Grocery sector news updates

  • Morrisons ditches plastic for paper bags

    Morrisons ditches plastic for paper bags

    Morrisons plans to replace plastic “bags for life” with reusable paper bags if a trial in eight stores is successful. The supermarket said the move was in response to evidence showing that reusable plastic bags, although stronger and thicker than…

  • Subsidise veg to tackle obesity – think tank

    Subsidise veg to tackle obesity – think tank

    The government should subsidise vegetables and require all public sector food to meet dietary guidelines in order to tackle obesity. The recommendations were made in a new report from cross-party think tank Demos which said too many people in the…

  • Tesco demands new rules for deforestation-free supply chains

    Tesco demands new rules for deforestation-free supply chains

    Tesco has called on the government to introduce a new requirement for all food companies to ensure their food is deforestation-free and set national targets for meat reduction. The UK’s largest grocer said that as part of its National Food…

  • New obesity strategy could be lightweight and a “waste of money”

    New obesity strategy could be lightweight and a “waste of money”

    The government is expected to announce a new strategy to help people lose weight next week, but there are fears that the focus will be on personal responsibility rather than policies that make healthy living and eating easy. A group…

  • New climate roadmap for foodservice, grocery and retail

    New climate roadmap for foodservice, grocery and retail

    Greggs and Costa are among 20 retailers to have signed a declaration to tackle climate change throughout their supply chains. They have made three broad commitments to: decarbonise their shops, distribution centres and logistics operations; reduce emissions in supply chains;…

  • Locked down householders waste less, buy fewer takeaways and ignore ‘use by’ dates

    Locked down householders waste less, buy fewer takeaways and ignore ‘use by’ dates

    People are throwing away less food, buying fewer takeaways and taking risks with “use by” dates, according to the Food Standards Agency’s first Covid-19 consumer tracker reports. The surveys, involving more than 2,000 adults and run by Ipsos Mori, are…

  • Boost for products boasting “health halo”

    Boost for products boasting “health halo”

    Sales of spices like turmeric and ginger have increased during the Covid-19 pandemic as consumers seek out ingredients that will boost their immune system. “With the coronavirus there has been a surge in interest in food and ingredients related to…

  • Consumers want beans rather than bugs and plant-based burgers

    Consumers want beans rather than bugs and plant-based burgers

    European consumers are happy to cut down on meat consumption but the products they favour as replacements might come as a surprise. Just over 40% of consumers from 11 EU countries (not including the UK) have either stopped eating red…

  • Carbon label concept begins to stick

    Carbon label concept begins to stick

    Support for carbon labelling of products continues to grow, according to research published by YouGov and The Carbon Trust. The February/March 2020 poll of 2,071 adults in the UK showed that 35% of UK consumers now feel it is important…

  • Beef fraud widespread in past two decades

    Beef fraud widespread in past two decades

    Over 400 cases of food fraud relating to the beef supply chain took place in the past twenty years, according to new analysis. The paper published in the Food Control journal monitored alerts from the Rapid Alert System for Food…