The Bulletin
CEO update
All the latest news and views from Richard Harrow Sugar
Public Health England (PHE) published its update in September on progress on the sugar reduction programme across 10 food categories. While there were some notable successes with yogurts, breakfast cereals and sweet spreads and sauces - all showing decreasing sugar content - overall on a sales weighted average across 10 categories there was only a reduction of 2.9% against a first-year target of 5% and a longer-term target of a 20% reduction. I was involved in some of the early work on sugar with PHE and it was clear one of the issues was a lack of understanding about what drove the 20% reduction target. It did not appear to be based upon scientific data or engagement with retailers or manufacturers. In the same report, PHE highlighted soft drinks have seen a reduction in sugar of nearly 29% between 2015 and 2018. There must now be concern politicians will see the only way to drive industry is through taxation. This ignores the fact that even before the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) was discussed the market for soft drinks was already seeing a significant move by consumers into lower sugar drinks.
Road map
WRAP and IGD have issued a progress update on their road map to help manufacturers reduce wastage. With a target to reduce food waste by half from 2018 to 2030, the focus has been to encourage companies to ‘Target, Measure, Act’. Some 156 companies have signed up to the plan, with 121 companies already having shared data with WRAP and IGD. Food wastage and how companies deal with it is becoming an increasingly important topic, so while we currently have 25 members involved in this initiative, I would encourage all members to consider following suit. On a recent store visit to Aldi, a senior member of staff was challenged by a customer about what they are doing on food waste. The customer said topics like this were driving his store choice. As with consumer waste I firmly believe the frozen industry has a strong message on this topic, so it is important we communicate this clearly to consumers, government and NGOs.
Aldi
Federation member Aldi was in the news in September. Giles Hurley, the CEO of Aldi UK, was widely reported in the press discussing plans to open more stores, announcing intentions to increase the number of stores in London. With 45 stores currently in London, Aldi have plans to open 250 stores, with up to 50 being the new Aldi Local format. Their current market share in London is reported as 3.4% vs 8.1% nationally. Nationally they will open 100 stores in the next two years and will invest £1bn in new stores and distribution centres.
Market data
The retail market remains very competitive and growth in any form, be it value or volume, is hard to achieve. Kantar data reveals the total market has achieved value and volume growth. Frozen is behind the total market growth over a 52-week period but has performed better than the chilled convenience sector. There’s more insight on the latest Kantar figures elsewhere in this edition of your Bulletin.
20 |
Value
Volume
Total grocery
+1.6%
+1.2%
Frozen
+0.5%
+0.3%
Chilled convenience
-0.2%
+0.1%
