PLT Customer Ban

 

Fast-fashion brand PrettyLittleThing (PLT) is facing criticism from customers who have had their accounts with the company deactivated because of the number of times they have returned their purchases. In an email seen by the BBC, shoppers were told on Friday that their accounts had been reviewed and shut down so they would not be able to place any further orders. Some of those affected have used social media to criticise the new policy, claiming they had only made one return so far this year, or suggesting they would return fewer items if the firm was more consistent in its sizing of clothing items. PLT did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment. The online retailer, which is part of the Boohoo Group, had come under fire earlier this month after scrapping its free returns policy. One PLT customer branded the latest move a "joke" and said returns would not be necessary if the sizing and the quality of the clothing was not "awful". For fashion retailers, covering the cost of returns can be expensive and they have to consider the environmental impact of using delivery trucks for this purpose too. More have been opting to shift costs on to customers as a result, as well as clamping down on returns by introducing stricter inspections to spot when clothes have been worn for an occasion and sent back after one use.

PLT Return

Heinz Every Sauce

Do you like to mix your ketchup with your mayo, or even throw a little bit of sweet chilli into the mix? Enter the ‘Every Sauce’ – a combination of not one, not two, but a whopping 14 sauces from Heinz’s flavour range. Experimenting with flavours isn’t a new thing for the cult brand, as its 150-year history has seen it try out everything from truffle mayo to pickle ketchup. Now, the ‘Every Sauce’ has been hailed the ‘holy grail’ of condiments, combining: Heinz Burger Sauce, Garlic Sauce, Aioli Sauce, Smokey Baconnaise, Sweet Chilli, Chip Sauce, Saucy Sauce, Mayoracha, Mayomust, Truffle Mayo, Garlic & Caramelised Onion Mayo, Curry Ketchup, Pickle Ketchup, and Smokey Bacon Ketchup. What a list. Whether you’re totally on board or believe that mixing flavours is sauce sacrilege, the new flavour was inspired by research from Heinz that saw almost a quarter (23%) of Brits admit to being obsessed with condiments – a figure that rose to 44% among 18 to 34-year-olds. Elsewhere, the stats revealed that the average person has five condiments in their home – and an impressive 15% have 10 or more One sauce isn’t enough for over seven in 10 (73%) people, who admit to using multiple at once. Want in? This is only for verified mega fans, as Heinz is asking hopeful winners to take a quiz for a shot at winning a bottle of the elusive Every Sauce. 100 bottles will be given away at random to the highest scorers on Friday June 28, which leaves just four days to swot up and shoot your sauce-loving shot.

Every Sauce

McVities Zero

Pladis appears to be readying its McVitie’s and Jacob’s brands for healthier treatments. It has applied to register the brand name ‘McVitie’s Zero’ and a logo for ‘Jacob’s Bites’ with the Intellectual Property Office under class 30, covering biscuits and wafers for the former, and crackers and crispbreads for the latter. A spokesman for Pladis claimed McVitie’s Zero related to a reduced sugar Digestives biscuit available in Turkey, which “we currently have no plans to launch elsewhere”. “We routinely trademark our brand names in territories around the world,” he said. On Jacob’s Bites, he said: “We don’t have any news to share at this stage. Like all companies, as part of our planning process we trademark brand names from time to time, sometimes speculatively.” However, Pladis has spent recent years developing HFSS-compliant spin-offs for both brands.  It debuted Rich Tea Delights and Wholesense Digestives – each boasting 30% less sugar than their standard counterparts – in 2022. Both were relaunched under ‘The Light One’ banner in 2023, bringing in £7.1m and £2.2m respectively  By comparison, value sales of traditional Rich Tea biscuits came to £31.5m over the period, while original Digestives raked in £56.0m. For Jacob’s, meanwhile, Pladis reformulated Crinklys to make it HFSS-compliant last July. It claimed the Cheese & Onion variant was the second-highest retail value sales launch of 2023 in non-HFSS.

