So Now Only Waitrose Will Have Fish & Meat Counters

Supermarket chain Morrisons is to shut 52 cafes and 17 convenience stores, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. The retailer will also close a number of in-store services, including some meat and fish counters, pharmacies and all its market kitchens in an attempt to redirect cash to other parts of the business. It is expected the cuts will be rolled out over the next few months.

Ugh, since the first Covid lockdown, my local Sainsbury's closed their fish meat and deli counters, closely followed by Tesco, and now Morrison's is the only one left, apart from Waitrose, of course, but that's much more of a drive.

Are there independent butchers and fishmongers locally? Yes. But the butchers are halal and the fishmongers sell fish frozen and imported from Pakistan and what's more, you can smell them from the other end of the high street...

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Morrisons was going to have to make adjustments to be able to compete in a price-sensitive market. "The supermarket chain is closing services seen as nice-to-have, but not essential, and scaling back its convenience footprint as it readies for a round of cost-cutting from rivals," she said.

They are trying to compete with Aldi and Lidl, but none of those have fresh meat, fish or deli counters, so does it make sense to get rid of the very things that make them unique? 

Beat Me Harder! Punish Me!

Food firms should be forced to reveal how healthy or unhealthy their products are, to help people consume a better diet, an industry boss has said. Ministers should compel companies to publish an annual report so consumers can see how much of their sales is made up of dishes that contain too much fat, salt and sugar, Stéfan Descheemaeker also said. Descheemaeker is the chief executive of Nomad Foods, which owns popular brands such as Birds Eye fish fingers, Findus frozen foods and Goodfella’s pizzas.

If you're the CEO, can't you do this without government compulsion, then, Stefan? 

He told the Guardian that mandatory publication of what proportion of each firm’s sales count as healthy or unhealthy under government guidelines would kickstart a “nutrition arms race” in which manufacturers would vie with each other to make their products better for health.

Ah, I suspect he thinks this is a game he could win, and he wants competitors to be forced to enter. 

His comments underline what one diet campaigner called the “quiet revolution” going on in the industry in its views on how best to tackle the UK’s addiction to unhealthy food. More and more manufacturers want the government to now order the sector to improve its behaviour, rather than relying on voluntary agreements as the Conservatives did during their 14 years in power.

So why don't they do it without government compulsion? I really cannot understand modern business leaders...  

For the last seven years Nomad has published figures showing the percentage of its net sales that are deemed healthy under the government’s nutrient profiling model of judging which products contain the right or wrong amounts of fat, salt and sugar. It was now at 93.3% overall healthy, he said, according to the official high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) assessment system. Public disclosure of food firms’ sales would enable the creation of league tables that would allow those whose products are more often unhealthy to be named and shamed, backers say.

See? Stefan thinks the gold medal will be his! Is that why he wants government compulsion?

Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland and the yoghurt maker Danone have already made clear they back mandatory reporting.

*baffled face* If they thought it was a winner with the shopping public, they'd do it, wouldn't they?

Saving The Planet, Or Pleasing Your Customers?

Tesco appear to be taking the former option:

While the new policy does not yet apply to all Tesco locations, employees and shoppers took to the store's Reddit page to call out the "sneaky charge being imposed".

One user said: "So, was in Tesco today, got some swimming clothes for the kids and my wife got a dress."Went through the scan as you shop and paid, went to get the tags taken off and was told it’s 10p for a clothes hanger.

"Now I work at this store, and I’ve never heard of this. I’ve also never seen anything around the store or around the clothes section.

"So either someone is trying to earn some extra dosh or it’s a sneaky charge being imposed on customers. Has anyone else had this?"

I shopped in Tesco at the weekend and obviously my local isn't in the trial, but you know what I DID see? A box where you can donate unwanted hangers for recycling. 

One person responded: "Tesco charging 10p if you want to keep their hangers now! Next there will be an entrance fee."

Please don't give them ideas!  

However, some agreed with the new rule with one user writing: "It’s a trial. They are trying to discourage people from taking hangers as they usually just get chucked anyway.

"If Tesco can keep them they can reuse them and therefore don’t have to produce more. Little planet-saving steps."

Then what's wrong with the box for you to leave them in? 

Tesco said only a small number of stores are taking part in the trial with the brand yet to announce how many more locations will implement this idea.

They'd be mad to, it's only going to alienate customers. What the hell is wrong with retail owners these days? 

And Maybe The Supermarkets Are Proving Unwelcoming?

Ocado’s retail arm returned to the black last year as customers had more Marks & Spencer food options and shoppers switched back to online grocery shopping after a post-pandemic slump.

The group, a joint venture between M&S and the technology company Ocado Group, said price matching with Tesco and better service had also helped increase sales, while the closure of an old warehouse helped cut costs.

And maybe it's also a fact that the rise in self-service tills has made shopping in store a very negative experience for many?