Apple iPhone Sales Global Slump

 
Sales of iPhones have fallen in almost every market across the globe, according to the latest results from Apple. The technology giant said overall demand for its smartphones dropped by more than 10% in the first three months of this year, with sales falling in every geographic region except for Europe. Apple said that overall, revenues across the company declined by 4% to $90.8bn (£72.5bn), which was the biggest drop for more than a year. Nevertheless, the results were not as bad as expected and Apple's share price rose in after-hours trading in New York. The company said the figures were distorted by Covid-related supply disruptions, which led to unusually strong sales during the same period last year. It pledged that sales would return to growth in the months ahead, noting upcoming product launches and investments in artificial intelligence (AI). Competition in that market has been intensifying from local rivals such Huawei. Apple is also facing legal battles with regulators in the US and Europe over its app store fees.

iPhone Sales

Whitbread Cuts Jobs

 

Premier Inn owner Whitbread is to cut 1,500 jobs as it closes restaurants and expands its hotel business. It plans to cut its number of branded restaurants by more than 200 in favour of building more hotel rooms. The job cuts, which are subject to consultation, will come from a total UK workforce of 37,000 employees. The group's restaurant brands including Brewers Fayre and Beefeater. It plans to sell 126 of its less profitable restaurants, with 21 sales already having been agreed. It will also close 112 restaurants and convert the space into new hotel rooms. A spokesperson said that teams were being told about the cuts on Tuesday, and Whitbread would not say at this stage which restaurants were closing. Its catering brands also include Bar+Block, Thyme, Cookhouse+Pub, Table Table and Whitbread Inns. The food chains will be affected across the board, and closures will depend on where the restaurant is sited, rather than its brand. Whitbread said the changes would add more than 3,500 hotel rooms across its estate, and that the new hotel rooms would be served by unbranded restaurants. Dominic Paul, Whitbread's chief executive, said of the job cuts: "Sometimes businesses do need to make difficult decisions like this." However, he added: "I think we're doing it for absolutely the right reasons. It's going to support a material investment in this business and this country over the next few years." Referring to the job cuts, he said the decision was "really challenging for us. It's really important that we therefore handle that in the right way for our people." The moves are part of a three-year £150m cost-cutting programme.

Whitbread Job Cuts

Aldi Asked To Revise 'Ugly' Store

A decision on approving a new Aldi supermarket has been postponed after one councillor described the design as "ugly". The German chain wants to demolish a former car showroom in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, and build a two-storey shop. Buckinghamshire Council's planning committee voted to defer the application after a discussion that lasted nearly two hours. Elements of the plans which may now be revised include site deliveries, the external appearance of the building, and a right-hand turning lane into the site. The Local Democracy Reporting Service said some objectors questioned the need for another supermarket, given there is a Tesco superstore in Old Amersham and a Little Waitrose and M&S Simply Food in the town centre. However, John Catton, vice-chairman of the Amersham Society, a conservation and heritage group with 350 members, argued the town needed a new budget supermarket. He said the one proviso the society had was that Aldi’s proposed "blocky" building for London Road West should be more sympathetic to the area. Tesco has said the project would harm nearby Grade II listed buildings. More than 1,500 letters of support for the store had been received by the Conservative-controlled council, with only a couple dozen objections.

Ugly Aldi Shop

, external voted to defer the application after a discussion that lasted nearly two hoursElements of the plans which may now be revised include site deliveries, the external appearance of the building, and a right-hand turning lane into the site. 

Fuitella Drink Launch

 Drinks supplier Manchester Drinks Co is to launch a five-strong range of Fruitella branded drinks. Pouches in Orange, Strawberry, Blackcurrant & Apple, Summer Fruits and Cherry are to roll into 670 B&M stores from 29 April (rsp: 89p/300ml). The HFSS compliant ready-to-drink pouches contain less than 17 kcals per serving. Manchester Drinks Co was “thrilled to be working with such an iconic sweet brand as Fruittella”, said co-founder Richard Benjamin. “We believe the brand lends itself perfectly to a fruit juice drink,” he said. “All the lovers of the sweets can now refresh themselves with our range of RTD juice drinks.” The fruit juice pouches would “provide consumers with a convenient, delicious, and affordable way to enjoy their favourite fruit flavours”, according to Carla Fernández-Moreno, F&B manager at Fruitella brand owner Perfetti Van Melle.

