Welcome to the March-April issue of Grocery Trader. Aldi is raising pay for store colleagues for the second time this year, extending its position as the UK’s best-paying supermarket. Its new national minimum rate of £12.40 an hour for Store Assistants and Deputy Store Managers is the highest level of entry pay ever to be paid by a British supermarket. The supermarket became the first UK supermarket to pay all store and warehouse colleagues at least £12.00 an hour nationally, and £13.55 within the M25, in February.

READ THE MARCH / APRIL ISSUE HERE

Joining huge names in retail such as Boots, Tesco, Holland & Barrett and Sainsbury’s, Morrisons is the latest UK retailer to partner with GenM, the menopause partner for brands and home of the MTick. This partnership will see Morrisons transform how they cater to the UK’s 15.5 million menopausal women, playing their part in delivering a trusted, vibrant and inclusive menopause marketplace to meet the demands of this underserved and overlooked audience.

Sainsbury’s has revealed its ambitious new targets for decreasing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These have been verified by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the global body that sets requirements for and approves emission reduction targets. Back in 2020, Sainsbury’s was one of the first UK retailers to set SBTi validated targets.

In 2024, the retail landscape is witnessing the next phase of evolution in digital insurance distribution, with major supermarkets at the forefront of this transformative trend. As large retail brands expand their insurance propositions, the focus is on digital distribution and relevance, and many are exploring the new horizons offered by embedded insurance not only in terms of diversifying their revenue streams but also enhancing relevance and value for their customers, writes Alex Astengo, UK Country Manager at Root in a special report.

News of the government’s recent announcement to ban disposable vapes has rocked the UK vape industry. In what could be considered a knee-jerk reaction aimed at swaying votes, we have not even seen the results of the consultation last year, and already, sweeping new regulations have been announced. Lee Bryan, co-founder of Arcus Compliance, suspects that the UK general election looming has been the catalyst for this dramatic turn of events, he writes in a special report.

The global food supply chain has started 2024 on a precarious note. An ongoing shipping crisis in the Red Sea has created major disruptions, putting further strain on supply chains that were already squeezed by factors like the war in Ukraine and conditions linked to climate change in the Panama Canal, where drought has lowered water levels, causing delays and weight restrictions on cargo, writes Eric Linxwiler, Senior Vice President of TradeBeyond.

Enjoy reading the issue.

George Simpson

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