at the till.” Commissioner Philip King, payment of suppliers is likely
on cashflow for survival. “If The 45-day supermarket aver- whose office is now in charge to worsen over the next few
you are paid by a supermar- age “hides a multitude of sins”. of the code and helps SMEs months as some large busi-
ket within 45 days and are pay- he adds, as immediate or short resolve payment disputes, high- nesses use an economic slow-
ing your own clients within 90 terms for small suppliers con- lights Morrisons. It was the first down as an excuse to delay.
days, it doesn’t seem like the ceal the longer payment for to bring in immediate payments And as a price war between
best way of doing business for most other suppliers. for small suppliers, with other Tesco and Aldi looms, already
those further downstream.” Supermarket figures are also retailers following soon after. squeezed suppliers will be wor-
But Sentinel Management skewed by fuel, with oil compa- Morrisons also extended ried about collateral damage.
Consultants CEO David Sables nies typically paid within five the temporary move, which The Grocer’s research into
says big suppliers are simply days, says Duncan Swift, part- has already cost it £50m, for payment practice data shows
“passing on the pain” of long ner at accountancy firm Moore. a further three months until some improvements at retailers
payment terms from “the big At any given time, the big September (while Aldi has done and big suppliers – but momen-
offenders”: the supermarkets. four have debts older than 30 so until the end of 2020). tum must be maintained and
“Big suppliers get better days over supplies worth about “Astute businesses across more need to sign up to the PPC.
terms from supermarkets than £4bn, he adds. Of the big retail- the board recognise the impor- “There will be a temptation
they give to their own suppliers, ers, only Tesco, Asda, M&S and tance of keeping their supply on some big businesses to use
which gives them a cashflow the John Lewis Partnership chain alive,” says King, who has their supply chain to help them
win,” he says. “It is free working are currently signatories to the helped collect almost £600,000 through the difficulties of recov-
capital effectively. They are run- PPC – Central England Co-op is for SMEs through the SBC office ery,” King adds. “We need them
ning their business with their also signed up and Sainsbury’s since lockdown began. “The not to do that.”

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 13

analysis trade

1 3 9

11 15 16

Is the UK’s new agri-trade

commission fit for purpose?
It has been branded a ‘Trojan horse’ and a ‘fig leaf’ by groups
concerned over its membership and lack of powers
Harry Holmes & Kevin White Charities are not the only chlorinated chicken concerns five years as CEO of the Food

W
ithin hours of the trade
commission’s member-
ship being confirmed
last Friday, it was already under
the cosh.
Established earlier this month
to advise on the UK’s agri-
food trade policy, the RSPCA
branded it “a Trojan horse”.
Greener UK, a coalition of envi-
ronmental groups including
Greenpeace and the National
Trust, said it was “a fig leaf”
from government.
Kath Dalmeny, CEO of
Sustain, called it “a temporary,
toothless trade commission
with no powers”.
ones concerned. Many in food
and drink are similarly scepti-
cal, with one industry source
calling the commission “pure
smoke and mirrors”.
It’s a disappointing start.
Chlorinated chicken and hor-
mone-treated beef have divided
the country for years now, and
a core aim of the commission
will be to build a broad, multi-
lateral consensus that unites as
many voices as possible behind
the UK’s trade policy, whatever
it may look like.
But with its member-
ship scorned by numerous
groups and its new chair, Tim
Smith, under fire for branding
as “alarmist”, such consensus
appears a long way off. So is the
commission a dead duck?
The lineup
Announcing the lineup last
week, trade secretary Liz Truss
claimed the commission would
“ensure that any trade deal
we strike brings the very best
opportunities to the UK’s farm-
ing community”, while environ-
ment secretary George Eustice
said it would ensure the UK’s
“commitment to high welfare
standards are maintained”.
It will certainly not lack
experience at its head. Smith
is a food industry veteran with
Standards Agency under his
belt, as well as five years as a
Tesco director and 30 years in
food manufacturing. A microbi-
ologist by training and now Pret
a Manger’s food safety advisor,
you’d be hard-pressed to find
anyone with a greater experi-
ence and understanding of cur-
rent food safety issues.
Smith’s CV, combined with
his relatively low profile, has
largely encouraged those who
believe the independence of the
chair will be crucial to the suc-
cess of the commission.
But the wider membership
has drawn criticism, particu-
larly the conspicuous absence

14 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

of academics, agri-food trade But for Shaun Spiers, chair
experts, animal welfare groups The members of the Greener UK coalition,
and consumer representa- the commission’s design has
tives. Leading figures from the 1. Tim Smith 6. Rob Hodgkins: 12. Shanker already made it difficult to sup-
BRC and FDF are on board but (chair): Former Lamb farmer based Singham: Trade fel- port. “Environmental standards
there is only one environmen- CEO of the Food in Hertfordshire. low at the Institute appear to be an afterthought,”
tal group – LEAF, a sustainable Standards Agency 7. Andrew of Economics he says. “It is difficult to see
agriculture organisation – and and Tesco direc- McCornick: Affairs and CEO of how a sub-committee’s recom-
six of the 16 seats are filled by tor. Currently non- President of NFU Competere, a trade mendations in this area will
farming representatives. executive director Scotland since law and economic be able to exert any significant
“What we’ve got seems to at Cranswick and 2017. Term due to policy consultancy influence on the commission’s
be mainly the farming lobby, Pret a Manger. end in February firm. recommendations, let alone
with a couple stuck on by the 2. Victor Chestnutt: 2021. 13. Lockwood ministerial policy.”
Department for International Deputy president of 8. Kate Smith: Former New And it is not just how it oper-
Trade,” says Derrick Wilkinson, the Ulster Farmers Nicholls: CEO of Zealand trade and ates that will determine the
a consultant and former NFU Union since UKHospitality agriculture minis- commission’s success, but
chief economist. 2016. Previously since 2018. ter. High commis- when. The committee is due
For a committee that will Chairman and Previously CEO at sioner to the UK to work for six months before
tackle some remarkably com- President of the the Association of from 2013 to 2017. submitting an advisory report
plex nuts and bolts of trade pol- British Texel Sheep Licenced Multiple 14. Glyn Roberts: to be presented to parliament
icy, there is an alarming lack Society. Retailers. President of the by trade secretary Liz Truss.
of specialised expertise, he 3. John Davies: 9. Andrew Opie: Farmers’ Union of Originally, many observers
claims. “Most of these people President of NFU Food and sustain- Wales since 2015 assumed the commission would
wouldn’t know their SPS agree- Cymru since 2018. ability director at and a first-genera- set the remit for negotiations as
ment from their Article 24. I’m A beef and sheep the British Retail tion farmer. well as scrutinise any deals that
not sure how they are going to farmer from Powys. Consortium since 15. Nick von emerge. However, the six-month
come up with any substantive 4. Caroline 2005. Previously Westenholz: time limit appears to restrict it
analysis and proposals.” Drummond: CEO head of policy ser- Director of EU exit to the latter alone.
Where trade expertise is of LEAF (Linking vices at the NFU. and international The commission is therefore
included, it appears somewhat Environment and 10. Tom Pengelly: trade at the NFU in a tricky position: it could
loaded. Shanker Singham, Farming) since External secretar- since January 2017. both be too late to play a form-
CEO of trade law consultancy 1991. iat to the All-Party Previously chief ative role in shaping ongoing
Competere, told BrexitCentral 5. Nigel Gibbens: Parliamentary executive of the negotiations, while also being
readers in January to “ignore Defra’s Chief Group (APPG) Crop Protection too early to officially scrutinise
the scare stories about chlo- Veterinary Officer on Trade Out Of Association. finalised trade agreements.
rinated chicken: we already until his retirement Poverty. 16. Ian Wright: The latter problem, at least,
eat chlorinated salad and it is in 2018. Previously 11. Lord Price: CEO of the Food & is seemingly manageable – the
harmless”. held policy roles in Former trade min- Drink Federation commission could recommend
He will sit alongside international trade, ister and MD of since 2015. it reconvenes once any trade
Lockwood Smith, a former New animal welfare Waitrose. Currently Previously corpo- deal is completed, for exam-
Zealand agriculture minister, and international chairman of rate relations direc- ple – but it reflects a scepticism
who argued in the Spectator relations. Fairtrade. tor at Diageo. surrounding the commission
last month that “if the UK enter- that a large degree of its success
tains the idea of a higher tariff will be reliant on the patronage
on chicken that’s been treated a good idea. This group needs Westenholz, director of EU exit of government and the trade
with a mild chlorine wash… it to build towards a consensus and international trade at the department.
will put at risk so many of the position for the UK. And that NFU, remains sanguine. “We This reliance has left many
longer-term benefits of leaving consensus is not going to be ‘we had proposed a broader repre- suspicious that the government
the EU”. carry on as we were planning sentation of views on the com- will kick whatever it finds into
Lord Price, a former trade before’. It’s been fairly clear that mission itself, but it’s early the long grass – a move that
minister, is also in the farmers, environmental groups days,” he says. would be unwise, Henig argues.
ranks. The ex-Waitrose MD and consumers are not going to The commission’s operating “What we learn from other
is now chair of the Fairtrade be supportive of that,” he adds. model is still to be determined, countries is farming and trade
Foundation, a charity that last leaving a possible door open for policy is too big an issue to just
week joined calls for the gov- Rejected names experts to contribute through hope it goes away. It doesn’t go
ernment to enshrine its ver- The NFU lobbied government sub-committees, rather than away. This will be controversial
bal assurances on maintaining for more than 18 months to relying strictly on the appointed whatever happens.”
high food standards into law. establish the commission, sug- members. It is too early to write the com-
But David Henig, director of gesting names to the trade “The commission still has mission off just yet – especially
the UK Trade Policy Project and department it believed could to figure out how it’s going to given it is still to officially meet
a former trade negotiator, says provide the broad representa- work. Let’s give it a chance to do – and the problems facing it are
the balance of trade expertise tion of voices and expertise that. It could still do a very good by no means insurmountable.
appears “like an attempt to tilt required. By and large, these job which brings in the views But with so much riding on its
the findings in a certain direc- were rejected. of a lot of people,” adds von shoulders, it certainly faces big
tion. Which I just don’t think is Nonetheless, Nick von Westenholz. challenges ahead.

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 15

the grocer 33 mystery shopper

Shopper felt ‘like a priority’

at ‘safe’ winning Waitrose
Edward Devlin The store was clean and clut-

A
clean, organised, safe
and well-stocked store
helped Waitrose secure
victory on this Sunday lunch
shop, as availability remained
mixed across its rivals.
Our shopper walked straight
into the shop in Abergavenny
and was greeted by a “great and
colourful” promotion for the
Scrumptious Summer range. All
the work to deal with Covid-19
safety measures (signage, sani-
tisers and wipes) was dealt with
outside, leaving the shopping to
be “an enjoyable experience”.
There were also signs inside
reminding customers about
two-metre social distancing.
There was an abundance of
stock – and no gaps: only olives
and feta from our shopping list
were out of stock.
Staff were friendly and help-
ful, and maintained social dis-
tancing while restocking, but
none wore masks or gloves.
“Sometimes it can feel you
are getting in the way of staff
members doing their tasks, but
they made me feel like I was
their priority,” our mystery
shopper said.
It was also a strong perfor-
mance from Sainsbury’s in
Horsham, with the same avail-
ability score as the winner and
Waitrose in Abergavenny was ‘an enjoyable experience’ on this Sunday
just two items out of stock.
However, certain areas (tinned
soup, veg and tomatoes) were
low on lines and the shop felt
less well-stocked than pre-coro-
navirus, our shopper noted.
Social distancing markers
on the floor were looking worn
and some staff didn’t remain
two metres apart when helping,
but it was an easy shop and the
store was calm and ordered.
Asda in Glasgow and Tesco in
Sandhurst weren’t far behind
Sainsbury’s, both scoring
respectably.
Asda was let down by four
missing items from the basket,
a restocking trolley blocking an
aisle and the one-way system
being ignored by customers and
staff. There were also no staff on
the door to limit shopper flow,
but the clean and well-main-
tained store was quiet.
Signage was helpful through-
out the shop, as were staff,
who were all wearing masks,
and there was no queue at the
checkout.
Tesco matched Waitrose for
availability (two out of stock
products) and there was no
queue to enter, though it was
busier inside as more custom-
ers were allowed in store. The
retailer also put an end to its
one-way system, but social dis-
tancing reminders remained
present.
ter-free, with most areas being
“relatively tidy”. Points were
lost for a more than 10-min-
ute wait at the checkouts as the
queues shifted from outside the
store to the tills.
A lack of staff and product
availability at a “messy and
disorganised” Morrisons in
Abbeydale, Gloucester, contrib-
uted to a poor score. After a wait
of more than 10 minutes to enter
the shop, our shopper found
replenishment needed across
most areas, empty boxes on
shelves and no staff restocking
or available to help.
Iceland in Farnborough
limped home as the first Grocer
33 guest retailer during the cor-
onavirus crisis. It scored poorly
across all categories, with the
worst availability of the week
(seven out-of-stock and three
not-stocked items).
There were no barriers or staff
outside monitoring customer
numbers entering the store and
no sanitiser to clean trolleys
before use.
Our shopper found the lay-
out confusing and had to dou-
ble back on herself three times
in search of items. There was
also only one till open, creat-
ing a long queue, with no barri-
ers or signs to help with social
distancing.