Fruitella

The Robot Warehouse

Shoppers probably don't think much about what happens next when they place an online grocery order. But it sets-off an intricate dance of software, artificial intelligence, robots, vans and workers. At an Ocado warehouse just outside Luton, I'm in the middle of such a dance. As far as I can see, hundreds of robots whizz around a grid, fetching items for online orders. They move with dizzying speed and precision. In the early days of online shopping, when you placed an order, humans would dash around a warehouse or a store collecting your items. But for years now, Ocado has been using robots to collect and distribute products, bringing them to staff, who pack them into boxes for delivery. And Ocado is not the only firm investing in such automation. In its warehouses, Asda uses a system from Swiss automation firm Swisslog and Norway's AutoStore. In the US, Walmart has been automating parts of its supply chain using robotics from an American company called Symbotic. At Ocado around 100 engineers have spent years training the artificial intelligence (AI) to take on that task. The Luton warehouse has 44 robotic arms, which at the moment account for 15% of the products that flow through the facility, that's about 400,000 items a week. The rest are handled by staff at picking stations. The staff handle items that robots are not ready for yet, like wine bottles which are heavy and have curved surfaces, making them difficult to grasp. But the system is ramping up. The company is developing different attachments for the robot arms that will allow them to handle a wider variety of items. In two or three years Ocado expects the robots will account for 70% of the products. This inevitably means fewer human staff, but the Luton warehouse still has 1,400 staff, and many of those will still be needed in the future.

Robot Warehouse

Back To The Shops

Sainsbury's says shoppers are returning to its stores as the surge in online shopping seen during the Covid pandemic continues to unwind. The UK's second largest supermarket said online sales had been above 20% at the height of the pandemic, but are now back to about 13%. Its comments came as it reported strong food sales after spending heavily on keeping prices low to attract shoppers. However, other areas were weaker, with sales of clothing and fuel falling. The UK's second largest supermarket said its food business was "firing on all cylinders", with grocery sales growing by 9.4% over the past year. Chief executive Simon Roberts said that more than 87% of all food sold was done so "in a physical store". Supermarkets have been fighting hard for customers, with shoppers still feeling the effects of steep price rises over the past two years, which have ratcheted up the cost of living. Sainsbury's response has been to focus heavily on its food, which accounts for about three-quarters of its business, and it said it has spent £780m over the past three years on keeping prices low, including promotions such as Nectar prices and price-matching budget chain Aldi.

Back To The Shops

MPs Back Smoking Ban

MPs have backed a plan to ban anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, effectively ensuring it will become law. The measures, championed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, survived despite opposition from several leading Tory figures - including two ex-PMs. Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told MPs "there is no liberty in addiction" as she defended the plans. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill passed by 383 votes to 67. If they become law, the UK's smoking laws will be among the strictest in the world. The UK's approach is thought to have been inspired by a similar law in New Zealand, which was later repealed after a change in government. Tobacco use is the UK's single biggest preventable cause of death, killing two-thirds of long-term users and causing 80,000 deaths every year. The bill also aims to make vapes less appealing to children, with new restrictions on flavours and packaging. Trading standards officers would also get new powers to issue on-the-spot £100 fines to shops selling tobacco or vapes to children, with all the money raised going towards further enforcement.

Smoking Ban

Netflix Profits Increase

 

Netflix says its profits have soared in the first three months of this year, partly thanks to a crackdown on password sharing. The streaming giant said it added 9.3 million customers in the first quarter, bringing its total number of subscribers to almost 270 million. The company also said its profits in the first quarter jumped to more than $2.3bn (£1.85bn). But the firm will stop reporting key subscriber numbers from next year. It added that today, subscriber numbers have become "just one component of our growth", asking investors to focus on its profits and revenue. Its revenue for the first quarter rose by nearly 15% year-on-year to $9.37bn. The firm also credited a "drumbeat" of hits, such as crime drama Griselda. Some investors saw its unexpected decision to stop reporting subscriber numbers as a sign that Netflix's wave of customer growth may be coming to an end. The former Netflix man said the company wanted to "people to move away from fixating on the subscriber numbers". The firm is also pushing into areas such as sports and video games, while continuing to license material from rival media firms looking for ways to boost profits.

