Tag: supermarkets

Panic buying could force Food Bank closures

‘THERE IS ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE IF WE ALL WORK TOGETHER’

Food banks are facing huge challenges due to panic buying caused by public fears over the coronavirus.

Over the last week there have been growing shortages on supermarket shelves as worried shoppers stockpile tinned goods, pasta, toilet rolls and other essential goods – despite an appeal for common sense.

Major supermarkets responded to what is bordering on mass hysteria by issuing a joint letter yesterday:

Panic buying is having a serious effect on food bank stocks and there are fears that some may have to close unless some sanity is restored.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust said last week: “Time and again over the past decade, food banks across the UK – aided by a generous public who have donated time, food and money – have stepped up to protect people on the lowest incomes in our communities. But with the spread of coronavirus we all now face an unprecedented challenge and uncertain future.

It is possible that food banks will face increased demand as people lose income, at the same time as food donations drop or staff and volunteers are unavailable, due to measures rightly put in place to slow the spread of infection. All of this comes when food banks are already dealing with a record level of need for emergency food.

“We’re working with our network on how best to support people as the situation unfolds. Wherever possible, food banks will continue to provide the lifeline of emergency food to people unable to afford the essentials and we encourage the public to continue donating after checking with their local food bank what items are most needed.

“We welcome the Department for Work and Pensions’ measures that will not penalise or sanction people for self-isolating, but we ask our government to go further and consider additional measures they could take to ensure everyone has enough money for essentials at this challenging time.  Ending the five week wait for a first Universal Credit payment would be one such measure that could help significantly.”

Waitrose is top of Which? supermarket rankings

 

Waitrose has been rated the best UK in-store supermarket again in Which?’s annual supermarket satisfaction survey.

Waitrose scored a maximum five stars in almost every category – from ease of finding products and fast-moving queues, to friendly staff and the appearance of its shops – and was only let down by a two-star score for value.

Waitrose has now secured the top position in the Which? rankings two years in a row – holding onto the crown despite the increasing popularity of the likes of Aldi and Lidl.

In the Which? survey of more than 14,000 of its members, Asda was rated the worst, finishing at the bottom of the consumer champion’s rankings for in-store grocery shopping. 

The consumer group found that shoppers like Asda’s range of goods in store, but clearly want more recyclable packaging and products without packaging, as the store received only one star for this aspect.

The survey revealed that Asda provides neither the noteworthy store experience of Waitrose or Marks & Spencer nor the value of Aldi or Lidl. Asda scored just two stars for the quality of its own-label products.

Marks & Spencer lived up to its reputation for quality when it comes to food and drink, scoring five stars for both its own-brand and fresh produce. Its overall customer score of 73 per cent places it just below Waitrose, not managing to quite match its rival’s superb in-store experience or product range. Marks & Spencer wasn’t able to match Waitrose for ease of finding products, queues or staff availability.

Aldi and Lidl were rated best for value, both receiving five stars. The two supermarkets are seen as the best for those wanting more for their money, with rock-bottom prices making customers much more forgiving of their less-impressive traits, such as long queues, or unhelpful or hard-to-find staff.

One Aldi customer said: “It’s not a pleasant place to shop, but value for money is exceptional.”

Morrisons and Sainsbury’s came mid-table, with Tesco sliding in just below and Iceland coming in second-to-bottom. Shoppers told Which? that they like Iceland’s value for money, but this was not enough to boost its score overall. The supermarket failed to impress with its fresh produce or product range, and got just one star for availability of recyclable packaging.

The Which? study also found that when shopping in store, people were most frustrated by waiting for help at self-service checkouts (26%) and by a lack of staffed checkouts (25%).

Ocado, the UK’s only purely online supermarket, scored highly in the Which? analysis of online supermarkets and was the only supermarket endorsed as a Which? Recommended Provider, but was not included in this analysis.

