The Grocer – 24 August 2019

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SHRINKFLATION GAMBLE

Shrinking products to save money is always a risky

move – Roy Williams, Vendigital

Sir, Costa Coffee is the latest
food and drink brand to
announce plans to shrink
the size of its products – by
reducing the size of its cups in
order to reduce costs. But do
such strategies work?
Shrinking products to save
money is always a risky move.
The thought of paying more
for less could persuade price-
conscious consumers to buy
a different product instead,
especially in a saturated
marketplace. The brand owner
should take a more strategic
look at its total cost base. For
example, separating ‘good’, or
variable costs, from ‘bad’, or

fixed costs, makes it possible

to improve efficiencies and

reduce costs without impacting

product value or quality.

Other cost savings could

be achieved by consolidating

the supply chain to reduce

overheads or developing a

smaller or lighter packaging

solution. A focus on product

A strategic

alternative to

shrinkflation

Brexit contract reviews

● Sir, I was interested to read
reports that German supermar-
ket Lidl has written to its UK
suppliers asking for confirma-
tion that they would deliver
goods with delivery duty paid
post-Brexit.
This kind of commer-
cial rhetoric highlights
how trading relationships
between UK suppliers and
EU-based customers may
become strained, contractu-
ally, in the event of a no-deal
Brexit – ie where World Trade
Organization rules on tariffs are
to apply.
A key consideration for ongo-
ing contracts will be to review
provisions that determine
which party pays delivery duty
or, if the contract is silent on
that, which party bears costs
associated with changes in the
law.
Your readers operating UK
businesses that are supply-
ing goods to European custom-
ers should prioritise reviewing
existing contracts for these
provisions ahead of the loom-
ing deadline for Brexit, which
is currently scheduled for 31
October 2019.
Alex Aisthorpe, solicitor,
Ashfords Solicitors

innovation could also help,

as consumers may be willing

to pay more for less if they are

purchasing a product that is

perceived to be of better quality

or value. The optimal solution

will be hidden within their

data.

Roy Williams, co-founder and

managing partner, Vendigital

your tweets

Tesco & Red Tractor suspend pig

farm after ‘distressing’ abuse

Unbelievable that The Red

Tractor Standards agency

didn’t remove accreditation

a year ago when poor rear-

ing conditions were first

highlighted.

@Ruthygriff

How UK livestock producers

can cut their carbon footprint

We need to help farmers and

food producers calculate and

share info on their climate

impacts – which will help us

all make better choices and

reward best practice

@sarahbridle

No-deal Brexit to cost farming

sector £850m a year, claims

Andersons report

More good news about the

utopia which is Brexit.

@Supermchef

from poor and/or delayed fore-

casting and orders, to time lost

during the distribution process

coupled with inefficient trans-

portation models – all of which

can be devastating for any short

shelf-life products. As a result,

addressing the food waste that

occurs at every stage of the sup-

ply chain can be a complex task.

Therefore it’s essential that

companies understand how

technology can be deployed and

utilised to address these chal-

lenges – whether that is waste

reduction through improved

transportation, or more accu-

rate and dynamic levels of stock

availability.

Environmental consciousness

in the digital age will continue

to have a huge impact on retail-

ers. The vision to transform

‘farm to fork’ and remove food

waste from the supply chain is

vast and complex. To succeed,

retailers need to start small,

identifying priority areas first,

where quick and impactful

wins can be realised. As they

start to see results, they will

be able to scale fast and ulti-

mately achieve full end-to-end

intelligence-driven visibility,

which will help mitigate food

waste.

Amir Harel, general manager,

visibility solutions, Zetes

Why fake meat is the latest

trend moving into petfood

It was pretty much

inevitable that the allure

of ‘fake meat’ would

extend to dogfood, given

the compulsion for taking

human trends into the

animal world. Such

ambitions will make for a

gripping future for petfood

• albeit one not without
  conflict given the panoply
  of opinions over what
  constitutes a healthy and
  sustainable diet for man’s
  best friend.
  Daniel Selwood, 21 August

Technology can kickstart

DTC success – but the

product has to be good

As technology becomes

increasingly commoditised,

the competitive advantage

from being good at tech will

diminish. Because, in the

end, tech can rewrite some

rules but not all. A grocery

product is still a grocery

product, even if it’s sold via

new routes to market. And a

bad grocery product will still

fail, even if it has an exciting

tech story attached to it.

Julia Glotz, 20 August

It’ll take more than rare

birds to help industry

through Brexit

Birdwatchers out there will

know the yellowhammer is

famous for its song, which

sounds similar to the phrase

‘a little bit of bread and no

cheese’ – which may prove

dreadfully ironic if this

report comes to anything

like fruition. Just as with last

week’s Operation Kingfisher,

the big reveal is that the

government’s own reports

predict leaving the EU

without a deal could leave

the country in chaos.

Ian Quinn, 19 August

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feedback

Food waste is complex

● Sir, It is imperative that the

cause of waste is fundamen-

tally understood. There are so

many contributors – from the

excess inventory that arises