Netflix Profits

Sacked For Stealing Bags

 

An employee who had worked for Sainsbury's for almost 20 years has been sacked for taking some "bags for life" without paying for them. Niamke Doffou worked at the Romford Sainsbury's store as a night shift assistant. He did some personal shopping in the early morning after his night shift and clicked the "zero bags used" option on the till when he had in fact used multiple carrier bags. At an employment tribunal Mr Doffou claimed that he was unfairly dismissed, but his appeal was unsuccessful.He said he was tired and was unaware that he had clicked the "no bags used" button on the till, unintentionally not paying for the carrier bags. Disciplinary action was taken by Sainsbury's and Mr Doffou was sacked for the offence. The case later went to an employment tribunal and a judge ruled that Sainsbury's were within their right to sack Mr Doffou finding that he had "acted dishonestly" and "committed theft".

Sainsburys Bags

Xiaomi Enters EV Market

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has launched its first electric vehicle (EV) and started taking orders. At the event the technology giant's chief executive Lei Jun said the standard SU7 model would be priced at 215,900 yuan ($29,872; £23,663) and the Max version would cost 299,900 yuan. The firm says it got over 50,000 orders within the first 27 minutes of sales. Xiaomi's entry into the electric car market comes as sales growth has slowed globally, triggering a price war. The move sees the technology giant taking on EV rivals including Tesla and BYD. The starting price in China for Tesla's Model 3 is 245,900 yuan. Mr Lei also said the SU7 would have a minimum range of 700km (435 miles), beating the Tesla Model 3's 567km. The firm is hoping that the SU7's shared operating system with its phones, laptops and other devices will appeal to existing customers. Xiaomi is the third-largest seller of smartphones worldwide with a market share of about 12%, according to research firm Counterpoint. In an indication of the challenges facing technology firms who want to make electric cars, iPhone maker Apple last month reportedly cancelled its plans to build an EV. Screen grabs on Chinese social media show the firm advising buyers it could take 27 weeks to deliver the SU7 Max. The company previously said pre-orders had hit 88,898 within 24 hours of it starting to take orders on Thursday.

Xiaomi Car

Papa Johns Shrinking

Pizza chain Papa Johns has said it will close nearly a tenth of its UK restaurants - all of which it says are "underperforming". The closures follow a review of the business which identified sites that were "no longer financially viable". The chain, which has 450 restaurants plus others in service stations and holiday parks, will close 43 sites but has not said how many jobs will be hit. Separately, Revolution Bars has said it could sell "all or part of the group". Its announcement followed reports that said Revolution could shut about 20 bars, or a roughly a quarter of its outlets. While other sectors of the hospitality industry have faced serious problems in recent years, takeaway outlets in general are booming, according to consultancy PwC. Papa Johns had previously said it planned "strategic closures" in order to free up money for investment and improving profitability at its remaining UK sites. It plans to expand further into non-traditional sites like holiday parks and the chain said it would "announce other large retail partners in the coming months". So far this year, the Body Shop and night club chain Pryzm have already run into difficulties, announcing the closure of sites.

Papa Johns

Japan Nappy Maker Targets Adults

A Japanese nappy maker has announced that it will stop producing diapers for babies in the country and, instead, focus on the market for adults. Oji Holdings is the latest firm to make such a shift in a rapidly ageing Japan, where birth rates are at a record low. Sales of adult nappies outpaced those for infants in the country for more than a decade. The number of babies born in Japan in 2023 - 758,631 - was down by 5.1% from the previous year. It was also the lowest number of births on record in Japan since the 19th Century. In the 1970s, that figure stood at more than two million. Meanwhile, the adult diaper market has been growing and is estimated to be worth more than $2bn (£1.6bn). Japan now has one of the world's oldest populations, with almost 30% of them aged 65 or older. Last year, the proportion of those aged above 80 surpassed 10% for the first time. A shrinking population, the result of both ageing and plummeting birth rates, has become a crisis for Japan, one of the world's largest economies. 

