Last week, the chief executives of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer, convened in London for the IGD’s annual convention where the likes of Philip Clarke, Justin King and Marc Bolland discussed the key issues facing the industry. Elsewhere, William Jackson Food Group expressed its delight at securing ownership of Abel & Cole, German food company Zertus bought confectioner Zetar, while Paramount Foods went into the hands of administrators.
“The question I started off addressing was: is now the time to invest or save? I think the real answer is both but more boldly then you have done before” – Matt Hill, president of Heinz UK and Ireland acknowledged businesses faced a “challenge” in finding the resource but urged the sector to be “bold” in the choices they make.
“We’ve just given every single one of store managers an iPad to enable them to spend more time on the shop floor, selling products, coaching colleagues, walking aisles with customers” – Asda’s COO Judith McKenna indicates Asda’s move on wifi could also make the way the retailer runs its stores more efficient.
“The digital revolution is transforming the way we shop and the way we think about brands and retailers” – Tesco CEO Philip Clarke believes social media networks are changing the way consumers view brands.
“We must not lose the focus of where a huge amount of business is still done and how we improve engagement in all the different elements and the whole shopping experience” –Jan Zijderveld, president of Unilever’s operations in Europe believes there is a revolution taking place in the way people are shopping.
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“Abel & Cole has some exciting plans for the future and now they are part of the William Jackson Food Group we can provide support to help them realise their ambitions” – Norman Soutar, chief executive of the William Jackson Food Group welcoming Abel & Cole to its family.
“We must radically reform Europe’s outdated and monolithic agricultural policy – one size does not fit all” – Owen Paterson, the new Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs suggested there was more to be done to develop growth of the UK food industry.
“XL has one chance to get it right” – Doug O’Halloran, president of UFCW Local 401 union on its repeated requests for XL Foods for changes that would improve food safety at its plant.
“Impending EU regulatory packaging changes mean all food retailers and manufacturers will need to change a number of aspects of their labelling anyway” – Sainsbury CEO Justin King argues upcoming EU rules mean manufacturers and retailers will need to change labels.
“Regrettably a number of redundancies were required in order to provide the opportunity to continue to trade the business in the short term” – Duff & Phelps partner David Whitehouse on Paramount Foods entering administration.
“When you are doing one of these deals, you have to give reasons why you are considering the deal” – Zetar chairman David Williams insists the company is “very confident” about Zertus’s prospects.