WEEK 5: Sunday 12 July 2020, 12 noon-3pm WINNER

SERVICE & AVAILABILITY Asda Morrisons Sainsbury’s Tesco Waitrose Iceland Notes
Glasgow Abbeydale, Horsham, Sandhurst, Abergavenny, Farnborough, The Grocer 33 scoring system has been
Gloucester West Sussex Berkshire Monmouthshire Hampshire adjusted to reflect the extraordinary
conditions in which supermarkets are now
Car park score (out of 10) 9 8 10 7 10 7 operating due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As well as a more understanding approach on
Store standards score (20) 15 12 15 18 19 8
availability, we’ve focused more on staff
Store layout (10) 9 7 9 8 8 3 efforts to control queues, maintain social
Shop floor service (20) 16 8 16 16 18 13 distance, and replenish shelves. The list of 33
Checkout score (20) 18 13 15 13 16 10 items is also chosen by mystery shoppers
based on their own needs, to comply with
Availability score (20) 12 10 16 16 16 3 government guidelines around ‘essential’
TOTAL (100) 79 58 81 78 87 44 shopping, but have been vetted to ensure the
Out of stock/not stocked 4/0 4/2 2/0 2/0 2/0 7/3 list is balanced across a number of categories.
For more details see thegrocer.co.uk/stores
Availability (%) 87.9 87.1 93.9 93.9 93.9 76.7

16 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk


store of the week
Winner: Waitrose Abergavenny
Store manager: Gill Klinkert
Open: 2004
Size: 47,000 sq ft
Market share: 29.3%
Nearest rivals: Morrisons – 1 mile
Iceland – 1 mile
Aldi – 2 miles
Asda – 7.8 miles
Store data source: Analysis by CACI.
Call the market planning group on 020 7602 6000
Face masks have now been
made mandatory in Scotland
and England. What is the
expectation in Wales? We are
awaiting an update from the
Welsh government. Partners
and customers have been ask-
ing. I’m sure something will be
imminent here this week.
Are customers already wearing
coverings in store? It is 50/50
at the minute and has been
pretty much like that all the way
through. Some customers still
feel really anxious and vulnera-
ble, but there are also those who
aren’t sure whether face masks
offer any protection and feel just
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
washing their hands is enough.
What have been the noticea-
ble differences for Welsh stores
during the pandemic? From
a supermarket perspective, it
hasn’t been that different. In
terms of two metres, we have
stuck with that from the off. We
have been completely aligned
in making sure customer num-
bers in store are appropriate and
comfortable. And also making
sure both our partners and cus-
tomers are protected through
measures such as only opening
every other till bank.
Is there potential for the
queues to shift from outside to
the checkouts with more num-
bers in store? We have two
partners managing this front
of store at all times, and every
branch from the end of July
is having the extra protective
screens installed between every
till. From the end of this month,
I will be able to open all my
checkouts and all my self-serve.
Did a lack of tourism affect
sales earlier in the year and is
it returning now? Trolley sizes
have grown significantly during
the crisis as transactions have
GOLD MEMBERS GET MORE!
Read itemised service score breakdowns and
full mystery shopper comments from each
store visit at thegrocer.co.uk/grocer-33
reduced, so value has grown
and doubled through the first
12 weeks of Covid. We have now
started to see a reduction in bas-
ket size. The tourist trade has
also come back, and people are
travelling to second homes. We
have the Brecon Beacons on our
doorstep and tourists are head-
ing to Pembroke as well. We are
very much a traditional holiday
branch here – our sales in the
summer are far higher than the
spring.
Is availability back to pre-out-
break levels yet? Not quite yet.
What the business has really
tried to focus on is, where we
have had issues, for instance in
“We have started
to see a reduction
in basket size.
The tourist trade
has come back,
and people are
travelling to
second homes”
flour, they have sourced other
lines and bigger lines, even
catering-sized packs, just to try
and get something back on the
shelf. The business has tried
to react to that in the layouts
that have consistently been a
challenge. Fresh now is not far
away, we are probably about
95% there compared to where
we were. Our variety of assort-
ment is huge. It may take until
September until we are back to
business as usual.
How has trading been on the
Scrumptious Summer range?
It has gone really well. What
has flown is our barbecue three
for £10 offer on meat. We have
some new lines compared with
last year and I can’t see a com-
petitor out there who does it
better. The drinks and cordials
have also gone really well. And
even some of the Basics such as
the meringue has been popular.
The Scrumptious Summer pro-
motion has been phenomenal
– there isn’t anyone to touch us
on the range and variety.
Gill Klinkert was talking to
Edward Devlin
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 17
the grocer 33 prices

Iceland takes win Price & Promo History

Average price Nescafé Azera instant coffee, Americano, 100g

as guest retailers PRICE

£3.93
CHANGE YOY
£4.89

return to Grocer 33 25p

CHANGE YOY
–5.9% 52 W/E 12 JULY 2020
£3.60

Asda Nescafé Azera instant coffee, Americano, 100g

£5.50

£2.75
Average: £3.57
YoY: –74p (–17.2%)
Weeks on offer: 30 52 W/E 12 JULY 2020

Morrisons Nescafé Azera instant coffee, Americano, 100g

£5.00
£2.50

Average: £3.23
Guest Iceland came in just 30p cheaper than runner-up Asda at £55.69 YoY: 23p (7.8%)
Weeks on offer: 11 52 W/E 12 JULY 2020

G
Ronan Hegarty
uest retailer Iceland
claimed a narrow pric-
ing win in the Grocer 33
this week. In the first guest slot
since they were paused with the
onset of the coronavirus crisis
in March, Iceland came in just
30p cheaper than runner-up
cheaper than Sainsbury’s – and
£2.61 pricier than Iceland.
Tesco offered the lowest price Sainsbury’s Nescafé Azera instant coffee, Americano, 100g
for 11 lines, with four exclu-
sively so: the Barefoot mer- £3.00
lot, honeydew melon, Little
Gem lettuce and frozen mixed £5.50
Average: £4.22
vegetables. YoY: 8p (2.0%)
It was a similar story for Weeks on offer: 33 52 W/E 12 JULY 2020

Asda at £55.69. Sainsbury’s with a dozen low-

This was Iceland’s first win in
its past five appearances, going
back to February 2019. The fro-
zen food specialist offered the
lowest price for 15 items, with
five exclusively cheapest. All
five were branded lines: Bisto
beef gravy granules, Bovril,
est prices and four exclusively
cheapest lines: the Babybel, Tesco Nescafé Azera instant coffee, Americano, 100g
closed cup mushrooms, Heinz £2.50
vegetable soup and Warburtons
sandwich thins.
Morrisons came in just over £4.60
Average: £3.87
a fiver more expensive than YoY: –9p (–2.3%)
Iceland at £60.73. Its only exclu- Weeks on offer: 24 52 W/E 12 JULY 2020

Vosene shampoo, Warburtons sively cheapest line was the

seeded batch and Elmlea cream.
Asda was also exclusively
cheapest on five products and
offered the lowest price on 12
items overall. Asda’s exclusively
cheapest lines were fresh and
own brand, except for the Flora.
While it was a small win-
brown onions. However, along
with Sainsbury’s it did have Waitrose Nescafé Azera instant coffee, Americano, 100g
the most deals – 10. Asda car-
ried nine promotions this week £2.74
while Tesco, Waitrose and £5.49
Iceland all had eight.
Average: £4.25
Waitrose was a long way off YoY: 5p (1.3%)
the pace on £67.66. This was Weeks on offer: 34 52 W/E 12 JULY 2020

ning margin for Iceland, it was £11.97 dearer than Iceland. It

even closer between Tesco only offered the lowest price on
and Sainsbury’s for third spot. three products, none of which Iceland Nescafé Azera instant coffee, Americano, 100g
At £58.30, Tesco was just 10p were exclusively cheapest.
£5.49
The Grocer 33 was conducted in association with Edge by Ascential. Trusted
by major FMCG manufacturers and retailers, Edge by Ascential (formerly
Brand View) is the UK’s largest provider of real-time price and promotion Average: £4.33 £2.74
tracking and analysis. Learn more and sign up for a 14-day free evaluation at YoY: –24p (–5.2%)
www.ascentialedge.com. Tel: 0844 357 9970 Email: Sales@brandview.com Weeks on offer: 32 52 W/E 12 JULY 2020

18 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

 1.10 0 8 WANT TO KNOW THE DEAL IN DETAIL?
View precise promotion mechanic details by scrolling over the red dot on
2.25 ∙ 0 -2
our enhanced online version of the Grocer 33 at thegrocer.co.uk/stores/
the-grocer-33. You can also view full price and promo history, as per the
example left, for all 33 items, as well as other analytics, using the widget

WEEK 5 WINNER
SHOPPING BASKET Asda Morrisons Sainsbury’s Tesco Waitrose Iceland
PRICE P MoM YoY PRICE P MoM YoY PRICE P MoM YoY PRICE P MoM YoY PRICE P MoM YoY PRICE MoM YoY
Alpen Light Jaffa Cake
5x19g 1.00 ∙ -30 8 1.00 ∙ 0 -17 2.00 22 2 1.99 60 4 2.00 0 0 1.00 ∙ -12 12
Apples 1.30 0 1 1.60 0 8 1.60 0 7 1.92 0 1 1.75 0 -10 1.60 0 1
Own-label, Gala, six-pack (five to seven-pack)

Babybel Mini
6x20g 1.95 ∙ 3 -1 2.00 ∙ 37 -3 1.00 ∙ -41 -27 1.95 22 5 1.35 ∙ -68 1 1.95 ∙ 0 -1
Barefoot merlot 5.75 ∙ 6.75 ∙
750ml
-3 5 55 -12 6.75 43 -3 5.50 ∙ -75 3 6.89 0 15 6.25 0 -11
Bathroom tissue 1.65 0 -5 1.50 0 -30 1.90 0 2 1.90 0 3 2.00 0 0 1.50 0 21
Own-label, white, four-pack

Bisto beef granules

Reduced salt, 170g 1.50 ∙ 0 21 1.50 43 7 1.50 0 14 1.50 0 9 1.50 0 14 1.00 ∙ -65 4
Blueberries
Own-label, 150g (125g-150g) 1.43 12 5 2.00 ∙ 0 1 1.50 ∙ -12 -9 2.00 0 6 2.50 0 0 2.00 0 0
Bovril Original Beef Paste Jar 3.50 0 -4 3.60 0 2 3.50 0 0 3.50 0 0 3.50 70 -20 2.90 0
250g

Brown onions
Own-label, prepacked, 1kg 0.80 ∙ 10 0.75 ∙ 0 17 0.85 0 1 0.85 0 2 0.95 0 11 1.00 0 19
Cadbury Little Bars 1.00 ∙ 0 1.25 ∙
Dairy Milk, 6x18g
-4 24 1 1.00 ∙ -11 0 1.25 ∙ 25 -1 1.30 0 4 1.00 0 0
Canada Dry Ginger Ale 1.00 ∙ -41 1.50 ∙ 1.00 ∙ -22
One-litre
1 0 16 4 1.50 0 18 1.30 ∙ 0 1 1.30 ∙ 0
Carrot, swede & potato mash
Own-label, 400g (400g-450g) 0.85 0 0 1.33 0 68 1.00 0 0 0.89 ∙ 10 -4 1.77 ∙ 11 0 1.25 0 12
Elmlea Cream 0.95 0 4 0.95 0 -5 1.00 0 5 0.95 0 4 0.95 -5 5 0.89 -1
Single, 284ml

Flora Original Sunflower Spread

500g 1.99 0 11 2.00 ∙ 37 -8 2.00 22 11 2.00 ∙ 19 -1 2.00 0 13 2.00 ∙ 54 30
Halloumi 1.94 0 2.22 0 -22 2.56 0 25 2.22 0 0 2.55 0 33 2.00 0 0
Own-label, 250g (225g-250g)

Heinz Vegetable Soup

400g 0.95 ∙ 0 0 0.95 ∙ 0 0 0.80 ∙ -6 0 0.95 ∙ 0 0 0.95 ∙ 0 0 0.95 ∙ 0 4
Honeydew melon 1.00 ∙ -79 -12 1.50 ∙ 0 -20 1.30 -70 14 0.99 -46 -8 1.50 -50 5 2.00 0 -4
Own-label, fresh, orange flesh, each

Knorr stock cubes 1.75 ∙

Vegetable, 8x10g 1.63 0 -3 0 18 1.50 0 5 1.50 0 5 1.50 0 -9 1.50 ∙ 0 -22
Lettuce
Own-label, Little Gem, two-pack 0.65 ∙ -2 3 0.85 ∙ 15 -2 0.85 0 1 0.35 ∙ -27 0 0.90 0 0 0.85 0 1
Milk 1.10 0 1 1.09 0 -1 1.10 0 -1 1.09 0 0 1.15 0 2 1.09 0 2
Own-label, fresh, skimmed, four-pint

Mixed vegetables 0.94 0 -2 1.14 0 8 1.50 0 11 0.79 0 -13 1.47 0 10 1.11 0 0

Own-label, 1kg (800g-1kg)

Mushrooms
Own-label, closed cup, 325g (250g-400g) 0.98 7 5 1.03 0 1 0.87 ∙ -16 -3 1.03 0 -1 1.08 0 0 1.08 0 0
Nescafé Azera instant coffee
Americano, 100g 3.00 ∙ -27 -74 5.50 ∙ 17 8 3.00 ∙ -69 -9 3.00 ∙ -102 5 5.49 ∙ 75 -24 3.00 ∙ 0 23
Nuii Ice Cream Sticks 3.89 101 -10 2.00 -130 12 3.90 82 22 3.89 ∙ 195 16 3.89 93 2.00 ∙
Dark Chocolate & Nordic Berry, 3x90ml

PG Tips teabags
80-pack, pyramid, 232g 2.00 ∙ -13 -2 2.00 ∙ -47 9 2.00 0 -14 2.00 0 -11 2.00 ∙ -49 1 2.00 ∙ 0 -14
Pork loin steaks 2.17 0 -3 2.97 0 10 2.17 0 -49 2.75 0 0 4.40 ∙ -110 82 3.22 0 1
Own-label, 495g (450g-540g)

Soreen Malt Lunchbox Loaves

5x30g 1.40 ∙ 12 -1 1.00 ∙ -17 -12 1.00 ∙ -22 5 1.00 ∙ -15 0 1.00 ∙ -13 9 1.35 7 3
Tilda rice 1.00 0 -1 1.00 0 0 1.50 0 9 1.59 0 0 1.65 ∙ 0 9 1.00 0 -1
Coconut steamed basmati, 250g

Vosene Medicated Shampoo 2.00 0 8 1.30 0 3 2.00 0 18 2.00 0 24 2.05 0 -12 1.00 0
Dandruff prevention, 250ml

Warburtons seeded batch

400g 0.95 0 -6 0.95 ∙ 3 0.95 ∙ 11 -6 0.95 0 0 0.95 ∙ 0 0 0.90 0 -1
Warburtons Soft Sandwich Thins
Brown, sliced, six-pack 1.00 ∙ 18 -6 1.00 ∙ 1 1 0.80 ∙ -11 0 1.00 0 0 1.00 0 1.00 0 -6
Young’s Admiral’s Pie 1.57 ∙ 27
300g 1.50 0 1.50 22 -7 1.00 ∙ -50 1.37 0 5 1.00 0
Young’s scampi 3.15 ∙ 34
220g
-25 3.25 70 28 ∙ -32
2.50 2 2.50 ∙ -50 29 3.00 0 2 ∙ 10
3.00 -6

TOTAL (£) 55.99 60.73 58.40 58.30 67.66 55.69

Inflation/deflation on total (pence) 29 -86 105 89 -110 30 -34 95 -46 147 -6 66
Inflation/deflation on total (%) 0.5 -1.5 1.8 1.5 -1.8 0.5 -0.6 1.6 -0.7 2.2 -0.1 1.2
Price-only promotions 6 4 10 6 4 4
Multibuy promotions 3 6 0 2 4 4
Key: On promo (details online) Off promo (details online) ■ Out-of-stock ■ Not stocked