Harry Rose, Editor of Which? Magazine, said: “The quality of fresh products is the single most important factor for our members when choosing where to shop in store, and this is just one of the areas where shoppers have told us that Waitrose excels.

“There’s clear room for improvement for the ‘big four’ – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda – as they continue to trail behind Waitrose and M&S for experience, and behind Aldi and Lidl on value.”

Fuel prices rise in January – despite big fall in wholesale costs

  • Supermarkets raise fuel prices every day until an overdue 11th-hour cut
  • January fuel price rise is the second consecutive monthly hike 

Despite the wholesale cost of petrol and diesel falling in January, the average prices charged at the pumps of the UK’s four biggest supermarkets actually INCREASED every day until a cut was finally announced at the end of the month, according to data from RAC Fuel Watch*.

The wholesale price of unleaded fell by over 4p (4.23p), and diesel by a whopping 7.5p, across the month, dropping from 97.22p – before delivery, retailer margin and VAT – at the start of January to 92.98p at the end. Diesel went from 102.26p to 94.74p.

This should have led to a price reduction at the pumps during January, but instead retailers put their prices up leading to the second consecutive monthly rise of both fuels. The average UK price of petrol now stands at 127.60p – up a penny (0.92p) from the beginning of January (126.68p).

Diesel also increased by a penny (0.96p) to 132.04p from 131.08p. At the supermarkets, however, unleaded averages 123.69p (up 1.51p) and diesel 128.14p (up 1.30p).

Wholesale petrol averaged 96.57p a litre over the month, and diesel 100.19p, with both dropping sharply towards the end of January as a result of oil going below $60 a barrel for the first time since the end of October. A barrel of crude closed out the month at $56.59 – the lowest price since 8 August 2019 – due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on global demand for oil.

Comparing the average wholesale price of petrol to the average pump price throughout January (127.82p) means delivery, retailer margin and VAT accounts for 31.82p. Of this, VAT equates to around 21p, delivery at 2p a litre, which means retailer margin is around 9p a litre – 4p more than it has averaged since 2013.

The cost of filling up a 55-litre family car with either fuel is now 50p a tank more expensive than December: petrol is now £70.18 – and £72.62 for diesel.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Based on steadily falling wholesale prices January should have been a good month for drivers at the pumps, but instead they ended up being paying well over the odds at the pumps. In fact, January was a perfect example of ‘rocket and feather’ pricing where prices go up far faster than they come down.

“Retailers were very quick to protect themselves from a slight jump in the price of oil caused by the tensions between Iran and the US at the start of January by putting up forecourt prices, but when the cost of a barrel dropped back, for some reason, retail prices carried on going up.

“Our biggest retailers – the supermarkets – blatantly resisted passing on the savings they were making to drivers until the RAC publicly called on them to do so on 27 January when RAC Fuel Watch data showed there was scope for a large cut. Two days later a headline-grabbing 3p a litre cut was announced.

“This was clearly good news, but it’s hard to congratulate retailers on doing something they should have done at least a week before. Even since the cut pump prices are still out of kilter with what’s been happening on the wholesale market. As things stand now – despite the cuts – petrol is still 5p too expensive and diesel over 7p too dear.

“We strongly urge retailers of all sizes to play fair with drivers and cut their forecourt prices. Going forwards we call on them to charge prices that more closely mirror drops in the cost they buy fuel in at in the same way they do when prices go up.

“Sadly however, drivers are at the mercy of fuel retailers and this generally means they lose out on getting a fair deal.”

Edinburgh and Lothians Aldi stores to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and veg

Aldi stores in Edinburgh and the Lothians are to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and vegetables in an effort to cut single-use plastics.

