Out of Home News Analysis

  • THE FRIDAY DIGEST: A good week for fake meats; and a bad week for fake farms

    THE FRIDAY DIGEST: A good week for fake meats; and a bad week for fake farms

    “[T]here has never been such a new product on a product as iconic as the nugget,” said McDonald’s France chief marketing officer,” Jean-Guillaume Bertola this week as he announced the arrival of vegan nuggets to the menu at more than 1,500 outlets in… Read More

  • Dodgy hygiene rating displays raise regulatory questions

    Dodgy hygiene rating displays raise regulatory questions

    Businesses both small and large have been caught inflating their food safety scores, leading to renewed calls for a mandatory scheme and well-resourced regulation. By David Burrows. Food businesses have been displaying inaccurate food hygiene ratings, according to an undercover… Read More

  • Can the food system go full circle to regenerative?

    Can the food system go full circle to regenerative?

    Small-scale producers are proving there is demand for food produced in harmony with nature, but scaling regenerative approaches requires a break with business as usual. By Nick Hughes. It was on an all-too-rare baking hot day in July this summer… Read More

  • The Friday Digest: Don’t go soft on transparency

    The Friday Digest: Don’t go soft on transparency

    Transparency has been the watchword for the food industry this week after groups of businesses called respectively for mandatory publication of food waste data and reporting of the proportion of sales generated from unhealthy products (see separate news story). Campaigners… Read More

  • Sub-standard or streamlined?

    Sub-standard or streamlined?

    The Food Standards Agency’s new approach to regulating large food retailers is under scrutiny and currently there are more questions than answers. By Nick Hughes. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is grappling with a dilemma as it seeks to create… Read More

  • THE FRIDAY DIGEST: Diage-go-go-go for greener packaging

    THE FRIDAY DIGEST: Diage-go-go-go for greener packaging

    It was promised in 2021. Disappeared without trace in 2022. Almost made it into the world in 2023. But finally it is here: a paper-based bottle for Johnnie Walker whisky.  Made from 90% paper and a “very thin plastic liner”,… Read More

  • Labour builds blueprint for healthier diets

    Labour builds blueprint for healthier diets

    The new government is already pursuing a more interventionist approach to food and health policy but faces pressure to go further. By Nick Hughes. A programme of free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England will start to roll… Read More

  • Europe meats in the middle on consumption

    Europe meats in the middle on consumption

    A new vision for EU agri-food has some hot potato policies, including on livestock consumption. David Burrows reports.  Hopeful Henry. A social media post by Henry Dimbleby (co-founder of Leon, founder of food innovation investment firm Bramble Partners and, of course,… Read More

  • The Friday Digest: A crisis in climate confidence

    The Friday Digest: A crisis in climate confidence

    “Time is running out to save the planet,” reads the sobering headline from a new Mintel report that dropped into the Digest’s inbox this week. The research company’s new ‘Global outlook on sustainability’ paints a worrying picture of public desperation at our collective… Read More

  • Comment: Foreword thinking needed to bring carbon transparency 

    Comment: Foreword thinking needed to bring carbon transparency 

    Food and drink companies need to be up front about their progress (or lack of it) when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By David Burrows. My comments are not always like a box of chocolates: sometimes you know… Read More