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 19

comment & opinion
Deal or no deal, Brexit will bring change
Gerald Mason
I
t’s rare that I wake up and
find Michael Gove has
stolen my thunder. But
that is exactly what happened
last Sunday when he toured TV
and radio studios warning us
that change was coming on 1
January, and we had better get
ready. I couldn’t agree more.
Whether as the chair of the FDF
EU Exit Committee, or in my day
job as a sugar manufacturer, this
is the message I’ve been trying
to push home for months now.
Whether we get a deal or no deal
with Europe, lots will change.
And we need to get ready.
It’s been harder than ever to
make that case over the past few
months, as we’ve all wrestled
with this wretched virus. We’ve
either had our minds on how to
keep our colleagues safe whilst
meeting unprecedented demand
from our retail customers, or been
How technology can help home delivery
Ed Hodges
H
ow many deliveries are
landing on your doorstep
every week in lockdown?
Two? Ten? Fifty? What’s in them?
Food, clothes, drinks? Every day
there’s a new arrival. Everything
is being delivered.
Lockdown has changed the
way we consume and the way
retailers can provide their prod-
ucts to customers. But home
delivery is still awkward, old and
analogue. Customers can’t man-
age delivery effectively after pur-
chase. Yet more customers than
20 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020
the saturday essay
worried sick about the future for
our foodservice colleagues.
But quietly, and diligently,
many of us have tried to keep
one eye on what we need to do
to prepare for 1 January. Our FDF
Committee has been catching up
monthly to understand the risks,
whilst not forgetting the oppor-
tunities. And the numbers join-
ing the committee have risen
threefold on recent video calls.
Meanwhile, in our company we
have reconvened working groups
and dusted off earlier work tack-
ling everything from food label-
ling changes to securing the
services of new customs agents
across our European markets.
I’ve learnt three important and
hard lessons through all of this.
Firstly, this will not be a perfect
process. We started by waiting for
all the answers we needed from
government officials. But I’ve sat
in many meetings where govern-
ment officials have found polite
and coded ways to say they do
not know, and probably will not
third party
ever are telling businesses they
expect to continue using online
shopping after lockdown.
If home delivery is the future, it
has to be better. Now is the time
to embrace tech, to make online
retail and delivery simpler and
make customers’ lives easier.
Whether you are Tesco or a
small independent butcher in
Northampton, the technology
to properly serve your customer
right to their front door is there
now, but you have to be bold.
Extraordinary sums are spent
on e-commerce sites while we do
not invest meaningfully in the
final and most important stage
of the transaction: receiving the
have, the answers to all of our
questions. Now is the time to
accept that and the uncertainties
and risks ahead. Managing risks
is what businesses do, after all.
Secondly, keep it simple and
manageable. We wasted months
worrying about the scale of the
challenge. But at FDF we’ve dis-
tilled our preparations down to
“Suppliers and
customers need
to be involved in
preparation early”
four key areas: moving prod-
uct across borders, regulatory
changes such as labelling and
plant and animal health, mak-
ing sure the EU colleagues in
our UK businesses feel wel-
come, and preparing for the
specific situation in Northern
Ireland. There are some fantas-
tic staff at FDF who have grown
goods. The tech exists – letting
customers manage deliveries in
their messaging channels, letting
vendors automate their delivery
routes and getting away from the
tired, binary delivery apps that
take the control away from the
vendor and the customer.
ShinDigger, a Manchester-
based brewery, has pivoted from
wholesale to direct to customer
during the lockdown – not an
unusual story in the pandemic.
Embracing a fully automated
customer management system,
it boosted DTC sales 300% in
three weeks with over 1,000 five-
star customer reviews. You can
have your beer on your doorstep
into unassuming experts in these
areas. Please use them.
Finally, keep asking questions.
We felt we were ready to go for no-
deal last time but when we spoke
to those we trade with, we found
some weren’t. Suppliers and cus-
tomers need to be involved in
preparation early. And big pic-
ture didn’t do it. It was only when
we boiled down the new require-
ments to a list of detailed process
flows, with names and deadlines,
that we finally felt ready.
The publication of the 206-page
document on the UK-EU border
by the UK government this week
has much of what we need to pre-
pare the detail. Take it with you
to the beach this summer. And
remember, you’re not alone. Help
is out there from the FDF, the gov-
ernment and others. Don’t feel
embarrassed about asking for it.
Deal or no deal – now is the time
to get prepared.
Gerald Mason is chair of the FDF
EU Exit Committee
in a day at the touch of but-
ton, all with the ability to man-
age it through your Facebook
Messenger – with no one at the
other end. They have embraced
the future of delivery and of cus-
tomer management to the benefit
of their business.
That is the power of small
retail businesses engaging in
the future of technology. It shows
what the right technology can do.
In the new normal, retailers
have to get their delivery and
their customer service up to
scratch to truly capitalise – tech-
nology is their best weapon.
Ed Hodges is CEO of HelloDone
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

The big four price war
David Sables
I P
t’s remarkable how
many suppliers have
not altered their annual
plans despite what’s going on in
the market. But they can’t ignore
this next wave of pressure. The
looming recession brings price
competition – competition that
suppliers can’t fund, as many
have just had their ranges Covid-
culled by the main retailers.
Consumers really need this
price competition. The surgical
glove has been thrown down by
Tesco, which until now has been
exposed on average pricing due
to its huge reduction of promo-
tions. Tesco may deny it, but we
are heading towards a price war.
Tesco’s approach is to demand
that suppliers fund this war. It
may be a roll of the dice, but sup-
pliers should dig in early on this.
Tesco is contradicting its own
strategic ‘balance matrix’, and
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
second opinion
even brands of low importance
to price-sensitive shoppers are
being pushed into inappropriate
EDLP pricing. It’s pointless for
shoppers and ruins the good tar-
geting work that Tesco has done
over the past five years.
Discounters pay suppliers
more at cost price than Tesco,
which takes about 20% higher
“Tesco’s approach
is to demand
suppliers fund
this war”
profit on return (POR). Where
Tesco gets 26% or 46%, the dis-
counters accept 6% and 25%
POR. Make up your mind, Tesco:
are you a choice retailer or a dis-
counter? This is your battle, so
you need to put down the beg-
ging bowl and dip both hands
into those pockets.
But let’s not underestimate just
higgins
how real the pressure is. Boots’
job cuts are an indication of the
severity of the situation. Intense
pricing aggression could create
another retail casualty in a strug-
gling competitive set.
In reaction, Sainsbury’s
weapon of choice is promotions:
hi-low hi-low, it’s off to war it
goes. It could work. Shoppers
lost trust in complex promo-
tions years ago but promos are
a great pricing tool and I pre-
dict that, with lockdown easing,
promiscuous shoppers will go
hunting for their beloved deals
once again.
Asda, on the other hand, has
cut its range more than any-
one, and has lost market posi-
tion on price and promotion.
With no obvious place to turn,
if it chooses again to ‘roll back’
right into the discounters’ jaws,
there may be trouble ahead for
the Walmart subsidiary.
David Sables is CEO of Sentinel
Management Consultants
CRITICAL EYE
George Nott
aul spots unusual
bulges under some
full-length skirts,” is
certainly a curious programme
synopsis, as provided by
Channel 5 for Shoplifters: At
War With the Law (13 July, 9pm).
All was, ahem, revealed when
Paul and his fellow security
guards at Coventry’s West
Orchards shopping centre
interrogated a group of women
hiding Boots baby formula in
bags hidden in their clothes.
It’s just one of a diverse
toolkit of tactics used by
shoplifters. According to the
programme (in a surely not
current statistic) they strike
somewhere in Britain 200
times every hour. What’s
more – according to the Alan
Partridge-esque voiceover
– it is increasingly “serious,
organised, and violent”.
The show followed hired
guards – their codenames and
‘special skills’ shared, Top
Trumps style – as they tracked
down and dealt with would-be
thieves, revealing both the
tricks of their own trade, and
those of their nemeses. Like the
reusable bag technique used
by one chancer, in which some
items are put in the trolley and
paid for, with most snaffled in
bags from another store.
Ultimately, there was little
consequence for the wannabe
thieves. The police are rarely
engaged, and most escape with
a ban from the retailers.
“When they’re forthcoming
we’ll send them on their way.
When they act up that’s when
we get the police involved,”
explained one guard. Together
with detailed descriptions
of the theft attempts – tin
foil-lined bags, who knew? –
one can’t help thinking the
documentary might inspire
rather than deter more crooks.
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 21
 comment & opinion

to contact us...
e-mail: name.surname@thegrocer.co.uk
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tel: 01293 610 +(3 Digit Extension)
letters: letters@thegrocer.co.uk
editorial
Editor Adam Leyland 263
Editor, thegrocer.co.uk Carina Perkins 240
Getting traction with buyers
Managing editor Emma Weinbren 488
news desk
News editor Ronan Hegarty 406
Deputy news editor those who fail to get heard by The problem is, good buyers have
Steve Farrell 01293 846613
Chief reporter Ian Quinn 265 retailers. a great nose for “push”, even if
Senior reporter Marianne Calnan 319
Retail reporter
Jeremy Garlick First, retailer insight. Those the seller thinks it’s hidden.

T
Lyndsey Cambridge 01293 846647 who succeed have real insight Third, those who succeed
Digital & social editor Ellis Hawthorne 468
Online content assistant
he biggest frustration we into their retailer, at individual, are good at telling stories. They
Maddie Maynard 440 hear from commercial, department and company level. hook the buyer with a narrative,
finance desk sales and category direc- They understand their custom- beyond just a load of facts. Those
Finance editor Alec Mattinson 01293 846512
tors is the difficulty of getting er’s motivations, objectives and who fail do not. They might have
buying & supplying desk
Food & drink editor Daniel Woolfson 442
traction with retailers. Getting ways of working. They know all the data, all the rationale, and
Fresh foods editor Kevin White 290 attention and getting heard. Even what the individual, department a massive PowerPoint deck. But
Fresh foods reporter Henry Sandercock 492
International trade reporter when they have great products and retailer is trying to achieve. they don’t tell a story, so they
Harry Holmes 01293 846553 and great ideas, fmcg compa- They know how they like to lis- don’t get heard.
Food & drink reporter
Abbie Dawson 01293 846516 nies often struggle to get them Buyers and buying directors
into stores. are typically very able people
features desk
Technology editor George Nott 247 If anything, the frustration is
“Those who succeed but under huge time and cog-
Special projects editor Daniel Selwood 369
subs desk
growing. There are fewer buy- have real insight nitive pressure. They arrive for
ers and buying directors, and your Zoom call in a rush. You’ve
Chief sub-editor Mark Dishman 232
Sub-editor Charlie Cook 415 they are covering bigger catego-
into their retailer been thinking about it for weeks.
art desk
Art director Michael Joslin 207
ries. Retailers, under huge pres- at every level” They haven’t thought about it at
Group Art editor Stuart Milligan 270 sure from discounters, are more all. You probably overload them
Art editor Nick Figgins 451 tightly lined up behind central with information. They have to
Designer Caitlin Watson 01293 846611
commercial
strategies, meaning buyers can ten, to talk and how they make fall back on simple questions. Do
Commercial director feel less empowered to divine decisions. Those who fail often these people understand us and
Cathy McDonagh 289 their own way forward. And have a very shallow understand- what we’re trying to do? Are they
Area sales managers
Beverley Burkett 284 now we have Covid-19, minimis- ing of these things. starting with our needs, not their
Sam Dack 453
Damien DuVivier 245
ing buyer headspace and ruling Second, they have a “pull” needs? Is there a clear story here
Mark Hayward 293 out face-to-face meetings. not “push” mentality. Those that I find convincing?
Tim Parker 217
CCM ad production
Yet we see sales and category who succeed think about what You don’t get many bites at
Kevin Porter 020 7216 6449 managers who are still success- the retailer will want to buy and the cherry. And if you can’t get
recruitment ful – absolute magicians of influ- make proposals accordingly: heard, it just won’t happen for
Commercial Manager
Alix Hunter 548
ence. We see companies who get “pull”. Those who fail think you in-store.
Key account Manager traction much more often. And about what they want to sell and
Holly Shazell 589
we see three key differences then try to build a story to con- Jeremy Garlick is partner at
events
Group Events Manager
between those who succeed and vince the retailer to buy: “push”. Insight Traction
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22 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk


