John Lewis Cut Back

John Lewis has axed its staff bonus for a second time and signalled job cuts are in the pipeline, after what it described as a "very tough year". The department store firm, which also owns Waitrose supermarkets, reported a £234m pre-tax loss. Partnership chair Dame Sharon White said the stores had attracted more customers, but they had spent less. She said the losses meant bonuses could not be issued this year for the second time since it began the scheme in 1953. But the firm said it faced a "more challenging environment" and was tripling its target to make savings from £300m to £900m by January 2026. It said savings would be made through the sale of assets, such as its Berkshire golf club, and by improving productivity. John Lewis said its long-term aim was for almost half (40%) of profits to come from outside of shops by 2030. But Dame Sharon said soaring prices last year had "hit us like a hurricane" and that customers had "felt the pain". Despite Waitrose reporting more shoppers in the year to the end of January, customers spent less. It said the size of the average basket fell by 15% and people were buying cheaper items.

John Lewis

Masatoshi Ito

Japanese billionaire Masatoshi Ito, who helped turn 7-Eleven convenience stores into a global business empire, has died aged 98. There are more than 83,000 7-Eleven stores around the world, with a quarter of them located in Japan. In 1956, Mr Ito took over a small Tokyo apparel store business that had been run by his uncle then half-brother. Mr Ito later renamed it Ito-Yokado and turned the business into a chain of one-stop stores that sold everything from groceries to clothes. It went public in 1972. Around the same time, an executive at Ito-Yokado, Toshifumi Suzuki, spotted a 7-Eleven store during a visit to the US. to-Yokado later forged a deal with 7-Eleven's owner - the US-based Southland Corporation - and opened Japan's first 7-Eleven in 1974. Mr Ito's firm moved to acquire a controlling stake in Southland Corporation in March 1990. "I am frequently asked if I succeeded because of hard work or because I was just lucky. Actually the answer is some of both," Mr Ito said in an interview. Mr Ito was also influenced by his friendship with Austrian-American management guru Peter Drucker. Prof Drucker called Mr Ito "one of the world's outstanding entrepreneurs and business builders."

Massatoshi Ito

Heinz Beaten

 

Beans doesn't have to mean Heinz. You can save on this store-cupboard staple without compromising on flavour by going for a cheap supermarket tin instead. Heinz baked beans may have been around for more than 130 years, but the iconic brand didn't stand out in our taste tests. In fact, most supermarket own-brands scored higher, with two cheaper cans impressing our panel of baked bean enthusiasts beyond all others. If you swap from Heinz, and get through around two tins a week, this switch could save you nearly £100 per year.   The baked beans were assessed in February 2023 by a large panel of consumers who regularly buy and consume baked beans. The make-up of the panel broadly represents the demographic profile of adults in the UK. Each brand of baked bean was assessed by 82 people. The panellists rated the taste, texture, aroma and appearance of each brand of baked beans and told us what they liked and disliked about each one.  The taste test was blind, so the panellists didn’t know which brand they were trying. The order in which they sampled the beans was fully rotated to avoid any bias. Each panellist had a private booth, so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.

Beans Awards

Greggs Growth

Greggs plans to open around 150 new bakeries in 2023 as part of major plans to expand. The firm, which opened its first shop in Newcastle in 1951, also plans to extend the opening hours of some outlets and test 24-hour drive-thrus. It comes after the chain posted bumper profits for 2022, despite cost of living pressures hitting consumers. The bakery chain has put up its prices several times in the last few years blaming rising costs. Under the new plans Greggs, which currently has around 2,300 shops, aims to open more branches in airports, train stations, supermarkets and shopping centres. It also said it hoped to grow its total number of bakeries to over 3,000 in the coming years. The chain - which made profits of £148.3m last year - put its growth down to the "value" it was offering customers impacted by the rising cost of living. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the firm's value proposition put it in a good place in the current climate. "With the best will in the world and even when household budgets are under real pressure sometimes people are just too busy to make sandwiches. There is always going to be a place for food-on-the-go venues and Greggs' offering is perfectly pitched in the current environment," he added.

Greggs Growth

Kit Kat Cereal

The cereal has been created with the chocolate development team at Nestlé, and will be formed of little chocolate squares with that signature wafer texture. While it does sound like the perfect treat, the new cereal is also a source of five vitamins, calcium and iron. Sarah Fordy, Head of Marketing at Cereal Partners UK & Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to announce the partnership between Nestlé Cereals and KitKat. “This exciting new cereal delivers a delicious taste of KitKat and has been developed to cater to consumers who are looking for an occasional, indulgent breakfast option, that can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet.” The new cereal will be in shops from mid-April! Last month, Nestle revealed its net profits tumbled by 45% as cost inflation led it to hike up the prices of its products. However it said sales of KitKats were particularly strong during the year, as well as home cooking brand Maggi.

Kit Kat Cereal

Starbucks Expansion

Starbucks plans to open 100 new stores across the UK this year, while investing millions of pounds in upgrading existing cafes. It comes as the world's largest coffee chain reported a big jump in sales in the UK for 2022, continuing its recovery from the hit of the pandemic. The chain has 1,066 UK outlets, around 70% of which are franchises with the remainder owned by the company. Its UK expansion comes despite inflation - the rate at which prices rise - being near a 40-year-high, pushing up the cost of ingredients for the firm and eating into its profits. Duncan Moir, president of Starbucks in the UK, Europe and Middle East, said the firm also planned to open 300 new stores in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. However, he said he remained "cautious" about economic environment, and that "like many other businesses" Starbucks had faced challenges including shortages of HGV drivers, rising supplier costs, and shipping delays. The firm is also struggling with higher energy costs and demands for higher wages from workers.

Starbucks

Toblerone Packaging Change

Toblerone is to remove the Matterhorn mountain peak from its packaging when some of the chocolate's production is moved from Switzerland to Slovakia. The pyramid-shaped bar, which mirrors the Alpine peak, will undergo a labelling revamp and include its founder's signature, its maker said. US firm Mondelez said the image of the 4,478m (14,692 ft) mountain will be replaced by a more generic summit. Strict rules have applied about "Swissness" since 2017. They state that national symbols are not allowed to be used to promote milk-based products that are not made exclusively in Switzerland. For other raw foodstuffs the threshold is at least 80%. In a statement to the BBC, Mondelez said it was moving some production outside of the country to "respond to increased demand worldwide and to grow our Toblerone brand for the future". It said its new packaging would include a "distinctive new Toblerone typeface and logo that draw further inspiration from the Toblerone archives and the inclusion of our founder, Tobler's, signature".

Toblerone

Prime Expansion Plans

 

Viral soft drinks brand Prime looks set to expand into sports nutrition. The drink sensation has applied to register its logo with the IPO under class five, covering nutritional supplements, protein supplement shakes and protein supplements formed and packaged as bars. While Prime – co-founded by YouTuber and pro wrestler Logan Paul – declined to comment, a move into protein products would be “a natural progression for the brand”, said One Stop franchise partner Aman Uppal. “There’s a lot of potential there because they have uncovered a new market in terms of teenagers and adults who are not really into those typical, well-established sports nutrition brands.”Nurture Brands MD Adam Draper agreed an expansion beyond the core Prime drinks, which contain no protein, would “do really well” given founders Paul and rapper/boxer KSI “have millions of devoted followers on Instagram and YouTube, and their fans will buy whatever they are selling. They will certainly steal market share for a period.” However, long-term success would “come down to the value they offer, which is down to the quality of their product and its repeat rate”, Draper added.

Prime Expansion