Adult Nappies

Vodafone-Three Merger

 

The proposed merger of Vodafone and Three could lead to "higher prices" and "reduced quality" for customers, the UK's competition watchdog says. The proposed £15bn deal could now be subject to an in-depth investigation. The combined group would be the UK's biggest mobile network with about 27 million customers. The firms said the deal would result in an additional investment of £11bn in the UK. But the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) deputy chief economic adviser Julie Bon said she had "identified concerns which could lead to higher prices for customers and lower investment in UK mobile networks. "These warrant an in-depth investigation unless Vodafone and Three can come forward with solutions." The regulator is also concerned that the deal may make it more difficult for smaller players such as Sky Mobile and Lyca Mobile - who rent space from the bigger operators - to get a good deal. Three and Vodafone have already announced they will introduce a 7.9% increase to the cost of many contracts in April. That now looks like "an ill-timed move that may not sit well with the competition watchdog," said analyst Kester Mann, from CCS Insight. However, for the firms themselves the merger makes sense as "scale is key to help lower costs and improve margins," said telecoms analyst Paolo Pescatore. However, he added that "it could take years before we see the real fruits of this deal" in terms of prices for customers.

Phone Merger

Gucci Sales Slow

 

Sales at Gucci are expected to fall by 20% in the first quarter due to a slowdown in Asia, according to its Paris-based owner Kering. The warning contrasts with rivals LVMH and Hermès whose sales have remained resilient. The luxury market has grown in the past decade but sales have not been as impressive in recent years. Gucci is estimated to get more than a third of its sales from China, whose economy has been struggling. Kering said in a statement that the profit warning "reflects a steeper sales drop at Gucci, notably in the Asia-Pacific region". The firm is scheduled to report its financial results on 23 April. Gucci accounted for two-thirds of group operating income last year. Kering's other brands include Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta. Last month, Kering reported that its net profit last year fell by 17%. Its shares have fallen by more than 23% over the past year. In comparison, its bigger rival LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon and Hennessy, posted higher-than-expected sales for 2023. Hermes also celebrated its record annual sales last year with plans to reward all employees worldwide with a bonus. While their results showed resilience in the luxury market, Gucci is known to target younger, aspirational shoppers who are more vulnerable to economic pressures.

Gucci Sales Slow

Easter Egg Cost Rise

 

Climate change is a key reason your chocolate Easter egg could cost more this year, according to researchers. Most chocolate is made from cocoa grown in West Africa, but a humid heatwave has blasted the crops and massively cut yields. Experts say that human-induced climate change has made the extreme heat 10 times more likely. Which? found some popular eggs have risen in price by 50% or more. The shortage of cocoa resulting from the heatwave has seen prices soar to almost $8,500 (£6,700) a tonne this week.Cocoa trees are particularly vulnerable to changes in the climate. They only grow in a narrow band of about 20 degrees latitude around the Equator. Most global production is concentrated in West Africa. In 2023, 58m kilogrammes of cocoa beans worth £127m were imported to the UK from Ivory Coast and Ghana with 85% of the UK's cocoa beans sourced from Ivory Coast. However, severe drought conditions have hit the West Africa region since February this year. This has been caused by temperatures that soared above 40C, breaking records in countries including the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Chocolate makers typically buy beans months ahead of time but soaring prices are now beginning to affect prices in the shops.Feeling the brunt of these price fluctuations are the farmers who grow the cocoa crops. There are estimated to be some two million smallholder farmers in the West African cocoa belt who rely on this labour-intensive crop for most of their income.

Easter Egg

Easter Egg Order Error

An order blunder by a shop on the Orkney island of Sanday has left it with hundreds of Easter eggs - far more than the population. Only 80 were needed, but 80 cases were mistakenly ordered by Sinclair General Stores. It now has 720 chocolate eggs for an island population of about 500 people. Embarrassed shop owner Dan Dafydd is now raffling off 100 of the eggs to one lucky winner, in aid of the RNLI. Mr Dafydd said their Easter egg stock now out-numbered the population of Sanday. "I don't think conventional means is going to get rid of them," he said. "We've been thinking outside the box a little bit."We're doing a 'guess the number' square to win 100 Easter Eggs, with proceeds going to the RNLI." He added: "If you won them you'd probably just give them all away, but a couple of customers were pretty set on the idea of trying to eat all 100."