feedback
UK should get its
house in order on
chicken welfare
Sir, The UK public is rightly
concerned about the potential
import of chlorine-washed
chicken from the US, and
retailers are pledging not to
stock it on their shelves.
However, supermarkets such
as Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury’s and
Morrisons must first look a little
closer to home by examining
the chicken welfare standards
in their current supply chains.
Like in the US, the majority of
chickens in the UK are factory
farmed. In order to produce
as much profitable meat as
possible, chickens are bred to
grow so fast their bodies can’t
keep up. They often suffer
The future’s frozen
● Sir, It was great to see your
article ‘Gen Z to drive long-
term boom for frozen’ (4 July,
p46) which was the result of a
collaboration between British
Frozen Food Federation mem-
bers Iceland and Birds Eye. The
positive results mirror previous
research conducted by BFFF
over the past 10 years.
One factor that was under-
played is the role frozen food
can play in helping consumers
reduce food waste: a cause The
Grocer has championed. Of the
respondents, 85% expressed
a desire to achieve food waste
reductions, and 47% said they
are far more conscious of their
food waste since the March
lockdown.
In the recent Wrap report,
consumers reported a 36%
reduction in food waste since
lockdown. This was accompa-
nied by a major increase in the
frequency of use of the freezer.
It is not just in the home that
frozen can help reduce food
waste. As the foodservice mar-
ket reopens, frozen food offers
the opportunity to cope with
erratic and variable demand.
The growth of the category
will always be underpinned by
the amazing value, quality and
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
IMPROVE OUR STANDARDS
Among the outcry against chlorinated chicken, let’s also
ensure we are doing the right thing by animals here –
Pru Elliott, head of campaigns, The Humane League UK
from painful leg conditions,
lethargy, and diseases. These
include green muscle disease
– which some readers may be
familiar with from the horror
stories of ruined Sunday
dinners in the media.
The Better Chicken
Commitment aims to
improve the lives of broiler
convenience we offer. However,
with 55% of consumers glob-
ally becoming more concerned
about the environment since
Covid-19, food waste and its
impact will become a powerful
driver of consumers’ shopping
habits and choices.
Richard Harrow, CEO, British
Frozen Food Federation
your tweets
Sainsbury’s sourcing Spanish
andItalianeggstomeetdemand
Notice if you will that the
sourcing is all within the EU.
Truly we need them more
than they need us!
@BrandexeJohn
Mars unveils raft of launches
in spreads and sports nutrition
I can see the sugar from here.
As for the illiterate apostro-
phe – “M&M’s” what?
@AmandaKendal
Waitrose sees sales surge for
low & no drinks
Puts faith in the hope that
we’re not turning to drink in
lockdown ... unfortunately
I fear there may also be a
surge in sales of chocolate
@gleybourne
chickens reared for meat by
eliminating some of the very
worst problems inherent in
factory farming. This criteria
was developed by a group of
leading animal protection
organisations, including The
Humane League UK, in 2018.
Over 140 companies including
KFC, Waitrose and M&S have
committed – but the other big
retailers aren’t budging.
So, while we absolutely need
to protect our animal welfare
standards and not undermine
them by allowing even lower-
welfare imports, animal
welfare standards in the UK
desperately need improving.
Among the outcry against
chlorinated chicken, let’s also
ensure we are doing the right
thing by animals here too.
Pru Elliott, head of campaigns,
The Humane League UK
Packaging innovation
● Sir, Whilst we read with frus-
tration the limitations on recy-
cling in your recent report (‘Can
the sustainable packaging effort
survive Covid-19?’, 4 July, p24),
we urge more brands to aim for
the gold standard of home com-
postability for their packaging.
With the latest innovations
in coatings, it is now possible
to replicate the performance
of plastic in market sectors
including foodservice packag-
ing, fruit and produce alterna-
tives, moulded fibre lids, and
a range of single-use plastic
replacements.
When we look at the news
that Barilla has made a positive
move by cutting out transpar-
ent windows on their cartons,
we can’t help thinking that
other major brands are being
held back by not understand-
ing what can be achieved with-
out plastic. However, if the
spirit of innovation forced upon
us by Covid-19 is proof of just
how little time is required for
unseating long-held business
practices, then there is a bright
future for sustainable pack-
aging as more brands look for
creative alternatives.
Lorenzo Angelucci, Transcend
Packaging
best of the blogs
Why Covid-19 could be the
right time for refillables
The Loop scheme plays
into the way consumers
are feeling and shopping.
Brits may be worried about
Covid, but that doesn’t mean
they are happily sacrificing
the environment along the
way. It’s also noteworthy
that the Loop pilot is online.
Persuading consumers to go
into stores to deposit their
refillable containers would
be a tough sell right now.
Emma Weinbren, 15 July
Compulsory masks are a
burden on retailers – and it
may push shoppers online
How shoppers in England
respond at the supermarket
and convenience store
door is yet to be seen. Brits
have a “unique reluctance”
to wearing face masks,
according to a recent YouGov
survey. The biggest boon
coming from the extra layer
of physical store friction
is for online grocery.
Mandatory masks add still
more hassle to visiting a
supermarket.
George Nott, 14 July
On-farm Covid outbreak
shows fresh sector must
not get complacent
With food manufacturing
outbreaks so far limited to
the often cold and damp
environments found in meat
plants and other factories,
confirmation of the UK’s
first farm-based cases will
have dismayed many in a
sector that has struggled so
publicly to attract labour
in recent years. BGA CEO
Jack Ward suggested the
AS Green outbreak should
serve as a wake-up call for
everyone working in the
sector.
Kevin White, 13 July
You can subscribe to the
Daily Bread blog and the
new finance newsletter and
blog at thegrocer.co.uk
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 23
people supermarket pay

Will
Covid-19 put
supermarket
pay on a
more equal
footing?

Emma Weinbren

24 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

 Supermarkets have rewarded frontline staff with
boosts to pay, while some have pruned back
executive bonuses. Is the future more equitable?
W
hat do Beyoncé, Emma Watson and
Victoria Beckham have in common?
They’ve all graced the cover of Vogue,
that’s what. Now there is one lesser-
known person who can add their name
to that list: Anisa Omar. Her claim to fame? She’s an
assistant at the King’s Cross branch of Waitrose.
Her appearance on Vogue’s June issue – one that
featured a London Overground train driver and a mid-
wife on its two other covers – marks a sea change in
attitude. Celebrity status is no longer the only thing
that counts. Instead, key workers are being celebrated
as the real heroes, as Britain continues to grapple with
the impact of Covid-19.
That means a massive change in perceptions of
supermarket workers. “The whole of society has rec-
ognised who the key workers are,” says Roger Jenkins,
national officer at GMB. “When the world comes to a
stop, we need people supplying food.”
The supermarkets have recognised that crucial job
with a host of bonuses and one-off increases to pay (see
box, p26-27). But unions argue they need to go one step
further. Having proved themselves during the pan-
demic, staff should get higher rewards on a more per-
manent basis, they argue. And that could be funded by
pruning back the excesses of exec pay.
Indeed, as businesses propagate the ‘we’re all in this
together’ mantra, huge levels of disparity in pay are set
to become harder to justify. So could we see a Robin
Hood style shake-up of pay that takes from the board
to gives to the shop floor?
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
One thing is for sure: high levels of executive pay are
already stirring up greater levels of controversy. At the
end of last month, Tesco faced one of the FTSE 100’s
biggest-ever revolts against its remuneration policy,
which saw CEO Dave Lewis pocket a cool £6.4m – the
supermarket’s highest annual pay packet in a decade.
It’s not the only one facing a backlash. Sainsbury’s
attracted criticism for handing almost £2m in bonus
shares to its senior executive team less than a fortnight
after deferring its final dividend. And Morrisons came
under fire for proposing a 24% pension contribution
rate for CEO David Potts and COO Trevor Strain, com-
pared with the 5% given to the rest of the workforce.
Bear in mind these pay packets were for the year
preceding the Covid-19 outbreak. The fallout from the
pandemic is likely to intensify feelings next year, says
Richard Lim, CEO of Retail Economics. “There’s always
a renewed focus on exec pay and bonuses when the
economy is in difficulty,” he says. “It’s not seen as the
right thing to give execs huge rewards.”
Particularly when those rewards are pitted against
the more modest hourly pay of frontline staff. “To main-
tain payments worth several million pounds a year to
individual executives will look particularly insensitive
if this is contrasted with perceived underpayment of
workers on the shop floor,” says Luke Hildyard, execu-
tive director of the High Pay Centre.
He points out these workers have helped “ensure the
country can function through the crisis at considerable
risk to their own health”. For that reason, he’s calling
for cuts to the top salaries to pay for an increase in
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 25
people supermarket pay

What the supermarkets are paying during Covid-19

Aldi Lidl Sainsbury’s Morrisons Asda

Standard pay: As
the highest-paying
supermarket, Aldi has
a minimum hourly rate
of £9.40 nationally. In
London, that rate stands
at £10.90. Plus, hourly
rates increase with length
of service. At a national
level, hourly rates rise to
£10.41 after three years,
while in London they rise
to £11.15 after two years.
Covid-19 bonus:
Operations and logistics
employees received a
10% bonus on hours
worked from early March.
That was “to recognise
their tireless efforts,
particularly during the
initial panic-buying
period”, says Aldi.
Standard pay: Hot on the
heels of Aldi, Lidl pays
£9.30 per hour outside
London and £10.75 per
hour within the M25.
Those are the rates
recommended by the
Living Wage Foundation,
Lidl says.
Covid-19 bonus: Unlike
the other retailers, Lidl
hasn’t increased pay
during the pandemic.
However, it was already
offering a high rate. Plus,
the discounter has given
all employees a £150
voucher as “a token of
our gratitude for their
hard work during this
time”. According to
Lidl, that equates to an
investment of £4m.
Standard pay: Leading Standard pay: The Standard pay: The base
the big four, Sainsbury’s standard hourly rate is hourly rate of pay stands
pays a standard rate of £9.20, with weighting at £9.18. However, Asda
£9.30 per hour following in “certain parts of the points out that rates
a wage increase in March. south east”. are higher for London
That rises to £9.55 per Covid-19 bonus: In April, workers, night shifts, and
in Greater London and Morrisons announced for “certain job families”.
£9.90 in zones one and a threefold increase in Asda also highlights
two of the capital. its bonus payments. the “range of benefits”
Covid-19 bonus: In May, Essentially, all frontline available to employees,
Sainsbury’s gave 157,000 workers will receive a 6% including a discount at
frontline workers a ‘thank bonus on their earnings Asda, discounts at local
you payment’, which for the next 12 months. shops and restaurants ,
equated to an extra 10% That will take the average and a sharesave scheme.
of pay for one month, full-time worker bonus Covid-19 bonus: In June,
based on the number of to £1,050, according Asda gave an additional
hours worked between to Morrisons – up from week of pay to all of its
8 March and 4 April. £350 last year. Morrisons employees on an hourly
Sainsbury’s said this was said that was the “largest wage. For an employee
to recognise “the hard special bonus of those working 35 hours a week
work and commitment announced over the on the base hourly rate,
of our colleagues to help last few weeks in the that would equate to an
feed the nation”. supermarket sector”. extra £321.30.

the lowest wages. “Reductions in pay for supermar-
ket executives – who could afford to be paid quite a bit
less and still remain very well rewarded – may have to
be contemplated, discussed and ultimately enacted,”
says Hildyard.
Co-op boss Steve Murrells has already taken on
board that ethos. In April, he pledged to donate 20% of
his £870,000 annual salary over a three-month period
to the Co-op Members’ Coronavirus Fund, which goes
towards food banks, funerals and frontline community
causes. Similarly, John Lewis chairman Sharon White
and other members of the top team took a 20% pay cut
from April, initially for three months. M&S has can-
celled its exec bonus scheme for 2020/21.
Not everyone has committed to going down that
route, however. Aldi says it has “no plans to change our
approach”, while others have remained tight-lipped.
Tesco promises to “give its full consideration to ensur-
ing that executive reward is fair and appropriate”, while
Iceland has “no post-pandemic plans at present”.
Whatever those plans may be, unions believe shop
floor staff should be a priority. “Millions of low-paid
workers have provided essential services to help ensure
the country is fed, healthy and safe through the coro-
“Reductions navirus,” says Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis.
In light of that effort, he wants to see hourly wages
in pay for increased to a minimum of £10 – a rate only earned by
supermarket Aldi and Lidl workers in the London area (see above).
GMB similarly believes shop floor workers should be
executives rewarded over and above board members. “The people
may have that have suffered and put themselves out are the ones
down there serving the customers,” argues Jenkins.
to be Unite, which represents Sainsbury’s workers, calls
contemplated, for “short-changed” staff to get a permanent increase to
their base pay. “In April, Sainsbury’s workers received
discussed and their annual pay increase, which worked out at a deri-
ultimately sory 10p an hour for most workers,” says Bev Clarkson,
Unite national officer for the food industry. “Some
enacted” didn’t even get this paltry amount due to the nature of
their contracts, yet Mike Coupe pocketed a £7m bonus.”
There are few who would disagree with the notion
of levelling the playing field. In reality, though, it may
be tough to push through. The coronavirus has already
incurred plenty of extra costs for supermarkets. In a
trading update in May, Morrisons warned it was oper-
ating in a “more volatile trading environment, which is

26 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

Waitrose
Standard pay: Starting
out at Waitrose,
employees earn a
minimum hourly rate of
£8.87. That increases
to £9.10 once they
become a partner.
However, the average
hourly pay for a partner
with no management
responsibilities stands at
£9.91, it says.
Covid-19 bonus: Waitrose
gave its non-management
partners and first level
managers a bonus of
£25 for each week they
weren’t furloughed in
April, May and June. That
amounted to a total of
£200 for shop floor staff,
who weren’t furloughed
at any point.
Co-op M&S Tesco Iceland
Standard pay: With a Standard pay: M&S Standard pay: Shop Standard pay: Hourly
base hourly rate of £9 pays a minimum hourly floor workers are paid an rates fall below the £9
per hour, Co-op is on a rate of £9 to shop staff hourly rate of £9, which mark at Iceland, which
par with M&S and Tesco. but stresses there are is set to increase to £9.30 pays £8.38. However,
However, that rate rises “different roles with in October. that rises to £9.21 inside
to £9.90 in London. different rates of pay”. Covid-19 bonus: In the M25. Plus Iceland
Covid-19 bonus: Extra Covid-19 bonus: In April, March, Tesco gave points out that, “unlike
pay is just one of the M&S announced it would workers a 10% bonus many of our competitors”,
measures Co-op has used give both store and on hours worked – a the rate is no lower for
to reward employees. distribution staff a 15% measure that lasted until younger employees and
The group has given its pay rise “in recognition 30 May. For shop floor new starters.
56,000 frontline workers of the work they are workers on a standard Covid-19 bonus: Once
a bonus, money to spend doing to support their wage, that equated to the pandemic hit, Iceland
and extra time off, all of teams and the national an hourly rate of £9.90. increased its basic rate
which equate to a £13m effort to help customers Employee discount was of pay to £8.72 per hour
investment. “Frontline access the products they also increased to 15% outside the M25 and
colleagues have been need”. This will end in for the month of April. £9.59 inside the M25.
amazing throughout the July. M&S also pledged Tesco said the rewards The retailer also gave
Covid-19 crisis and we that furloughed workers were “in recognition of frontline staff a 10%
felt it was important to would receive full pay, the incredible way our bonus on their earnings
reward them for working as it topped up the 80% colleagues stepped up for four weeks and
through these difficult rate provided by the to support and serve doubled staff discount to
times,” it says. government. customers”. 20% for six weeks.

costly”. That same month, Sainsbury’s said it was fork-
ing out an extra £500m as a result of the crisis.
So raising staff wages could prove an unpalatable
prospect. Indeed, despite all the talk of raising pay,
Asda is already fighting against a court ruling that
specified it should pay shop workers the same as depot
staff. And in spring, the British Retail Consortium said
it was “not the right time” to push through increases to
hourly rates. (It has since revised its position, and sim-
ply urged that wage increases don’t put jobs at risk.)
Financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown
can understand the caution around the issue. “A 10%
increase in staff cost could lop up to 25% off full-year
operating profits for the supermarkets,” points out
equity analyst Sophie Lund-Yates. A 10% increase in
pay at Tesco, for example, would equate to an extra
£626.6m in costs. “It’s also important to remember the
grocers have taken on thousands of extra staff to help
manage the crisis,” she points out. “If those staff stay
on the cost becomes even more considerable.”
There is also the issue of supply and demand.
Supermarkets all pay above the £8.72 hourly national
living wage. Lim of Retail Economics believes there
will be little incentive to increase those “competitive”
“If anything, rates as the job market shifts in the favour of employers.
“With unemployment expected to rise steeply over the
Covid has only coming months there will be a bigger pool of workers
expedited a looking for jobs,” he points out.
Steve Simmance, MD of fmcg recruitment company
longer-term The Simmance Partnership, similarly doubts wages
decision to will increase. “If anything, Covid has only expedited a
longer-term decision to cut jobs and salaries,” he says.
cut jobs and However, he believes there are other ways to improve
salaries” employee wellbeing. “I think where employers need to
invest money isn’t into pay packets but a clear strategy
from HR around wellbeing and mental health. It needs
to be made abundant and apparent to those workers
who may find their lives turned upside down.”
Mandy Watson, MD of Ambitions Personnel, stresses
that employers must make staff feel valued – whether
through pay or other means. “The ways in which they
act towards staff at this time will also remain long after
the pandemic subsides,” she stresses.
That’s a crucial point. Because supermarket staff may
not get an increase in pay but, during this pandemic,
they have most certainly increased their value.

