Welcome to the July-August issue of Grocery Trader. Take-home sales at the grocers increased by 2.2% over the four weeks to 7 July 2024, according to the latest data from Kantar. Running up to the quarter-final round of the men’s UEFA European Football Championship, the latest figures show the impact the tournament has made on the sector.

READ THE JULY / AUGUST ISSUE HERE

With the school holidays fast approaching, new research highlights the crucial need to ensure children are supported during the summer gap in school meal provision. The Trussell Trust’s food banks support families year-round – with nearly two-thirds of all their support last year provided to families with children. Last summer, Trussell Trust food banks supported 430,000 people with emergency food – 160,000 of whom were children, and the charity expects to see similar demand, or even higher, this summer.

Co-op has published its first socioeconomic pay gap report highlighting the difference in pay between colleagues from different socioeconomic backgrounds, becoming the first UK retailer to do so. The report findings will inform the business’ social mobility strategy, and the actions needed to close its pay gap. The UK’s largest consumer co-operative collected voluntary data from 48% of its 57,000 colleagues across the UK between April 2023 – April 2024, using the Social Mobility Commission’s recommended method to measure socioeconomic background.

Thousands of colleagues and over 100 sponsors packed out Magazine London in early July for Barcode Festival, one of GroceryAid’s biggest fundraising events. Early indications were that the event raised £1.3 million, helping the charity continue to provide free and confidential financial, emotional, and practical support to grocery colleagues 24/7, 365 days a year. Grocery Trader caught up with Mandi Leonard, Welfare Director, and Kieran Hemsworth, GroceryAid CEO to learn more about Barcode and the work of the charity.

UK shoppers spent a total of £50.2bn on FMCG in Q1 2024, this is an uplift of 6.2% compared with the same period last year. The NIQ Retail Spend Barometer provides a complete overview of spending in the FMCG sector (ambient and fresh food and drink, healthcare, toiletries, homecare and general merchandise) in the UK. Ben Morrison, Retail Services Director UK & IRE at NIQ, comments on what is driving the growth and how he foresees the FMCG category performing for the rest of this year.

Kite Packaging, founded in 2001, is one of the UK’s largest packaging distributors and the only one built on employee share-ownership. This philosophy of partnership runs throughout the business, encouraging the team to deliver premium customer service at every opportunity. Gavin Ashe, Managing Partner at Kite Packaging speaks to Grocery Trader.

Enjoy reading the issue.

 

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