~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (27)

Moves come despite hospitality group reporting record profits and increasing returns to shareholdersBusiness live – latest coverageThe Premier Inn owner Whitbread is to cut 1,500 jobs in the UK and shut more than 100 struggling restaurants despite announcing a significant rise in returns to shareholders.Whitbread, which runs 850 hotels in the UK and has the sector’s biggest brand, Premier Inn, said it was starting...

Company, which also makes Quality Street, says reducing sugar, salt and fats could harm ‘strategic freedom’Business live – latest updatesNestlé faces a resolution at its AGM on Thursday that could force the world’s largest consumer goods company to cut back on high levels of salt, sugar and fats in its food and drinks.The Swiss-headquartered multinational is urging investors to reject the proposal, arguing a...

Swiss food firm’s infant formula and cereal sold in global south ignore WHO anti-obesity guidelines for Europe, says Public EyeNestlé, the world’s largest consumer goods company, adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in many poorer countries, contrary to international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases, a report has found.Campaigners from Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organisation, sent...

Rules due to come in this month will impose new handling fees – and experts say small suppliers are already being driven awayMinisters’ decision to impose Brexit import checks on 30 April will lead to shortages of some foods, flowers and herbs, industry leaders have warned.In the week after the government was accused of blindsiding the British food industry by giving 27 days’ notice...

Health experts say government must step in to cut sugar in beverages and tackle manufacturers’ ‘appalling’ behaviourFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAn increase in sugar in two popular soft drink brands has prompted health experts to renew calls for laws to cut the sugar in beverages, and to tackle...

Fees of up to £145 on EU animal and plant products through Dover and Folkestone begin on 30 AprilBusiness live – latest updatesTrade groups have warned that consumers could see a rise in food prices after the UK government announced the introduction of post-Brexit charges on imports of EU food and plant products later this month.The government has published details of fees – known...

Study shows delivery apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eat still popular after pandemic boom in ordersDelivery app riders pedalling through cities and tailbacks at drive-throughs were familiar signs of Britain’s hunger for takeaway food at the peak of the Covid pandemic. Now a study suggests it became an enduring habit.After a boom in orders on Deliveroo, Just Eat and other platforms by locked-down...

Experts say the global shortage of the main ingredient of chocolate is linked to poor conditions for farmers supplying large companiesEvery Easter, UK consumers collectively spend more than £1bn on food, drink, gifts, entertainment and about 80m chocolate eggs, racking up an average bill exceeding £50 each. But shoppers this year are paying more than usual: since last Easter, chocolate prices have increased by...

Waitrose and Ocado win new shoppers while a quarter of households are feeling the squeezeBusiness live – latest updatesGrocery price inflation in Great Britain has slowed to 4.5%, its lowest level since February 2022, but one in four households are still struggling financially, retail researchers have found.The upmarket retailers Waitrose and Ocado were the only grocers to win new shoppers in the past three...

Exclusive: new role created after Guardian uncovered allegations against company’s security guardsA vast Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya that supplies most British supermarkets is advertising for a human rights manager to address its “human rights challenges” in the wake of allegations of killings and violence by its security guards.The job advert says the candidate will need to “develop a detailed action plan to...

Magnum to Marmite consumer goods group plans productivity programme to save £684mBusiness live – latest updatesUnilever is to cut 7,500 jobs globally as part of an overhaul aimed at saving about €800m (£684m) over the next three years.The consumer goods company, whose brands range from Marmite to Dove soap and Lynx deodorant, employs 128,000 people worldwide, including 6,000 in the UK. Continue reading...

Exclusive: King’s Fund issues challenge as poll finds two-thirds of people want firms to be forced to cut sugar, salt and fatBritain’s political parties have been urged to show courage by forcing food producers to make their products healthier, as new polling shows two-thirds of voters back the move.Compelling food manufacturers to strip out large amounts of fat, salt and sugar would help “denormalise”...

Producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling inflationFood industry trade bodies are discussing whether to take legal action against the government over post-Brexit plans that will require all meat and dairy products sold in the UK to be labelled as “not for EU”.Food producers say the labelling could add £250m a year to their costs, further fuelling...

Cianni brothers aim to change minds with Italy’s first company to produce flour from crickets for human consumption“Go on, try it, it is good,” said José Francesco Cianni as he handed over a packet containing a light brown powder with a crispy texture. “I would even say it is really good.”Sitting in his office in a pristine warehouse-like building, down the corridor from five...

Exclusive: Data shows costs have contributed to value of meat exports falling by 17% since 2019Food businesses sending products to the EU have had to fork out an extra £170m in export costs because of Brexit red tape, with the changes described as being “catastrophic” for some exporters.Data shared with the Guardian shows that in the three years since leaving the single market, exporters...

Competition and Markets Authority launches full-scale investigation after finding costs have risenThe cost of infant milk remains at “historically high” levels despite some price falls in recent months, Britain’s competition watchdog has said, as it launched a full-scale investigation into baby and toddler formula.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found in November that the average price of infant formula had risen by 25% in...

British producers to back EU’s proposed regulations to stop trade in adulterated honeyBritain’s beekeepers are backing ­proposed new rules to combat fraud in the supply chain, ensuring a jar of honey can be traced on its journey of up to 5,000 miles from the beehive to the shop shelf.The European parliament has agreed new labelling rules and a project to establish a traceability system...

Inspired by French action, British campaigners say they will continue slow tractor protests after Dover roads were blockedFarmers say there will be further French-style blockades following a slow tractor protest at Dover against low supermarket prices and cheap food imports from post-Brexit trade deals.Around 40 tractors and other farm vehicles blocked roads around the Kent port for several hours on Friday evening by driving...

Authority weighs up legal action against government over new checks on imported meat taking place 22 miles inlandThe Port of Dover could become a target for criminals smuggling illegal and diseased meat into the country under new post-Brexit plans that will involve lorries from the continent being checked 22 miles inland, the port’s health authority has warned.The Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) is now...

Exclusive: Investigation uncovers claims Del Monte representatives offered bribes in attempt to persuade men to back company’s version of events‘Pain of a mother’: families demand justice after deaths near Del Monte farmRepresentatives of Del Monte Kenya have been accused of offering bribes in an attempt to cover up the circumstances in which four men died after going to steal pineapples from its farm in...

Requirement for importers to give 24 hours’ notice of deliveries described as ‘unfeasible’ by suppliersNew Brexit border rules could cut the shelf life of fresh food from mainland Europe by a fifth and leave some deliveries from the EU unsaleable, major food bodies have warned.The SPS Certification Working group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn of the UK’s food supply, has said new...

Exclusive: Test case likely against UK’s seasonal worker scheme as charity alleges breach of right to be protected from labour exploitationWhen Ismael found himself sleeping rough at York station in the late October cold he struggled to understand how an opportunity to pick berries 7,000 miles from his home had so quickly ended there.He had left Indonesia less than four months earlier, in July...

Price rises help lift profits as sales of its sparkling wine soar but still products slideBusiness live – latest updatesEnglish sparkling wine maker Chapel Down toasted a 14% rise in sales last year to £15m as the company said homegrown fizz makers had grabbed share from champagne.The Kent-based vineyard, which listed on the Aim junior stock market last month, said it had increased sales...

Exclusive: NFU warns blanket import checks from April could fuel long delays and damage future cropsThe UK’s fruit and flower growers face an “existential threat” from new post-Brexit border checks that could damage business and affect next year’s crops, the country’s biggest farming body has said.The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) warned that changes to import rules in April, which will impose checks at the...