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 27

online click & collect
Is click & collect
set to make a
comeback?
George Nott
After years of consumers preferring doorstep
delivery, the coronavirus pandemic has helped put
click & collect back on the map. But can it last
beyond the crisis? And where does it go next?
I
n its infancy, click & collect was billed as
the ultimate in customer convenience.
Pioneered in the UK by Argos at the turn
of the millennium, the concept quickly
caught the attention of the supermar-
kets. They began to offer ‘order online, collect in store’
on general merchandise, which quickly paved the way
for grocery collection, too.
But that enthusiasm soon waned. Big rollout plans
at stores were slowed or spiked. While customer take-
up remained steady, it was perhaps not the revolution
in food retailing some had believed. As home delivery
became cheaper and more widespread – some slots
were available for less than £1 – the idea of trekking
to the supermarket for an online order became signifi-
cantly less appealing to online converts.
So heading into 2020, growth of the channel was
plateauing, according to eMarketer analysis. It had
peaked, according to automated locker firm Retail
Robotics partner Marek Piotrowski, as “a curiosity, a
nice to have”, rather than an essential service.
That was until coronavirus. With online delivery
slots initially impossible to secure – at least within rea-
sonable timeframes – and risk-averse shoppers avoid-
ing stores, click & collect rose again as a crucial option.
But can it last? Can it be made lucrative? And where
does it go next?
Click & collect has proven a win-win during the cri-
sis. For customers, it offers the holy grail of avoiding
the risks of a physical store, without the long wait for
a home delivery slot. Indeed, more than four in 10 UK
consumers surveyed by retail SaaS provider Qudini
28 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020
said they were more likely to use click & collect services
at supermarkets during the pandemic.
For supermarkets, click & collect can mitigate the
impact of in-store fears. “It benefits grocers by offset-
ting revenue lost as a result of lower customer through-
put due to social distancing measures in stores and
constrained home delivery capacity,” explains Eagle
Eye head of industry insight Miya Knights. So in the
wake of lockdown, supermarkets have significantly
ramped up click & collect – sometimes known as buy
online, pick up in store (BOPIS) or kerbside collection
– to meet demand.
Tesco now offers click & collect from about 400
stores, an increase of 70 over the past few months.
Sainsbury’s has ramped up availability to more than
300 stores, an increase of 181 since the start of lock-
down. Waitrose has increased the number of stores
offering food collections by 80 this year, taking its total
to 240, more than 70% of its estate. From a trial of just
six stores in March, Morrisons is now offering click &
collect pick-up from almost 280 stores as of last month.
Co-op, which launched its online shop last year, has
“rapidly accelerated the rollout” of click & collect and
is on track to offer it from more than 650 stores by the
end of this year. Asda’s focus on growing click & col-
lect had started before the pandemic, and it currently
offers the option at 470 sites.
Speed is a key selling point of these sites. Asda led
the way with the rollout of Express Click & Collect in
January, which allows customers to shop the supermar-
ket’s full range online and collect it within one hour of
placing an order. It seems to be hitting the mark.
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
 Waitrose
Number of collection sites: 240
Format: Depending on the store, shoppers either
collect from the car park or in-store welcome desk.
John Lewis goods are also offered for collection from
Co-op and Booths, but not Waitrose groceries as yet.
Minimum spend to use: £40
Fees: Free
Time to collect items: One-hour slots
during store hours

Morrisons
Number of collection sites: 280
Format: Orders brought out from
stores to waiting customer cars.
Staff place items in boot.
Minimum spend to use: £40
Fees: Collection slot cost varies
depending on time and day, typically £1
Time to collect items: Two-hour slots

“We expected to see people picking up forgotten

items from their weekly shop, or basics such as bread,
milk, nappies and last-minute dinner ingredients. In
reality, it has been used for everything from a small
weekly shop to those just wanting to pick up a few
essentials,” said Simon Gregg, Asda’s VP for online
grocery, earlier this year.
Tesco has similarly been working to provide same-
day collections, while rivals all endeavour to offer a
next-day service. In any case, it has become far quicker
than getting groceries delivered to your door.

Collection points
Rapid turnaround isn’t the only way of delivering con-
venience, though. Supermarkets are also exploring
new collection points. These largely remain on their
premises – the trial at Underground stations proved
a harsh lesson (p31) – but with the use of technology.
Tesco is trialling a locker site where “customers are
able to enter their order number into an interactive
screen in order to open the locker door”. Asda – which
has over 80 lockers across its estate – is installing more.
Different configurations are also being considered.
While collection spots – either lockers or a van – are
typically fulfilled from the store, Tesco is now stock-
ing some direct from a CFC. Sainsbury’s, meanwhile,
is converting several convenience stores into “mini ful-
filment centres to make sure we can meet demand for
click & collect”, it says.
However they are filled, lockers seem to be big news.
Avery Berkel, which makes collection lockers for Asda
and Intermarché in France, has witnessed an

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 29

online click & collect

Asda Sainsbury’s Tesco

Number of collection sites: 470
Format: Mix of car park canopy collection
points, in-store touchscreen and
temperature controlled lockers adjacent
to stores and at petrol stations.
Minimum spend to use: £25. If
under a £3 basket charge
Fees: Standard collection free.
Same day £1. Express £3
Time to collect items: Within one hour
for express, within four for same-day
Number of collection sites: 300-plus
Format: Collection is from designated
point in car parks. Delivery vans used
to store orders at some locations.
Minimum spend to use: £40,
otherwise a £4 charge
Fees: Next-day collection free
Time to collect items: One hour, some
sites having 30-minute slots introduced
Number of collection sites: 400
Format: Mix of in-store collection
counters and wait in car park services.
One locker site being trialled.
Minimum spend to use: £25. If
under a £4 basket charge
Fees: Up to £2 depending on the time
of day and the day of the week
Time to collect items: Two-hour slots

“enormous surge of interest” in its products through-
out the pandemic, says the company’s click & collect
product manager Lee Rasberry.
Similarly, locker-maker Retail Robotics – whose
locker banks feature a separate store for frozen items
– is gearing up for “mass implementation”. Adoption
is heading towards a “tipping point” and it has a pilot
“with one of the biggest UK retailers”, says Piotrowski.
Gartner analyst Tom Enright believes it is the right
time to move fast. For him, the “significantly increased
consumer demand” must be met by the supermarkets.
“They should approach the rapid deployment or expan-
sion of their click & collect offering in a way that carries
a higher level of risk of failure than they may be accus-
tomed to. Such an approach is required to meet imme-
diate demand for the service,” he says.
If the performance of click & collect so far is anything
to go by, the risk of failure is relatively low in any case.
Asda’s click & collect volumes are up by more than
200%. Sainsbury’s says it is “fulfilling more click & col-
lect grocery orders in a single day than we were fulfill-
ing in a full week prior to lockdown”.
It’s not just about volumes, either. Click & collect can
also help with the age-old problem in online grocery:
profitability. That’s something that continues to elude
home delivery, which has come to the fore at a time
when online accounts for 11.5% of all grocery sales
according to Kantar and 13% according to Nielsen.
Bain & Company analysis last week revealed the typ-
ical in-store operating margin of 2% to 4% turned into
negative figures in home delivery. That loss could be as
“For the much as 15%, mainly due to last mile costs.
“Before the pandemic, many retailers hoped con-
retailer, click sumers’ unhurried embrace of online grocery would
& collect give them a few years to develop a business model that
wasn’t so dilutive. Now they need to find a much more
offers a much rapid fix for the broken economics of the channel – and
more cost- at the same time ramp up their e-commerce capacity
to meet the surging demand,” the consultancy says.
effective Plus, there is the risk of losses spiralling further in
model the UK. “This pandemic will have heavily accelerated
the amount of delivery vehicles on our roads and I
than home think consumers and the government are starting to
delivery” understand the negative effects of this,” says Avery
Berkel’s Rasberry. For that reason, the Department for
Transport was last month revealed to be considering a
“mandatory charge” on delivered goods ordered online
in a bid to reduce congestion and pollution.
Click & collect promises a way around those issues.
“For the retailer, it offers a much more cost-effective
model than home delivery, especially unmanned lock-
ers with very low labour overheads,” says Rasberry.
Bain & Company agrees it is a way to avoid the last
mile logistics challenge that “bedevils” delivery ser-
vices. Granted, it still isn’t profitable – but “the bleed-
ing is less severe”. The margin is estimated to be about
–5% for a grocer that fulfils click & collect orders with
its own picking from a regular store without charging
a fee. More encouragingly, click & collect orders picked
from a dark store or by a third party should break even.

30 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

 Eagle Eye’s Knights says it is “certainly more profit-
able than home delivery”, which involves temperature-
controlled vans and the risk of missed deliveries. “But
this is mitigated by whether orders are first processed
via a centralised distribution model or in a store, with
all of the associated extra store stock replenishment
and labour requirements,” she says. “Grocers must, for
example, ensure store-based picking of click & collect
orders does not affect on-shelf availability for custom-
ers visiting to buy in-store.”

Automation
There are ways to improve the economics. Picking from
a micro-fulfilment centre (MFC) boosts margins to 2%,
Bain & Company estimates. It is noteworthy that these
centres tend to be highly automated. “The more auto-
mated the supply chain processes supporting the click
& collect journey, the faster, slicker and more profitable
it is likely to be,” says Knights.
MFCs can “improve profitability of both the store and
online by shifting manually intensive and error-prone
in-store picking systems to more demand-generation
based, automated ones”, she adds.
Some technology vendors are even pitching a store
concept that is built around click & collect to fur-
ther improve margins. Alert Innovation – which sup-
plies Walmart’s picking bots – last year revealed its
‘Novastore’ concept. It features a floor for customers soon entered the pilot too.
to pick their own fresh products, while robots build Down the tubes: Between them, the retailers
their click & collect basket of other items – pre-ordered
online or on in-store touchscreens – at the same time. what went clocked up more than 10,000
orders in first 10 months.
“I’m more convinced than ever it’s the answer and will
drive a paradigm shift,” Alert’s CEO John Lert says.
wrong with TfL called it “a tremendous
success for all involved”. Expansion
Don’t just take his word for it. Supermarkets also
expect the click & collect boom to continue post-pan-
Underground to more stations seemed
inevitable.
demic. “It has been a great way to increase options for
customers to shop with minimal contact, and while we
station click & But within a year, all the
Underground station pick-up
see some of that demand dipping from current levels we
do see it continuing to be above pre-Covid levels longer-
collect? points had been abandoned. So
what went wrong?
term,” a Waitrose spokeswoman says. Sainsbury’s also The concept made good sense. “Our London customers have
says it expects usage to grow. Consumers would order groceries told us they prefer the click &
That doesn’t mean retailers can simply install a col- online and pick them up at their collect service at our stores and
lection point and rest on their laurels. As customers local London Underground station online grocery shopping,” a Tesco
are less loyal than ever, there are gains to be made by on the commute home. spokesman told the Evening
improving the experience, says Knights. “The collec- Launched in 2013, the Transport Standard in 2015.
tion process should reflect the best in-store customer for London trial piqued the interest Poor take-up was one factor.
experience, geared for speed, convenience and excep- of several supermarkets. Asda Another was the finding that locals
tional service,” she argues. “Given more customers are moved first, launching the service living close to the station – not
currently using click & collect because they can’t get at six station car parks, which commuters – were using the
a delivery slot or want to bypass the queues, making soon doubled to 12 sites. Then lockers rather than driving to the
customers wait on arrival to collect their goods is prob- Sainsbury’s followed suit, with nearest store.
ably the greatest challenge,” she says. seven sites. Not wanting to be Other remote collection pilots
Geo-location – an opt-in feature that alerts stores outdone, Tesco upped the number have been trialled and abandoned.
when a customer is approaching the store, so their of stations offering collection of its But the concept is not dead.
order can be readied – has been used in hospitality set- groceries from eight to 14. “The locker needs to be
tings and could be adopted for click & collect grocery Tesco’s then-London chief, convenient for customers,
too. “The technology exists,” Knights says. “Providing current group chief commercial but also fit effectively into the
dedicated collection and loading areas for click & col- officer Andrew Yaxley, considered supermarkets’ operations, along
lect customers within or near the store is also impor- it the “perfect way” for commuters with being efficient to load and
tant.” Loyalty programmes and rewards for customers to shop. easy to support,” explains Avery
could also be used to shift customers from delivery to Even Ocado joined in, upending Berkel’s Lee Rasberry. “As demand
the door towards click & collect. its service model and placing vans and adoption increase, we will
If click & collect is to be a long-term trend, rather than for collection at Ealing, Ruislip, also see a development of remote
a short-term blip, it is well worth getting it right. Eastcote and Woodford. Waitrose locations.”