Easter Egg Order

 

Capri-Sun Recyclable

 

Capri Sun has announced a first-to-market launch with its redesigned recyclable drink pouches – rolling out across retail, convenience, wholesale and foodservice channels. The 200ml single serve pouches come in Orange and Blackcurrant & Apple flavours, and will be the first of the Capri-Sun range to transition to the new packaging. Made entirely of mono material polypropylene (PP), it is the first juice drink pouch to be recognised as recyclable and joins other soft plastics, such as carrier bags, that can be collected for recycling at large supermarkets in the UK. The new mono pouches have a significantly lower carbon footprint than any other common beverage packaging, reducing CO₂ emissions by a further 25% compared to its current pouch, which already weighs only a fifth of a comparable PET bottle. Senior marketing manager at Capri-Sun UK Anke von Hanstein said: “We’re excited to launch our very first recyclable pouch in the UK. We know that sustainability is increasingly influencing purchase decisions among parents and we as Capri-Sun need to do our part to help families. That’s why we’re launching the product they love in a more sustainable format.”

Capri-Sun

More Cuts at John Lewis

John Lewis has indicated it could cut jobs further, despite the retailer reporting a return to profit. The retail partnership, which also owns the Waitrose supermarket chain, posted pre-tax profits of £56m compared with a £234m loss the year before. However, it is not paying a staff bonus for the second year in a row. The retailer said a "few hundred" roles were shed in 2023 as part of £88m in savings and it was eyeing similar cost cuts this year. John Lewis's new chief executive, Nish Kankiwala, told the PA news agency: "We're looking at all the opportunities as we improve our ways of working and if there is eventually a reduction in roles, then we'll use (staff) attrition in the same way as we have done in the past. "If there are unfortunately, regrettably, redundancies then we'll talk to our partners first." John Lewis chair Dame Sharon White told journalists that while job losses at the partnership are inevitable in the coming years, there was no target for a reduction in jobs. In January, John Lewis said it was planning further cuts to its workforce over the next five years in order to boost profitability. The lack of bonus for staff is only the third time the retailer has not paid out such an award since 1953. John Lewis said that is was focusing on improving pay overall for its employees, with about 45,000 staff set to get a 10% pay rise in April. Sales of fashion and beauty products did well, but it saw weaker sales in home and technology. Plans to refurbish 80 Waitrose supermarkets and open a string of new branches would allow for "continued improvement" in profit this year, the group said.

John Lewis

McOutage

 

McDonald's has revealed the technical problems which brought much of its fast food chain to a standstill on Friday were caused by a third party provider. The international restaurant said the global outage happened during a "configuration change" and stopped stores taking orders in the UK, Australia and Japan - amongst others. McDonald's stressed the issue was not caused by a cyber attack. Stores in the UK and Australia are open again after their systems froze. The company experienced a "global technology system outage, which was quickly identified and corrected," McDonald's chief information officer Brian Rice, said. Problems started in the early hours and continued throughout the morning, but the company would not say how many stores were affected. Problems were reported in several countries, including New Zealand, Austria and Germany, but come the afternoon they were starting to get resolved. The fast food chain has about 40,000 restaurants worldwide, with around 1,450 restaurants across the UK and Ireland and more than 14,000 stores in the United States. It operates nearly 3,000 across Japan and roughly 1,000 in Australia.

McDonalds Tech Problem

Sainsburys Job Cut

Sainsbury's has announced it is cutting around 1,500 jobs, subject to consultation, as part of plans it hopes will save around £1bn over three years. The retailer said roles would be lost at its contact centre in Cheshire, in-store bakeries, and some local fulfilment centres. Some staff will be redeployed, with alternative roles found "where possible". The savings will be invested back into the business, the retailer added. The supermarket said it had begun moving to a more efficient way of baking goods in-store, and had outlined plans to move more stores to the model. Sainsbury's said it had reassured colleagues that it would find alternative roles for them where possible, as it would "for any colleague affected by changes proposed". Sainsbury's chief executive Simon Roberts summed up the changes as the next part of its strategy to deliver value and good service to customers, while making "difficult but necessary decisions". "I know today's news is unsettling for affected colleagues and we will do everything we can to support them," he added.

