Sainsbury’s asks customers to keep masks on as UK government lifts mandate

As the UK government lifts mandatory masks in public settings on Monday, one supermarket chain says it will strongly encourage customers to keep them on. Officials at Sainsbury’s say they will ask its shoppers to continue to put on face coverings as they shop at stores, providing an extra layer of protection for themselves, other […]

UK retail food and grocery market growth to slow sharply

In its annual retail food and grocery market forecast, IGD predicts that the growth in 2020 will slow this year and the next, as shoppers economize and the foodservice industry reclaims sales. The unprecedented 8.5% growth last year is predicted to drop to 1.7% in 2021 and then to 0.9% in 2022. This sharp decline […]

U.S.: Lidl Builds Sustainable Presence by Listening to Customers

Today’s consumers are focused on produce purchases that fit their lifestyle and improve their health, but environmental sustainability is becoming an important buying factor too. And that’s something Retail Sustainability Award winner Lidl US is embracing in a big way. At a time when COVID-19, a related recession and a major lifestyle realignment have made consumers rethink […]

Retail Roundup: Fruit and Veg Challenge for Summer, Plus Expanding Refillable Ranges

Sainsbury’s has revived its “Great Big Fruit and Veg Challenge” this summer for consumers through the Nectar app. The promotion, which runs through 28 June, provides bonus points for shoppers who purchased fresh produce that can be used at Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habit stores. The Nectar app helps customers track typical purchases and helps let […]

Report: Amazon expected to eclipse Tesco as top UK retailer by 2025 as online grows

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According to a new report released by Edge Retail Insight, Amazon will overtake Tesco as the UK’s top retailer within the next four years. Though Tesco’s current sales are nearly double that of Amazon’s (£64bn compared with £36.3bn in 2020), the newer retailer is quickly gaining ground on its competitor. Edge by Ascential, whose research […]

Consumer demand helps spark increase in organic land conversion

As shoppers are changing their habits toward embracing more organic food, so too are farmers across the UK, according to the latest Organic Statistics for 2020 report from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). There has been a more than 11% increase in the conversion of land to become certified organic – […]

Healthy food campaigns aimed at kids, adults, kick off in UK

Two campaigns to get UK consumers and kids to eat more healthy foods have kicked off – with retailer Sainsbury’s launching a new brand effort called Help Everyone Eat Better and ITV and Veg Power combining forces on the third year of Eat Them To Defeat Them. Sainsbury’s will deliver its advertising initiative around the […]

Retail roundup: Asda CEO Burnley stepping down after this year

Asda first supermarket to trial plant-derived coating on fresh produce

Asda CEO and President Roger Burnley said he is exiting the business next year once the supermarket makes its full transition to new owners the Issa brothers and TDR Capital and once they have a successor in place, the company said. Burnley, 54, who joined the company five years ago, has been the chief executive […]