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 31

 MAKE A DECISION
buying & supplying grocery They must realise this isn’t something slick PR can sort
out. They’ve got to jump one way or the other – Tim
Lang, professor of food policy, City University of London

British Honey Co
takes Keepr’s brand
into hard seltzers
The British Honey
Company is expand-
ing its Keepr’s spirits
brand with a trio of hard
seltzers.
The hard seltzers (4.2%
abv) are made with a
potato vodka base and
100% natural ingredi-
ents, said Keepr’s.
It has launched three
flavours – Pear & Ginger,
Pomegranate & Rose
and Passionfruit &
Elderflower – each con-
taining a hint of the com-
pany’s signature British
honey, which it said
Keepr’s is launching three
4.2% abv hard seltzers
Heineken criticised
added a “natural sweet-
ness and a deliciously
balanced taste”.
The drinks are aimed
at those looking for
lower-alcohol, low-cal-
orie options, contain-
ing up to 90 calories per
250ml can.
British Honey Co com-
mercial director Oliver
Williams said the range
would bring new con-
sumers into hard seltzers
and “trade them up from Waitrose and Aldi have both pledged never to use chlorinated chicken in any product
standard offering to our
premium range”.
They launch this week
(rsp: £2.75/250ml), with
cases also rolling out
Supermarkets told
via the British Honey Co
shop and Amazon.
It comes as the Keepr’s
brand made its debut in
to clarify position
the low and non-alco-
holic drinks category last
month with an ultra-low
alcohol gin and tonic-
on food standards
style RTD. Harry Holmes product containing chlo- own label, private label,
Supermarkets must drop rinated chicken and hor- and manufactured foods.
the “slick PR” and clar- mone-treated beef, while Judith Batchelar, direc-
ify their position on sell- Waitrose said it would tor of Sainsbury’s brand,
ing lower-standard foods
following potential post-
not lower its own exist-
ing standards on “any
told the group in a private
letter that its suppliers

over sell-by dates Brexit trade deals, cam-

Heineken has signifi-
cantly extended the shelf
life of all its kegged beer
sent to pubs – months
after it advised them to
destroy millions of litres
of beer in their cellars.
On-trade sources told
The Grocer they had
received kegs with June
sell-by dates that had
simply been extended to
later in the year.
Last month the British
Beer & Pub Association
mounted a push, backed
by Heineken and other
major brewers, to help
pubs destroy unsaleable
beer and claim back duty.
Heineken said it was
replacing kegs for free
A Heineken spokes-
woman stressed it could
only ensure the quality
of beer already in its net-
work. It was “replacing
all unbroached kegs of
Heineken product for free
with certainty the beer is
the highest quality”.
paigners have urged.
Charities and farm-
ing groups are frustrated
that most supermarkets
have not gone beyond
fresh food, such as meat
and eggs, as part of their
existing commitments.
Campaigners fear the
approach is leaving the
door open for foods such
as chlorinated chicken
and hormone-treated
beef to be sold in man-
ufactured goods and
petfood.
Aldi and Waitrose are
so far the only retail-
ers to publicly extend
the commitment beyond
fresh foods. Aldi pledged
it would never sell any
Waitrose product”.
“We’ve got Waitrose
at one end and Aldi at
the other. If you can get
both ends of the market,
what about the middle?”
said one senior farming
source.
A coalition of aca-
demics and civil soci-
ety groups including
Compassion in World
Farming and Tim Lang,
professor of food pol-
icy at City University of
London, have privately
written to supermar-
ket executives for fur-
ther clarification on their
commitments.
Lang said he wants
their pledges to go “much
wider” and include all
were “expected to meet
our Brand Standards,
which are often higher
than the standards set
out in legislation”.
Meanwhile, Sarah
Bradbury, Tesco group
quality director, wrote
“where we source from
the EU and elsewhere, we
stipulate these products
must be produced to the
same high standards we
use in the UK”.
Supermarkets are “not
going to be able to duck
and dive on this”, said
Lang.
“[They] have got to do
more than bland reassur-
ances. They must realise
this isn’t something slick
PR can sort out.”

32 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk


Waitrose ups its vegan
and veggie game with
host of new additions
Daniel Woolfson
Waitrose is upping its
vegan game as lockdown
draws to a close.
The retailer is draft-
ing in a host of new
SKUs, such as Moving
Mountains’ bleeding
plant-based burger,
oat milks from Minor
Figures, and baking kits
from Bosh.
And despite having
had to reduce its SKU
count during lockdown,
it was nearly back to hav-
ing a full range available
again, a spokeswoman
told The Grocer.
“Within vegan & veg-
etarian, we have worked
collaboratively with our
suppliers to navigate
these difficult times and
devised unique plans
for each supplier and
Finsbury cake site
goes 100% nut-free
Finsbury Food Group has
undergone a refurbish-
ment at its Hamilton cel-
ebration cake factory in
Scotland to make it 100%
nut-free.
From this month,
cakes produced at the
Finsbury makes celebration
cakes at the Hamilton site
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
when they are going to
execute this we do not
know.”
Waitrose “massively
overtrades” in the cat-
egory, the source added.
“The thing they have
done that other retailers
are starting to do well is
The retailer has drafted in depth of range.”
numerous new veggie SKUs Within the category,
Waitrose had “noticed
product type,” she said. some new customer
“As such, this meant behaviour trends over
that we temporarily the past few months
paused production of a where we have seen spe-
small number of lines to cific areas of the category
help our suppliers and perform really well”, said
still maintain a good the spokeswoman. This
range.” included vegan ingredi-
Waitrose was “due a ents, sales of which were
range review”, said one up “over 100% year on
supplier source. year” thanks to Brits’
“They have asked their newfound appreciation
supply base for samples for home cooking, as well
of NPD, although quite as fresh tofu.
Nomadic adds
Vanilla and
Choc option
site will be completely Nomadic Dairy has
nut-free, in terms of both added a Chocolate and
product ingredients and Vanilla Breakfast Bircher
preparation space. to its line-up, joining its
Finsbury said the Blueberry flavour.
investment into the The bircher comprises
“large-scale” refurbish- rolled oats soaked in
ment was a response to Nomadic’s live yoghurt,
the growing number of combined with vanilla
consumers looking for and chocolate. It will
nut-free guarantees. roll out at Co-op, Nisa
It had introduced new and Costcutter (rsp:
processes, systems and £1.35/150g).
training, which would The launch coin-
“bring consumers and cides with a significant
our retail customers increase in distribution
reassurance”, said the for Nomadic’s Yogurt and
Hamilton site’s head Oat Clusters in Tesco,
of technical Catherine where it is going into a
Swinburne. further 2,093 stores.
grocery digest
Opihr RTDs: Opihr has added a
duo of G&T RTDs to its line-up.
The drinks (6.5% abv) are: Gin &
Tonic with a Dash of Ginger and
Gin & Tonic with a Twist of Orange. They will hit
Tesco on 31 August (rsp: £2/250ml).
Katie’s banana crisps: Katie’s Food Co has
launched a range of banana crisps in four fla-
vours: Thai Sweet Chilli, Mixed Herb, Salt &
Vinegar and Himalayan Salt. Each pack is billed
as containing one of shoppers’ 5-a-day, is glu-
ten and dairy-free and suitable for vegans (rsp:
£1.49/32g).
Sekforde design: Upmarket mixer
brand Sekforde has given its bot-
tle design an update. It said the
move would reinforce the brand’s
goal to “unlock the potential of spirits”, with a
clear recommended pairing for each mixer. The
new bottle design offered consumers a “clear and
simple” solution to mixing, said Sekforde.
Just Water range: Just Water has
added a four-strong range of fruit-
infused flavoured waters. The
drinks use the same spring water
as the core product with a “dash of fruit” made
from 100% fruit extracts (rsp: £1-£1.29/500ml).
Manilife listings: Manilife has
netted listings at two of the mults
for its range of peanut butters.
Manilife Deep Roast Crunchy,
Original Roast Crunchy and Original Roast
Smooth (295g) have launched into Sainsbury’s,
while Manilife’s Original Roast Crunchy 1kg tub
has landed at Waitrose.
Thatchers Zero in JS: Thatchers
Zero will now be available in
5,050 Sainsbury’s stores after the
retailer upped its listings for the
SKU. It was initially introduced to 244 stores at the
end of May, but had increased this following
“encouraging sales performance”, according to
Thatchers.
Dead Man’s Fingers expansion:
Halewood Wines & Spirits has
expanded its Dead Man’s Fingers
craft rum brand with four new
flavours: Lime, Raspberry, Passionfruit and
Hazelnut (37.5% abv). They were “developed to
reflect the latest flavour trends”, said Halewood,
and launched this week (rsp: £22/70cl).
Lynx limited editions: Lynx has rolled out new
packs featuring tongue-in-cheek slogans such
as ‘one more time’ and ‘ready to rebound’, high-
lighting the brand’s sustainability credentials in
a “fun and quirky” way. The packs are exclusive
to Asda.
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 33
 FREE TRADE
buying & supplying fresh The UK cannot afford to stop worrying about doing a
free trade deal – Arla UK MD Ash Amirahmadi

Covid tracing expands

after outbreak on farm
Henry Sandercock symptoms, and this is Actimel 100% Dairy Free
Public health bodies why we’ve taken a pre- went on sale this week
have been forced to trace cautionary approach to
more than 100 migrant follow up workers on the Danone adds
workers from other farms same flight as the con-
following the UK’s first firmed cases.” dairy-free to
farm-based Covid-19 out-
break last weekend.
Director of public
health for Herefordshire
Actimel range
The number of posi- Council, Karen Wright, Danone has accelerated
tive coronavirus tests at said the number of cases its push into plant-based
Herefordhsire-based AS at the site was expected with the UK launch of the
Green & Co had risen to to rise but reiterated the first dairy-free variant
93 as The Grocer went to risk to people in the local for its Actimel yoghurt
press on Thursday – up AS Green & Co has reported 93 positive Covid-19 tests community was “low”. drink.
from the 73 who initially British Growers Actimel 100% Dairy
tested positive last week- be traced, according to the workers suggested Association CEO Jack Free uses a blend of
end. Some 200 workers Public Health England. those who tested positive Ward said cases on farms roasted almonds and
are self-isolating on the Seventy-six are at other were not showing symp- would be “incredibly oats along with two dif-
veg farm, which supplies English farms and have toms of Covid-19 at the damaging” but empha- ferent strains of live
beans and greens to the been offered tests by time they travelled to the sised this was the first cultures and vitamins D
mults and is also licensed PHE as a precaution. The UK,” said PHE Midlands incident at a grower. and B6.
to grow Tenderstem remaining 63 workers director Katie Spence. “There are hundreds of It went on sale this
broccoli. have travelled to farms in “We know, however, [farm] businesses who week in Asda in Mango
A total of 139 peo- Scotland. that there is a risk people have been employing & Passionfruit and
ple who travelled on “Information gathered can transmit the infec- people for a significant Blueberry flavours (rsp:
the same flight as the from both the recruit- tion before – or with- period of time without £2.99/pack of six 100g
workers have had to ment company and from out ever – developing any problems.” shots).

Berries sales soar Food shortages ‘still possible’

during lockdown in no-deal Brexit, Arla warns
Sales of berries have double-digit value sales The food sector’s resil- to stop worrying about
rocketed during lock- growth on last year for ience during the pan- doing a free trade deal”.
down thanks to good all the major berry crops, demic does not mean the Though supply chains
growing conditions and as supermarkets enjoyed UK won’t face food short- had largely managed to
changing consumer higher footfall and con- ages if it fails to agree a keep food on shelves dur-
behaviour,,says British sumers sought out trade deal with the EU by ing the pandemic, their
Summer Fruits. healthy options. the end of the year, Arla’s success was “precisely
Kantar data for the four Strawberries added UK boss has warned. because of the short, flex-
weeks to 14 June showed close to £20m in sales, A deal that minimised Arla’s MD warned no-deal ible, and well-established
taking their value to more tariffs and non-tariff bar- could lead to shortages import chains we have
than £100m. Meanwhile, riers would be the “only with our close European
blueberries added a fifth way to meet demand” months to go until the neighbours who share
to their value – taking on many key staples cur- end of the Brexit transi- our high standards”,
their market worth to rently imported from the tion period, there was Amirahmadi told The
£41.5m – and raspberries bloc, said Arla UK MD “a gap between con- Grocer.
grew 29% to £38m. Ash Amirahmadi. The sumer expectations and “In most cases, UK
The highest growth alternative could lead to the likely reality after alternatives will not be
came from blackberries, reduced availability and 31 December 2020”, he available on 1 January
Healthy options have been which shot up over 50% high prices. added, while stressing 2021 or on 1 July that year,
popular in lockdown in value and volume. With just over five “the UK cannot afford or any time soon after.”

34 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk


Fruit importers seek
new trade routes to
minimise disruption
Harry Holmes
Fruit importers have
begun redirecting
European trade routes
away from Dover-Calais
to minimise disruption
from the end of the Brexit
transition period.
Cross-channel bor-
der controls are one of
the biggest concerns for
importers, leading many
businesses to start seek-
ing alternative options.
Pandemic disruption has
also fuelled the re-evalu-
ation of supply routes.
A number of new con-
tainer routes have con-
sequently opened up
between Spain and the
UK. Spain to Liverpool
saw two new routes
launch last month, while
Tilbury has opened
a new freight ferry
Primula aiming for
swift return to stores
Long-life cheesemaker
Primula hopes to get its
products back on super-
market shelves later this
month after having had
to recall its entire range
over botulism fears.
The brand launched
the recall of its chilled
Primula traced the cause of
the botulism contamination
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
Cross-channel controls are
of concern to importers
terminal. “Over the past
few months we’ve seen
a changing in supply
chains and a real focus
on speed and frequency
of routes,” said Ross
McKissock, asset man-
ager at Port of Tilbury.
Fruit & veg growers are
particularly concerned
by cross-Channel delays
given the relatively short
shelf life of their produce.
“The Spanish fruit
and ambient ranges
in June after detecting
clostridium botulinum in
a tube of its cheese.
But after isolating the
cause of the contamina-
tion in a now-replaced
faulty part, it was now in
a position to resume pro-
duction, it said.
Primula said it antici-
pated a “short-term”
impact on its earnings
as a result of the recall.
However, a spokes-
woman stressed the
brand was “working
closely with all retailers
to be back on shelves as
soon as possible”.
fresh digest
First Milk results: First Milk has reported a
“solid” year on the back of “strong partner-
ships” with its customers, according to its latest
accounts, published this week. Group turnover at
the dairy co-op rose by 4% to £282.8m for the year
ending 31 March 2020, with operating profit also
up 4% to £7.5m. Its financial recovery in recent
years also contributed to a further drop in net
debt, down 20% to £33.1m.
Cheeshapes makeover: Kerry
industry has done a lot Foods cheese snacking brand
of work looking at this Strings & Things has undergone a
and how they might risk makeover of its Cheeshapes
manage the disruption Randoms range. Now known as Cheeshapes
of Brexit,” said Shane Quirkies, the packs contain “culturally relevant”
Brennan, CEO of the Cold shapes for kids, such as llamas, chunky trainers
Chain Federation. and tennis rackets (rsp: £1.50/per pack).
Although the UK gov-
ernment has made con- Powdered milk: Goats’ milk specialist Delamere
cessions to ease the flow Dairy has launched a whole milk powder into
of imports from January, Waitrose. Each box contains the equivalent of
exports to the EU are 3.8l of goats’ milk with a four-week shelf-life once
likely to be disrupted opened (rsp: £7.50/400g). Delamere said the NPD
after Brussels ruled out followed a surge in demand for longer-life goats’
a reciprocal light-touch milk during the coronavirus pandemic.
arrangement.
With Calais due to Highland Game Covid measures:
introduce new, largely Highland Game has invested
untested border controls, £150k in coronavirus safety meas-
food travelling in both ures. It said it had increased the
directions could be hit. number of production lines and availability of
“The problem with the PPE and had implemented new procedures and
Dover-Calais route is you training for staff. The business will also hire at
need smooth movement least 15 new employees as part of a change in shift
both ways for it not to patterns to meet social distancing requirements.
jam up,” said Brennan.
Shaken Udder promo: Milkshake
brand Shaken Udder has teamed
up with fashion chain Joules for
Müller steps
down from
an on-pack marketing campaign.
Between July and October, Shaken Udder’s 330ml
Dairy UK
bottles will carry a promotional sleeve offering
the chance to win Joules discounts or vouchers
and a family weekend away in the Lake District.
Müller UK & Ireland has
resigned from industry Naked Glory & Gousto: Kerry-owned plant-based
body Dairy UK, citing the brand Naked Glory has signed a partnership
high cost of membership. with recipe box firm Gousto. Its roast flavour Deli
The dairy giant offi- Readybites have become the main component
cially gave notice of its of two meat-free recipes from this week – Meat-
intention to quit the body Free Chicken Pad See Ew and Meat-Free Chicken
a year ago and has now Teriyaki Tray Bake (rsp: £2.98/per meal).
formally cut ties.
Due to the membership St Ewe Super Egg: Cornish egg
fee model employed by brand St Ewe has developed what
Dairy UK – determined it calls a free-range Super Egg.
by the volume of milk Said to contain high levels of sele-
processed – Müller said it nium, vitamin D and Omega-3, the new eggs are
had been “unable to rec- the result of a “scientifically developed super
oncile the cost with the feed”, according to the brand, which offers better
benefit received”. health outcomes for the hens as well as consum-
Dairy UK said it was ers. The new range is available at 100 Tesco stores
“very sorry to see Müller in the south west (rsp: £1.90/six eggs).
leave the organisation”.
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 35
focus on... male grooming
38 Sales slump
Male grooming sales see a 16.8%
year-on-year value decline. But
which sectors are suffering most?
39 Razors & blades blunted 41 Fit for a king
Bad news for the top five brands Our round-up of male grooming
– but two names are bucking the NPD features luxury shaving gear
downward trend – and Marmite body spray

