Londis wins big

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Londis named UK’s Favourite Symbol Group

Londis enjoyed a very successful evening at the recent Convenience Awards.

Londis was crowned the ‘UK’s Favourite Symbol Group and the ‘UK’s Favourite Convenience Store Group’ at the recent Convenience Awards 2022, capping a great night with Londis retailers also scoring a hattrick of top prizes at the ceremony held in London on 13 September.

The group awards made to Londis were based on shopper and retailer research carried out by Lumina Intelligence’s Convenience Tracking Programme. Commenting on the wins, Stewart Fenn, Sales Director, Booker Retail Partners said: “These fantastic achievements are testament to the hard work, passion and dedication of our valued Londis customers who strive every day to offer best-in-class service.”

Ads for Londis stores themselves, Londis Pollard Street in Manchester was crowned Small Convenience Store of the Year with judges praised the 600 sq ft store for its “excellent use of space” and high standards.

Managed by Richard Williams, the team at Londis Pollard Street are “constantly” analysing sales and data to ensure that it’s range of 2,500 SKU’s meets ever-changing shopper demands. Despite its small size and listed building status, the store features a strong chilled offer, an entire vegan bay, American confectionery and a profitable vape range.

Also successful on the night were Londis store employee Hazel Ridge of Bassett’s Londis in Weymouth, who claimed the prize for Convenience Rising Star of the Year, and Nishi Patel of Londis Bexley Park in Dartford who was named as the Retailers’ Retailer of the Year.

Out-of-home eating occasions increasing

The number of out-of-home eating occasions increased by 2% yearon-year in the 12 weeks ending 5 September 2022, new data reveals.

The data from wholesale experts TWC, in partnership with food-to-go and out-of-home tracking programme MealTrak, show there were 793 million eating out of home occasions in the 12-week period.

In addition, value sales rose by 14% year-on-year for the 12-week period.

Multiple retailers achieved steady and significant growth of 48% in the last 12 weeks, driven by their “more affordable food-to-go offers.”

Other retail channels including convenience stores also performed well, with eating out occasions up

by 10% through convenience stores specifically.

Forecourts and discounters were also found to be outperforming the total market, with eating out occasions up 13% and 11% respectively.

However, the MealTrak data showed that sandwich shops, coffee shops and fast food & takeaway outlets were the biggest losers, with all showing a decline in eating out occasions.

Tom Fender, Development Director at TWC, said: “Overall, it’s still good news for the food-to-go and eating out market as it continues to grow despite the cost-of-living crisis. However, growth is slowing, and we are seeing value growth continuing to significantly outpace ‘occasions’ growth as inflation continues to rise.” The report also highlights how hybrid working may present opportunities for Londis retailers as more workers spend more days at home at each week, potentially generating new sales occasions for nearby retailers with a food-to-go offer.

Autumn sees change in shopping behaviour

Total till sales increased by 4.7% in the past four weeks, although volume sales fell by 6%, according to new data from NielsenIQ.

In the past four weeks, most categories saw value growth increase due to inflation, but volume growth slowed.

Pet, dairy, crisps, snacks and bakery experienced the highest levels of value growth.

NielsenIQ’s survey of shoppers in August shows British shoppers are focusing on four main coping strategies to manage rising inflation: monitoring the cost of their overall shopping basket, opting for private label products, shopping more at the discounters and opting to stop buying certain products.

Over the past 12 weeks, private label has performed better than brands and now accounts for 53% of FMCG spend.

Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s UK Head of Retailer and Business Insight, said: “In recent weeks there has been a small shift away from fresh to frozen, slightly less spend on fruit and vegetables and fresh meat, fish and poultry and slightly more spend on impulse confectionery and soft drinks, with the latter helped by warm weather at the end of summer.

“The start of the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup should boost some categories, such as drinks and snacks, and there may be more meal occasions at home as friends and family get together to watch the sport at home.”

Welsh Government introduces Bill to ban single-use plastic bags

The Welsh Government has introduced a Bill which bans or restricts the sale of some of the most commonly littered single-use plastics in Wales, including a ban on plastic bags which are currently subject to a 5p charge.

The Environmental Protection (Singleuse Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill prohibits the sale of nine single-use plastic products, including: cups, cutlery, drink-stirrers, lids for cups or takeaway food containers, straws, plates, balloon sticks, carrier bags and cotton buds. The Bill will also make it an offence to supply or offer to supply littered and unnecessary disposable singleuse plastic products to consumers in Wales.

Wales was the first UK nation to introduce a single-use plastic bag charge at 5p per bag, with Scotland and England following with their own plastic bag charges. The charge has been successful in reducing the amount of bags in circulation, as well as raising money for good causes. implementation period of 12 months from when the Government guidance on the regulations is published, to implementation of the ban, to allow retailers sufficient time to sell through existing stock and source alternative products.