John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, wrote to the editor of the Lloyd’s Evening Post on 9 December 1772 with an analysis of the austerity affecting Britain at the time. The various causes of hardship he listed, such as unemployment, inflation, increased taxes and national debt, have an air of familiarity about them in today's difficult economic times. ...

Despite the economic gloom, food and consumer goods companies can still prosper if they follow a five step plan utilising a new model for growth, according to international food and grocery experts IGD. Speaking at the opening of the IFM conference in Paris, the chief executive of IGD Joanne Denney-Finch unveiled the plan: Involve consumers more closely in developing new products and ser...

Commenting on today’s inflation figures*, IGD’s chief economist James Walton said: “Shoppers are sure to welcome today’s announcement that the official rate of inflation – the CPI – slowed slightly in October. “Food and drink prices have contributed to this slowdown, with most items (except fish) becoming slightly cheaper over recent weeks. “Much of this may be due to price falls on global...

Business Sector Food Manufacturing Type of engagement Nestlé employs almost 7,000 people across 23 sites in the UK and Ireland. It is a subsidiary of Nestlé SA, the world’s foremost nutrition, health and wellness company. Nestlé Professional is the dedicated foodservice division. Nestlé Professional is committed to supporting the education of students entering the hospitality industr...

In September 2011, Welsh shoppers became the first in the UK to be forced to pay a charge for single-use plastic bags. Judging by the media attention this received, it would be easy to assume that plastic bags are the biggest environmental issue of our time. However, this is not the case. In fact, there are much more pressing problems for us to deal with, such as water scarcity an...

Our second annual Online Grocery Retailing conference in 2011 was attended by over 200 manufacturers, retailers and service providers.  This article provides a brief overview of the presentations at the event.  Technology will keep changing Up first was Graeme Douglas , Director of New Business Supply Chain at Asda who shared a great case study explaining ho...

New shopper research from IGD shows the number of shoppers claiming to go to discount stores like Lidl and Aldi has increased over the last year, and is set to increase further. Nearly half (46%) of shoppers claim they would use food discount stores more in the future, if there was a shop near where they work or live. The monthly survey among 1,000 shoppers also found that: 26% say th...

Business Sector DHL Supply Chain is Part of the World's Leading Logistics Group, Deutsche Post DHL. DHL Supply Chain supply to and manage retail workshops within prison establishments for prisoners serving custodial sentences in England and Wales. Typical operational activity centres on the transportation of foodstuffs into retail workshops within those prisons that store and pick goods for i...

Faced with mounting pressure on their household budgets, shoppers have continued to seek out the best value for money. Here, we draw on annualised data from IGD's ShopperVista survey to pick out some of the most significant changes in shopper behaviour and attitudes between September 2010 and September 2011. Shoppers expecting more food price inflation ...

We used to think growth was the norm. From the mid nineties to the mid noughties, consumption in Europe grew by almost four per cent per year. But since the credit crunch, sales volume for our sector is down by two per cent. People are calling this the Great Correction and no-one knows how long it'll last. So the economy won't help us. If we want to recapture growth we'll have to ...