The
lockdown
look

Men are ignoring their grooming during lockdown – and bushy

beards are making a comeback. Shave brands have been hit hard
Daniel Selwood to 14 June, driven by declines in skincare, fra- Grocer found nearly a quarter (23%) of men

G
uys – do you have the lockdown
look? It comprises a flaky or
greasy face, questionable body
odour and, most significantly, a
bushy beard that would make Brian Blessed
green with envy. And it’s a style that blokes
across the UK are rocking. They’re letting
their grooming regimes slide, and their bath-
room cabinets go bare.
At least, that’s what the supermarket sales
data shows. While overall value sales of toi-
letries grew 6% during the pre-lockdown
stockpiling spree, male grooming products
remained more or less flat compared with
the same period a year ago [Kantar 12 w/e 22
March 2020].
And the situation for fella-focused brands
got hairier as shoppers settled into their sed-
entary lives. Sales dived 16.8% in the 12 weeks
grances, razor blades and deodorants.
This was largely down to “the discretionary
nature” of these products, says Kantar ana-
lyst Matt Maxwell. Men working from home
and social distancing haven’t felt a pressing
need to smell nice or shave. Deodorant has
lost 19.1% of unit sales, while razor blades
– the category’s priciest sector – are down
16.6%. “We’ve seen a huge growth in people
growing beards,” Maxwell adds.
Indeed, a recent Streetbees poll for The
“A mix of home-working
and furloughs means
men have reassessed
their grooming style”
had taken to sporting a beard since lockdown
– while a further 16% of the 747 respond-
ents had grown one but since shaved it off.
That means nearly four in 10 British blokes
have dabbled with facial hair during the
pandemic.
“A mix of home-working and furloughs
have meant several men have reassessed
their grooming style,” says James Gray,
head of insights & category development for
north-west Europe at Wilkinson Sword owner
Edgewell. “This has resulted in a spike in the
number of ‘beard’ and ‘moustache’ searches
on Google. Looking at search terms around
grooming, the number of searches between
February and April in the UK doubled.”
Facial hair is a lockdown trend that makes
sense, believes Dave Lawrence, planning
partner at creative agency Brave. “Let’s
not forget that beards were proving

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 37

focus on... male grooming
Lack of grooming: male toiletries suffer in lockdown
Deodorant Razors & blades
£56.5m
(▼ 16.6%)
Shaving preps
£12.5m
(▼ 3.7%)
Source: Kantar 12 w/e 14 June 2020
● The male grooming
market lost £31m in the 12
weeks to 14 June, compared
with the same period in
2019. That’s a value decline
of 16.8%. At the same time,
unit sales fell by 17.4%.
● The category’s two
largest sectors – deodorant
and razors & blades –
suffered volume slumps
of 19.1% and 16.6%
respectively. Their total
value over that period was
£97.8m.
● These categories have
seen two of the greatest
increases in average pack
38 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020
£41.3m
(▼ 14.0%)
Shampoo
£3.9m
(▼ 21.5%)
price. Deodorant is up 3%
and razors are up 3.1%.
● Only shaving preps
have got more expensive
on average. The sector is
up 9% – though it is much
smaller in value at £12.5m.
● While skincare is down
9.2% in volume, Kantar
analyst Steph Filletti
predicts a turnaround in
its fortunes. “Due to the
long periods of staying
Kantar’s Worldpanel FMCG service monitors consumer behaviour across Great Britain. Its primary panel tracks
take-home purchases of 30,000 demographically representative households. Data on consumption habits,
nutrition and out of home sales is collected through subsidiary panels. Visit kantarworldpanel.com for details.
“With more time on their
hands, men have a little
more freedom to
experiment”
increasingly popular among men of all
ages long before lockdown began,” he says.
“Not having to go into work every day has
presented some men with the freedom – or
laziness – to experiment with beards and, no
doubt, it’ll stick with some.”
For some areas of the market, this beard
love-in has been a positive. A surge in hairy
visages implies a greater demand among
shoppers for beard care. Certainly, beard
oil has become one of Hawkins & Brimble’s
biggest sellers since lockdown, says CEO
Stephen Shortt. It marks a turnaround of the
run-up to late March, when “we were seeing
a decrease in beard products sales as men
chose to either shave once a week or daily”.
Shower Skincare For Gillette, too, beard care has been
“booming” says Daisy Gray, VP of grooming
£16.8m £16.4m for northern Europe at brand owner P&G. “It
(▼ 13.5%) (▼ 26.0%) was a trend prior to lockdown, but with bar-
bers closed post-lockdown that’s been huge.
It’s been a wonderful time for us to launch our
beard care brand King C Gillette.”
The new range – named after the man
who popularised the safety razor pioneer –
includes a wash, balm, oil and even elec-
tric trimmers to keep whiskers in check (see
p41). Having made its debut in May, it already
accounts for 20% of sales from Gillette’s
online store, Gray says.
Fragrances She concedes that beard care is still a niche
£1.1m sector, with penetration of just 1% of UK shop-
pers. However, it’s wide open for market-
(▼ 53.2%)
ing and investment, she adds. For her, new
launches will “play a huge role in driving
For the full data, visit thegrocer.co.uk awareness and education”.
In-store shoppers
at home, lack of exercise Beard products aside, though, the lockdown
and sunlight, men’s facial has made life hard for male grooming. One
skincare is likely to see a major issue is the lack of in-store shoppers.
delayed uplift due to skin The category’s value has “been mainly
dullness, roughness and dragged down by the pharmacy side because
sensitivity,” she says. retailers like Boots and Superdrug haven’t
● Indeed, Hawkins & enjoyed the footfall your Sainsbury’s and
Brimble is already seeing Morrisons have” says King of Shaves founder
“strong demand for men’s Will King.
skincare from retailers” Even in the mults, take-up of male groom-
says CEO Stephen Shortt. ing has slowed. That’s not down to fewer visi-
The brand is set to launch tors, but fewer promotions.
into Boots next month. Offers are “of particular significance”
for the category and sway purchase deci-
sions, says Chris Adkins, CEO of Shopper
Intelligence. Consumers “expect the shop
to be a quick grab-and-go experience” of a
market that is otherwise “low engagement”.
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
 Which is why shaving products and the like
are served heavily by promotions in promi- Deep cuts: value falls for leading shave brands
nent secondary sites in-store: they serve as
an essential reminder to buy, says Kantar’s
Maxwell. Fewer offers mean fewer purchases.
Top five razor & blade brands
“If you’re on a big shop, with lots of items to
Gillette (▼ 21.1%)
go after, going down the male toiletries aisle
is probably low on your priority list.” £29.1m
It’s crucial to note here that lockdown sales
struggles have been in bricks and mortar Wilkinson Sword (▼ 30.6%)
stores – which still account for the majority £4.3m
of the market.
Online is a different, more positive story, Bic (▼ 47.5%)
suppliers insist. Take Wilkinson Sword’s
razors and blades. Their value in grocery fell
£1.3m
30.6% in the 12 weeks to 13 June [Kantar]. Harry’s (▲ 18.2%)
But in the longer period of 23 March to
22 June, “we have seen an increase of 99% £0.9m
in organic traffic to our DTC site versus the
Bulldog Skincare (▲ 3.2%)
previous period, and an increase of 169%
in organic sales” says Edgewell’s commer- £0.2m
cial director for north-west Europe, Katharine
Goodchild. “We have seen an important
increase in sales of our Hydro 5 razors and Top five shave prep brands
blades and our Classic range.”
Similarly, Gillette has been crushing it
Gillette (▼ 8.2%)
online, says Gray. Even during April, when
a category slump meant some brands faced £5.6m
“a struggle to stay on sale”, the P&G giant
“saw huge growth on Gillette.co.uk, Amazon Nivea Men (▼ 9.8%)
and the retailers’ sites”. And across April and £2.2m
May, “Gillette actually had the highest web-
site traffic of any shaving brand”, she adds. King of Shaves (▼ 46.3%)
That’s in stark contrast to the £7.8m it lost in £0.3m
the recent 12-week period covered by Kantar’s
data. Though Gray admits that online is “still Wilkinson (▼ 31.0%)
small” in shaving compared with the market
as a whole. £0.1m
Other areas of male grooming beyond shav-
Palmolive (▼ 45.6%)
ing have also benefited from digital sales dur-
ing lockdown. Stephen Shortt says Hawkins £0.0m
& Brimble has seen its online sales quadru-
ple “as men and their partners choose to do Source: Nielsen 12 w/e 13 June 2020 For the full data, visit thegrocer.co.uk
their shopping online and avoid the dreaded
queues where possible”, while Harry’s DTC
service has enjoyed strong growth in “non- ● The top five razors & ● Bulldog’s increase in have also suffered. Sector
shave products like shower gel and two-in- blades brands shed a total value was down entirely to leader L’Oréal Men Expert,
one shampoo & conditioner” according to of £9.6m in the 12 weeks to an increase in average pack for instance, has seen its
VP Matt Hiscock. 13 June. prices. Its volume sales value plunge 32.6% with
● Both Harry’s and Bulldog actually sank by 8.1% in the volumes down 37.7%.
Zoom looks Skincare bucked the 12-week period. ● “The lockdown effect of
The online uplift is in part thanks to the men downward trend, but from ● In shave preps, the Covid-19 has accelerated
who have realised they can’t completely let much smaller bases than leading quintet made decline within skincare and
themselves go during lockdown. The initial their larger competitors. £1.2m less than in the same grooming categories over
temptation may have been to grow a beard The two burgeoning brands period in 2019. the last 12 weeks,” notes
and do away with grooming, but the rise of amassed a combined £1.1m ● Palmolive suffered the Timms.
remote interactions means they are facing in the past three months. worst decline in unit sales ● An increase in average
friends and colleagues in different ways. ● Harry’s fortunes are at 61.7%. price/fall in promotions has
“With video conferencing being the new down to “increased ● Outside of shaving, sales also hindered the market,
norm, men still want to look sharp and pre- distribution, with retailers of men’s skincare brands she adds.
sentable – regardless if they’re growing out a merchandising all items
beard or shaving it off,” says Caroline Mallet, together making for a
general manager at Bulldog Skincare. more efficient shopping
Blayne Shaw, owner of DTC shave startup experience” says Nielsen Nielsen Scantrack monitors weekly data from a national network of EPoS scanners to represent sales in grocery
multiples, co-ops, multiple off-licences, independents, forecourts, convenience multiples, symbols and online
Lane 44, has also seen that mentality. analyst Sara Timms. grocery retailers.

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 39

focus on... male grooming

“During lockdown,
brands have definitely
been focused on
consumers’ wellbeing”

“Guys still want to look sharp. It doesn’t

matter what the situation is, you always want
to look your best,” he says. “Whether that’s
on Zoom or meeting at the park, maintaining
your personal care routines is still a priority.”
Alex Grogan, co-founder of Man Cave, sees
another compelling reason for maintaining
a lockdown grooming regime: it promotes
good mental health. “At the beginning of 2020
we introduced health and wellbeing into our
brand outlook, with a focus on the impor-
tance of taking care of yourself as part of a
generally healthy lifestyle,” he says.
“During lockdown, brands have definitely
been focusing more on how their consum-
ers can take care of their wellbeing, be that
physical or mental. It seems that consumers’
lifestyles have become a greater part of brand
strategies as marketing messaging begins to
extend beyond just the products, and incor-
porates how the routine as a whole can have
a positive impact.”
For Harry’s, giving back is part of this ethos.
The “huge impact” of the pandemic is what
led the brand to flag up “the services and ini-
tiatives of our global non-profit partners that
we work with as part of our 1% giving social
mission” says Hiscock. “In the UK, we have
been working with Campaign Against Living
Miserably, who provide invaluable life-sav-
ing support,” he adds.
Lockdown easing
So suppliers have made laudable efforts to
help consumers mange the stresses of being
housebound. Happily, though, those stresses
are set to be fewer as lockdown rules con-
tinue to relax. With that, Unilever personal
care VP Chris Barron anticipates an uplift
in sales. “With lockdown beginning to ease,
social occasions will gradually increase and
the demand for male grooming products will
be reignited as we want to look our best,” he
says. “Hygiene will also remain a top priority
as we all keep each other safe, so we expect
products that play in this space to remain an
important purchase for consumers.”
Guys are definitely “sharpening up a bit”
agrees Will King, who predicts a return to the
pre-lockdown attitude of “I’ll dress my face
with hair as I want to”. A man’s jawline will
be sometimes stubbly and sometimes smooth
– but beards, he insists, will not be “a trend
thing any more”.
And that’s despite coming within a whisker
of a major comeback during lockdown.
King C Gillette
Launch date: May 2020 Manufacturer: P&G
This retro-inspired, 11-SKU range is named after King Camp Gillette, the US
entrepreneur who popularised safety razors at the turn of the 20th century. It
includes a shave gel, double-edge razor, beard & face wash and even a neck razor.
Available via Superdrug and Gillette’s DTC store, rsps run from £5 for a 10-pack of
razor blades to £80 for the Ultimate Beard Grooming Kit, which comprises five SKUs
including an electric beard trimmer.
Wilkinson Sword Xtreme 3 Eco Green
Launch date: July 2020
Manufacturer: Edgewell
This is the first disposable razor to use 95% recycled
plastic in its handle and 100% recycled card in its
packaging, Wilkinson Sword claims. Offering “blade
bending technology and a pivoting head”, it combines “the
functionality of the bestselling Xtreme 3 range with eco
innovation” its maker adds (rsp: £5/pack of four).
Lynx Africa & Marmite
Launch date: June 2020
Manufacturer: Unilever
This is not a joke. Unilever really has paired its best-
selling fragrance with its popular yeast spread. It’s a
combination that “no one knew they needed” says Lynx
brand lead Jamie Brooks. Created to mark Lynx Africa’s
25th anniversary, the innovation is available as Body Spray
(rsp: £3/150ml) and Shower Gel (rsp: £2.84/250ml).
King of Shaves Refillable
Launch date: June 2020
Manufacturer: King of Shaves
Two of King of Shaves’ bestselling products – Sensitive
Shave Gel and Advanced Shave Oil – are now available
in refillable pump containers made from aluminium.
Available in Waitrose, their refills come in 100% recyclable
polyethylene pouches that use up to 84% less plastic than
the equivalent single-use packs (rsps: £3.99 to £5.99).