Sainsburys Job Cut

Sidemen Cereal Launch

Cereal brand Best, which has been created by British YouTube collective The Sidemen, has made its retail debut exclusively in Tesco as influencer-led brands continue to flourish. The HFSS-compliant products were developed by cereal manufacturer Mornflake and are available in flavours Choco Crunch and Caramel Gold. Both variants are made with a combination of wheat and oat puffs with added minerals and vitamins B12, D and E. The cereal, which is priced at £2 for a 375g box, is also a source of fibre and low in fat, salt and sugar, with one bowl containing just over 100 calories. Best will be donating a significant proportion of its profits directly to Magic Breakfast, a charity working to ensure children have access to a filling breakfast every day. The Sidemen’s manager Jordan Schwarzenberger added: “It’s brilliant to be working with the best cereal manufacturer in the UK, Mornflake, to make this product for The Sidemen, and to have secured such strong distribution with Tesco at the start of this brand’s journey. To support the launch of the new brand they have signed up 17-year old dart sensation Luke Littler to be part of their promotional campaign.

The Best Cereal

Greggs Profit Sharing

Thousands of Greggs workers will share a £17.6m bonus pot this month after the bakery chain famous for its sausage rolls and steak bakes said it had made a record annual profit and overtaken McDonald’s to become the UK’s most popular breakfast spot. Britain’s biggest bakery chain said 25,000 employees – out of a total of 32,000 across the UK – would receive a bonus in their pay packets at the end of March, as it reported a 27% jump in profits to £188m. Under a profit share agreement, Greggs shares 10% of profits each year with staff who have worked at the chain for at least six months. The payment to each employee varies: for example, someone working 22 hours a week with six years’ service will receive £765. Greggs said there was better news for its customers, too, with no further price rises planned this year. It increased prices by between 5p and 10p on some items in December but held down the cost of bestselling items including its sausage rolls and vegan sausage rolls. Greggs runs 2,473 shops after 145 net openings last year, including at Canary Wharf and Waterloo stations in London and at Gatwick airport. It intends to open up to 160 net new shops this year, as it is aiming for more than 3,000 UK stores over the longer term. Greggs shares were up 5% on Tuesday morning, making it one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 250.

Greggs

PlayStation Job Cut

 

Sony has announced it will lay off 8% of PlayStation employees globally, amounting to approximately 900 people. In addition to cuts in the US and Japan, the gaming giant said this would mean closing PlayStation's London Studio entirely. In a blog post sharing an email sent to employees, boss Jim Ryan called the move "sad news" and said it was "a difficult day at our company". "We have concluded that tough decisions have become inevitable," he said. "The leadership team and I made the incredibly difficult decision to restructure operations, which regrettably includes a reduction in our workforce impacting very talented individuals who have contributed to our success." The cuts come a month after rival Microsoft revealed plans to lay off 1,900 people in its gaming division, which included those at recently-acquired Activision-Blizzard.Sony's London Studio was founded in 2002 as a result of the merging of two other London-based studios under the PlayStation brand. Over the past two decades, it created several series including karaoke game SingStar and 2000s football title This Is Football. More recently, it made virtual reality (VR) games exclusive to Sony's headset, including VR Worlds and the well-received shooter Blood & Truth. According to LinkedIn, the studio has between 51 and 200 employees, and it was working on "an unannounced online co-op combat game" set in London before the announcement. Sony's PlayStation 5 has sold more than 50 million units worldwide, more than double Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S sales. But another gaming rival, Nintendo, which released its Switch console three years earlier, has sold almost 140 million units worldwide. And Sony said in its earnings report in February that it now expected to sell four million fewer consoles than expected by the end of March. Despite PlayStation's revenue being up by 16% compared to the same period one year earlier, its operating income had fallen by a quarter.

PlayStation Job Axe

Wendy's Denies Surge Price Plan

 

US burger chain Wendy's has denied it is exploring plans to raise prices on customers at busy moments, claiming its plans were "misconstrued". The firm had told investors this month that it was rolling out digital menu displays at its restaurants and expected to start testing features "like dynamic pricing" early next year. The term refers to the practice of rapidly changing posted prices. The plans quickly drew backlash and accusations of "price gouging". In a statement on Tuesday, Wendy's said the goal of the digital menu boards was to provide "more flexibility to change the display of featured items", including promoting discounts during slow periods. "This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants. We have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most," the company said. It added that it had never used the phrase "surge pricing", as articles describing the comments by boss Kirk Tanner had. The idea that Wendy's, which claims more than 6,500 restaurants globally, might adopt a similar strategy sparked outrage online, where many people said they would simply take their business elsewhere. Left-wing Senator Elizabeth Warren was one of the most high-profile critics, saying on Wednesday that the plans meant people "could pay more for your lunch, even if the cost to Wendy's stays exactly the same"

Wendy's