Grocery sector news updates

Tesco’s sustainable diet commitments should extend to Booker
Tesco has set a target to increase the proportion of sales from ‘healthier products’ from 58% to 65% by 2025. The UK’s largest supermarket will also increase sales of plant-based meat alternatives by 300% by 2025. Two thirds (66%) of…
Manufacturers hit climate targets ahead of schedule
Food manufacturers have set revised targets for reducing carbon emissions after hitting a 2025 ambition five years earlier than planned. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said food and drink companies achieved a 55% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2019…
Tesco faces investor backlash over healthy foods
Investors are calling on Britain’s largest supermarket to set targets to increase the proportion of healthy products it sells. Tesco is under pressure from a coalition of institutional and retail investors to disclose the share of total food and non-alcoholic…
Supermarkets under pressure to axe toxic chemicals
Supermarkets are being urged to remove food packaging containing a group of industrial chemicals from shelves amid growing concern they risk reducing the efficacy of vaccines and causing long-term environmental harm. Almost 12,000 people have signed a petition urging the…
Consumers fear more UK-based industrial farms
Consumers are worried about US meat arriving in the UK. However, they are also concerned that more UK farms are mimicking the ‘industrial-sized’ units from across the Atlantic. In a January 2021 survey by the Soil Association, 38% said ‘US-style…
Food giants join covid recovery council
Unilever, Tesco and Prezzo are among the companies represented on a new government business council established to “build back better” after the coronavirus pandemic. The prime minister chaired the first meeting of the new council this week which aims to…
Making a meal of worms
Dried yellow mealworms are safe to eat, according to the European Food Safety Authority. However, they may cause allergic reactions in people with allergies to crustaceans and dust mites. The European Commission will now consider the assessment before final market…
Recycling trumps romance in New Year’s resolutions
Better recycling and eating less meat are among the most common New Year’s resolutions for Brits, according to a new survey. Environmental charity Hubbub polled 3,000 people from a cross-representation of society asking what changes they planned to make in…
Supermarkets under fire following CEO pay gap report
The average FTSE 100 CEO is now paid around 126 times the average UK worker, compared to ‘only’ 58 times in 1999. Ocado boss Tim Steiner actually pocketed 2,605 times the £22,500 average one of his staff earns. “Put another…
Net zero used as “veil to disguise climate inaction”
Covid-19 has increased the urgency behind business efforts to decarbonise but there remains a gulf between ambition and action, new research has found. A survey of sustainability leaders by consultancy South Pole found that most organisations’ climate mitigation efforts have…