Welcome to the February issue of The Grocery Trader. January was a tough month for shoppers and retailers, with the post-Christmas downs and all those bills putting the brakes on spending. Ironically given the Dry January nodrinking campaign, January was extremely wet, with the grocery supply chains heroically braving the floods affecting much of the country to deliver the goods.
This month promises to be much more upbeat from the off, with Pancake Day on Tuesday 9th and Valentine’s Day on Sunday 14th, both great occasions for shoppers to have a good time.
The brighter weather is on its way and as soon as it arrives people like to get cleaning. In our Spring Cleaning feature we look at what’s on offer to get Britain’s homes ready for the warmer days. It may be cold and wet outside but Easter’s less than two months away, and soon people will be out in their gardens sparking up the charcoal. We also take an early look at barbecues in our Barbecue Time feature. Finally we take a timely look at the Back of Store, with an update on what’s new in equipment and solutions for multiple grocers’ warehousing and logistics operations.
It’s always good to report innovative British brands doing well with our major retailers. On our front cover we have the story of how NANNYcare, a firm favourite with parents looking for an alternative to conventional infant milks, has caught ASDA’s eye. Championing the use of goat milk in infant feeding, NANNYcare has experienced steady growth following the change to EU legislation recognising goat milk as a suitable base for infant feeding. Parents recently voted NANNYcare Follow on and Growing Up milks into the TOP 10 Baby Food Category for the 2015/16 edition of the Top 100 Baby Products Guide.
In another British success story on our front cover we reveal how multiCIG, a British independent e-cigarette brand is giving Big Tobacco a run for their money, racing up the sales rankings to become our biggest independent producer of electronic vaping devices. Nielsen data confirms multiCIG as the largest independent e-cigarette brand in the UK, and the fifth largest brand overall. multiCIG also shows the biggest sales increase in the category, up 2,882%, compared to its Big Tobacco rivals and the other independents.
Have a good month.
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