From the end of November, more than 14 stores across Edinburgh and the Lothians will offer the bags as a more sustainable alternative to single-use plastic. Continue reading Edinburgh and Lothians Aldi stores to trial reusable bags for loose fruit and veg

Local MSP sets up shop in supermarkets

Edinburgh Northern and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson is holding a series of advice surgeries in supermarkets around the constituency. These pop-up surgeries aim to give more constituents the opportunity to talk to Ben about any issues, concerns or ideas they may have. Continue reading Local MSP sets up shop in supermarkets

Local Morrisons stores spared the axe

Morrisons names eleven stores to close

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Morrisons has revealed the stores it plans to close, a week after announcing ‘disappointing’ sales figures – a 47% drop in half-year pre-tax profit to £126m..

The supermarket giant announced plans for the closures last week as part of an attempt to revitalise the business, but has only now revealed which stores will be close. The retailer said it was also selling 140 loss-making “M” local convenience stores for about £25m.

Local stores at Granton Waterfront and Ferry Road are not affected – the stores to close are all in England. They are: Burnham-on-Sea, Castletown (Sunderland), Clevedon, Little Hulton, Northallerton, Oldbury, Salford, Shildon, Streatham, Tyldesley and West Bromwich.

There was no announcement about the date of the closures, but up to 900 members of staff will lose their jobs.

Chief executive David Potts said he regretted the closure of the stores. “This is a difficult decision, but one which we cannot see any way through to make those stores viable,” he said.

 

Plastic carrier bags to help keep Scotland beautiful

beautifulSupermarket chain Tesco has announced that the environmental charities Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy will benefit from an estimated £1.8m raised from carrier bag charges.

Compulsory charging for plastic carrier bags is to be introduced in Scotland next month. It is already in force in Wales, where it has raised more than £2.3m to support wildlife charity RSPB’s conservation work since 2011.

More than 27,000 Tesco customers took part in the vote to choose the beneficiaries of the levy, which is expected to be worth about £1m in Scotland and about £800,000 in Wales. Both charities, which were chosen from a list of 120 organisations, are planning to use the money to fund a variety of projects to keep local communities clean, green and tidy. The partnerships will run from 20 October 2014 for at least a year.

Greg Sage, community director for Tesco, said: “Our customers are the ones who will pay the charge, so we really wanted them to choose the charities that will benefit from it. The response was had was absolutely incredible – 27,000 people voted which is a fantastic turnout.

“Since 2011, the carrier bag levy in Wales has raised over £2.3 million for the local RSPB, which has been used for vital conservation work. Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy now have a fantastic opportunity to use the money raised from the bag charge to make a real difference to the communities they serve.”

Derek Robertson, chief executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB), said: “This is fantastic news for KSB and a tremendous opportunity for Scotland, a country whose people, organisations and institutions have really wrapped their arms around KSB and shown that they care about their environment by voting for Scotland’s own environmental charity.

“We would like to thank everyone who voted for us. We cannot wait to get started. Lots of local community groups and organisations that work in partnership with us, from all across Scotland, will benefit from this funding.”

Nominations also opened this week for the 2014 Tesco Charity Trust Community Awards Scheme, worth £200,000. The scheme will make one-off donations of between £500 and £2,500 to registered charities and not-for-profit organisations for working on local projects that support health, opportunities for young people and environmental sustainability.

Morrisons to offer online shopping

Morrisons, the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket chain, is to launch an online grocery service.

Morrisons is currently the only one of the big four – Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s are the others – not to offer an online shopping option to their customers, but a deal with internet grocer Ocado will see it offer the new service by January next year.

Delivery vans will carry the Morrisons brand, with Ocado supplying logistical support from it’s distribution centre in the Midlands.

Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips told BBC Radio 4:  “This is a very good transaction for both parties. We’re going from a standing start to the fast lane in the blink of an eye.”

Business analysts Conlumino predict that the total food and grocery market is forecast to grow 22% from £127bn to £155bn by 2017, with online food sales are expected to grow by nearly 70% over the same period, from £5.9bn to £10bn. Almost 30% of people in the UK now shop online for food and groceries.

Ever tried online grocery shopping? What’s the verdict? Let us know!

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