McVities Zero 

Top Deck Returns

 

Cadbury has brought back its retro Top Deck chocolate bar after a two-decade hiatus. The bar – which first launched in 1993 and disappeared from sale in the noughties – comprises a layer of white chocolate on top of a milk chocolate base. Top Deck remains part of Cadbury’s permanent range in Australia and South Africa. It reappeared for a limited time in the UK in 2020, exclusively at B&M. The bar (rsp: £1.85/110g) will return to supermarket shelves later this month for a limited run, as part of Cadbury’s continued 200th anniversary celebrations. Wrapped in “vintage-inspired packaging from the original Top Deck”, it would provide “a trip down memory lane for 90s babies”, said Cadbury. “We’re delighted to be answering Cadbury fans’ requests and relaunching Cadbury Top Deck in the UK for a limited time,” said Cadbury brand manager Mara Popa. The relaunch will be supported by in-store activity, social media and PR. It comes after Cadbury this week announced a strategic partnership with Lotus Bakeries, which will see it launch a series of Biscoff co-branded chocolate lines, starting from early 2025.

Top Deck

Supermarket Sandwiches E-Coli Outbreak

 

Food manufacturers are recalling at least 60 types of pre-packed sandwiches, wraps and salads sold in major supermarkets because of possible contamination with E. coli. E. coli bacteria have not been detected in the products, but they are being recalled as a precaution. It is understood these are items containing salad leaves. Retailers involved include Aldi, Asda, Co-op and Morrisons. Some 211 people across the UK are known to be affected by E. coli currently - up from 113 last week. At least 67 people have been admitted to hospital, the UK Health Security Agency says. E. coli can sometimes contaminate the water or soil used to grow lettuce and other vegetables. Darren Whitby, head of incidents at the Food Standards Agency, said: “This is a complex investigation, and we have worked swiftly with the relevant businesses and the local authorities concerned to narrow down the wide range of foods consumed to a small number of salad leaf products that have been used in sandwiches and wraps."

Supermarkets E-Coli

Wizz Air Ranked Worst

 

Wizz Air has been named the worst airline for UK flight delays for the third year in a row. The carrier's departures from UK airports were an average of 31 minutes and 36 seconds behind schedule in 2023, according to analysis of official data by the PA news agency. Turkish Airlines recorded the second worst punctuality followed by Tui. The generally poor showing comes as airlines fares have been rising as a result of higher fuel costs and green taxes. Wizz Air said it had made "significant improvements" but acknowledged there was "still work to be done". Irish carrier Emerald Airlines was the most punctual airline with an average delay of just 13 minutes and six seconds, while Virgin Atlantic came second at 13 minutes and 42 seconds. Wizz Air's UK operations serve Aberdeen, Birmingham, Gatwick, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and Luton airports. Passenger numbers at the Hungarian carrier - which operates in Europe, north Africa, the Middle East and other parts of Asia - hit a record 62 million in the 12 months to the end of March, up by more than a fifth on the previous year.

Wizz Air

Vauxhall Factory Celebrates 60 Years

Staff at a Vauxhall factory are celebrating 60 years since the first car rolled off the production line in the north west of England. Past and present employees gathered at the Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire on Wednesday to mark six decades of manufacturing - with one family marking a special milestone. Keith Tabiner worked on the first car, a Vauxhall Viva, made at the plant in 1964 and has three sons still working at the factory. The Ellesmere Port plant was built in 1962 and opened for production of the Viva in 1964. Mr Tabiner, has four sons - three of whom work at the plant - meaning the family has a combined 152 years of employment at the site. It was Mr Tabiner's job to spray an engine every minute, something a machine now does. The Cheshire factory has been the home of several famous models including the Vauxhall Chevette and, since 1980, seven generations of the Astra - and now produces the latest generation of electric vans among other passenger vehicles. The plant is now the UK's first electric-only vehicle plant and the first Stellantis plant worldwide, said Diane Miller, plant director.

Ellesmere Port