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 41

news people
Iceland joint MD Nigel
Broadhurst resigns
Steve Farrell
Iceland’s joint MD Nigel
Broadhurst has stepped
down after more than five
years in the post.
Broadhurst resigned
on 10 July as director of
both Iceland Foods and
Iceland Topco, according
to newly filed documents
at Companies House.
It comes a month after
Iceland founder and
executive chairman
Malcolm Walker and CEO
Tarsem Dhaliwal took
full ownership of the fro-
zen food chain, buying
investment firm Brait’s
63% share in Iceland
Topco.
“Nigel Broadhurst has
stepped down from the
boards of Iceland Topco
and Iceland Foods fol-
lowing the recent buy-
out that returned the
my alternative cv
Stephanie Johnson
Founder & co-CEO, Pollen
& Grace, on the Spice Girls,
eagles and dim sum
42 | The Grocer | 18 July 2020
Broadhurst is chair of the British Frozen Foods Federation
business to 100% own-
ership by Sir Malcolm
Walker, Tarsem Dhaliwal
and their related parties,”
an Iceland spokesman
confirmed.
Broadhurst had been a
director of both compa-
nies since 2012. He was
Iceland’s buying direc-
tor before becoming joint
MD alongside Richard
What was your first job?
I was a shop assistant in
a local science store dur-
ing the weekend and
after school I made piz-
zas at a pizza delivery
shop. When I was 16 I
started an apprenticeship
as a chef alongside my
schooling. It was a very
busy childhood!
What’s been your worst
job interview? I couldn’t
pick my worst job inter-
view, but my worst job
was for the two months
of my life I didn’t work
with food. I took a job at
a car parking firm, need-
less to say it was a very
valuable lesson to always
do what you love.
What was the first music
Walker. He is cur-
rent chair of the British
Frozen Foods Federation,
a post he is due to hold
until at least November
this year.
His resignation from
Iceland also comes
months after the busi-
ness confirmed it was
reviewing its man-
agement structure.
single you bought?
Wannabe by the Spice
Girls.
How do you describe
your job to your mates?
Essentially, we’re a mod-
ern-day food service
making delicious plant-
based and 100% natural
meals and snacks.
What is the most reward-
ing part of your job?
Working with our amaz-
ing team, which is pre-
dominantly a women-led
workforce, and seeing
their personal growth.
What is the least reward-
ing part? Food safety
paperwork – essential
but very, very dull.
What is your motto
in life? I have a few.
I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H
i want that job
A spokesman said in
February the aim was
to “ensure we are run-
ning our business as effi-
ciently as possible”.
Broadhurst has spent
much of his career at
Iceland, first start- One of the leading
ing as a buyer in 1983. organic whole food
After a seven-year stint trading companies in
away from the frozen Europe, Lovenature
food chain, at Hibernia Superfoods is looking
Foods, Kwik Save and for a passionate, driven
Somerfield, he rejoined sales representative with
in 2005 at the request of great communication
Malcolm Walker. skills and excellent
BFFF CEO Richard ability to close deals.
Harrow recently credited The successful
Broadhurst with being candidate will be
an “instrumental” fig- responsible for the
ure in shaping the fro- development and growth
zen food industry. “Nigel of B2B trade sales in the
has incredible focus and northern Europe region,
the ability to be highly as well as the day-to-day
creative and innovative,” management of some
Harrow told The Grocer current accounts.
earlier this year. Interested? See p44.
Sometimes you’ve just have on a desert island?
got to jump. And some- Matches so I could light a
thing I heard Tony fire and cook.
Robbins say many years What animal reflects
ago that’s always stuck your personality? I had
with me: life will pay you to ask my mum to answer
what you ask of it. this one – she said an
If you were allowed one eagle. I see things from
dream perk, what would the bigger picture, have
it be? An unlimited sup- an eagle eye for detail,
ply of our Kimchi & Miso and like my freedom and
Noodle Soup. to travel.
Do you have any pho- What has been the most
bias? A wet dish cloth embarrassing moment
and a dirty sink. Both in your life? One of our
really creep me out. first investor meetings,
If you could change one when I didn’t know what
thing in grocery, what EBITDA was. Needless
would it be? A move to to say, I am very familiar
natural products – scrap with it now!
the preservatives and What would your death
stabilisers. row meal be? All the dim
What luxury would you sum I could possibly eat.
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

Tim Smith to head up
post-Brexit trade and
farming commission
Harry Holmes
Former FSA CEO Tim
Smith has been con-
firmed as chair of the
new trade and agri-
culture commission to
advise on post-Brexit
agriculture trade policy.
The commission will
consider policies the gov-
ernment should adopt
to ensure UK farmers do
not face unfair competi-
tion from abroad, while
“advancing and protect-
ing British consumer
interests and those of
developing countries”.
Other members include
former trade minis-
ters and food industry
representatives.
Former Tesco techni-
cal director Smith is a
non-executive director
at Cranswick and Pret a
Wilko appoints Karen Mackay
as group chief financial officer
Wilko has appointed
Karen Mackay as its
new group chief finan-
cial officer and executive
board director.
Mackay joins the home
and garden chain from
Optegra International,
where she has been
group chief financial
officer for five years. She
replaces Alex Russo,
who is leaving Wilko
to become B&M’s chief
financial officer from
November.
Mackay is an “accom-
plished financial trans-
formation specialist”,
according to Wilko.
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
meets “the expectations
and ambitions of all the
consumers, campaign-
ers and farmers who have
demonstrated over recent
months how important
this issue is.”
But the RSPCA, while
welcoming Smith’s inde-
Smith has experience at pendence, said the com-
Tesco and Arla Foods mission was a “Trojan
horse”. “We fear this
Manger. He has over 40 industry-heavy commis-
years industry experi- sion will not have animal
ence, including as CEO welfare at its heart and
of Arla Foods UK. “This instead will be a tool for
commission will bring a deregulation,” said CEO
clear-eyed perspective on Chris Sherwood.
what is fair and works for Sarah Williams of
consumers, farmers, food Greener UK said the com-
producers and animals,” mission was “little more
he said. than a fig leaf for the gov-
NFU president Minette ernment’s continued fail-
Batters said Smith’s role ure to commit in law to
would be “critical” in banning substandard
ensuring the commission imports”.
director position from
outside the Wilkinson
family owners.
“We are thrilled to
welcome Karen,” said
Wilko family director
Lisa Wilkinson. “She
strengthens our sen-
Mackay: a ‘financial ior team with not just
transformation specialist’ financial leadership but
a proven track record in
She will be account- delivering significant
able for finance, IT, cor- strategic change.”
porate services, health & Mackay said: “My
safety and loss preven- family and my home
tion functions. She is the are extremely impor-
first permanent female tant to me and as a fam-
CFO in the business ily-owned business,
and the first permanent I couldn’t be in better
female holding a board company at Wilko.”
packed with purpose
Jenny Costa
How we managed
to secure a national
listing with Waitrose
L
ast week, after years of hard work, Rubies
in the Rubble launched our hero product
Tomato Ketchup into 287 Waitrose stores.
In this column I’m going to share some insight
into how, as a small brand, we managed get over
the hurdle of getting a product on to a shelf.
We have a long relationship with Waitrose,
which is famous for supporting small and local
suppliers. In 2013, after reading about Rubies in
the Rubble in the Times, they got in touch asking
us to be a local supplier. Their local buying team
listed us in 20 stores and really held our hand:
advising us on labels, helping us set up barcodes,
and assisting us with booking delivery slots.
We developed Tomato Ketchup last year
as a strategic choice. We wanted to evolve
our product range to include more everyday
products, enabling us to have an even bigger
environmental impact. We saw a gaping hole in
the category for a sustainable offering.
It tastes like tomatoes, but a third of our
ketchup is made of surplus pears. So we’re using
food surplus, and offering a ketchup with twice
the fruit and 50% less refined sugar than leading
brands. Our goal is to provide consumers with
the choice to make a sustainable purchase.
To re-engage the Waitrose team and encourage
them to see us as a brand that can serve the
nation (not just a few local London stores), last
year we entered their Sustainability Awards. This
was a great opportunity to widen our stakeholder
relationships, grow our awareness internally,
and remind them why they started working with
us in the first place: because our values align so
well with theirs. It was fantastic that we were
a finalist in the sustainability awards, coming
second to fellow B Corp Tony’s Chocolonely.
Then, after pitching our range and brand
purpose to the condiment buyer in 2019, a few
months ago we received the news they wanted
to list not one, but three of our products (two
vegan mayos and our tomato ketchup). This
collaboration fell at the start of lockdown, just as
the foodservice arm of our business was drying
up, and was therefore very much needed – talk
about serendipitous timing!
So thank you to our long-running business
partners Waitrose and good luck to all small
brands punching for the next shelf space – let’s
make this one a success!
Jenny Costa is founder and CEO of Rubies in the
Rubble: rubiesintherubble.com
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 43
bogof
Doc highlights
heroics of
shopworkers
Some of those behind the
reprehensible uptick in
shopworker abuse ought
to spend 10 minutes
watching a new short
documentary, 294 (avail-
able on YouTube).
Directed by Dome
Karukoski, who made
Tolkien, the title refers to
a study that ranked gro-
cery workers as Finland’s
294th most respected
profession, out of 379.
The film features tes-
timony from several
Finnish workers. They
speak honestly and mov-
ingly about their fears
Russians panic
over ice cream
Russian ice cream maker
Chistaya Liniya is in hot
water in its native land,
after the chairman of the
Union of Women accused
it of ‘promoting homosex-
uality’ with its Rainbow
ice cream. Sigh.
The brand’s VP
defended the treat… but
was at pains to distance
it from any LGBTQ+ asso-
ciations, claiming it was
about “sunshine after the
rain” and that he was pro
ad of the week: Durex calls for a better ‘normal’ in well-written campaign
Condom brand Durex’s
‘let’s not go back to
normal’ campaign is a
masterclass in ad copy
writing.
The surprising tagline
(don’t we all want to get
back to normal?) grabs
the attention, before
the voiceover gives us a
strong reason why not:
normal – when it came
to our sex lives – “just
wasn’t good enough”.
It references the old
normal’s “rubbish
Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk
Respect is due:
one of 294’s
frontline heroes
tells her story
and describe how their
jobs have got harder.
Some are feeling the
weight of extra deliveries,
busy stores, and social
distancing. Customer
gripes about slowness
don’t help – especially
when they get too close.
I can eat a rainbow: some
fabulously gay ice cream
“traditional values”.
So he can stick it as
well! We’re with the
Moscow newspaper that
sarcastically called for
actual rainbows to be
outlawed in Russia.
excuses” for not having
condoms, and shaming
women for carrying
them – as well as an
alarming stat on STIs.
Over an inclusive,
sexy-but-not-too-sexy
montage, the ad’s “call
to arms… legs, bums
and private parts” is in
favour of positive change
and better, safer sex.
And who could argue
with that?
Frank, authoritative,
relatable and adult.
DONNA
PUMSEY
FOOD RETAIL EXPORT IMPORT & TRADE MINISTER
B
ravo, BoJo! Better late than never, I say.
It was high time we made face masks
obligatory in store. I mean, have you
SEEN the state of some of those shelf stackers?!
Should have been done years ago. And the move
was brilliantly choreographed, didn’t you think?
‘Fishlips’ Gove teeing up the PM’s announcement
on Sunday by saying he didn’t think masks
were necessary, immediately followed by Boris
But there are positives strapping a footballer’s jockstrap over his nose.
– chats with isolated cus- Full marks for cabinet co-ordination, as ever.
tomers and the togeth- And what would we do without lovely, fragrant
erness of their teams Waitrose, readers? With their fingers on the pulse
provide some solace. of the basic needs of the nation, Margot & Jerry (I
“This situation has assume they’re still in charge) have brought in a
affirmed the idea that my range of designer masks so that even if a Waitrose
work is important,” says shopper inadvertently strays into somewhere
one. Too right. really lowbrow like Sainsbury’s, everyone will
treat them with due deference. I’ve ordered three
– with the Oscar de la Renta logo emblazoned
Amuse bouche across them. Well, one has standards to maintain.
Meanwhile, I’ve been touring the country in
fails to amuse the Frexit electric vehicle (I’m assuming my V12
Jokes about beer brand Bugatti does have some electrical components)
Corona are now tired, merrily closing down farms. Happily, carrots
but is the world ready for can’t get Covid-19, so don’t worry your pretty little
corona canapés? heads, darlings. Think of it as good practice for 1
Fancy Chicago res- January, when Priti ‘Vacant’ Patel’s immigration
taurant Alinea served a plan will achieve Priti much the same thing.
virus-shaped unamuse- Yes, darlings, it is time to reap the Brexit
bouche in the form of a harvest in the form of another eye-wateringly
coconut ash shell spiked expensive ad campaign, £705m dropped on
with freeze-dried rasp- screwing up the border at Dover and a 27-acre
berry spike proteins – lorry park off the M2 as part of our high-tech new
to remind people of the chill chain. We voted for this, dears.
threat, the chef reckoned.
Still, judging from the
Instagram backlash: no.
18 July 2020 | The Grocer | 45