Month: May 2014

In the United Kingdom, there is renewed attention to the possibility of reducing restrictions on Sunday hours for large stores. Right now, stores over 3,000 square feet are legally restricted to six hours of trading on Sunday. in the UK, the politics around the issue of Sunday closing are unprincipled. In other words, those who have only or mostly large stores want the ban lifted on Sunday sales. Those that have small stores and thus benefit from restricted competition want restrictions maintained. …

The UK is a market where almost all the produce is packaged. Yet it is also a market where most of that packaging, whether in clamshells or other plastic packaging carrying only a small label or store brand, does very little selling. That sounded like an opportunity to us, and we knew just where to turn: Packaging guru par excellence, Lisa Cork. We asked Pundit Investigator and Special Projects Editor Mira Slott to find out more. …

In preparation for the upcoming London Produce Show and Conference, we’ve been spending a good amount of time in the UK, and a fair amount of that time has been spent visiting retailers. As the battle has been painted, you have the so-called “Big Four” — Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA and Morrison’s — struggling, while deep discounters, such as ALDI and Lidl, and upscale chains, such as Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, gain market share. This is all true, but we wonder if Whole Foods isn’t a sleeper in the market, one deserving of much more attention. …