“If you want to know what happens when a country leaves the European Union, you might as well ask the Inuit.” That was the BBC’s Brian Milligan being simultaneously flippant and factual last month (factual, because Greenland is the only other country ever to have left the EU – or the EEC as it was […]
Despite reports of growing losses at Tesco-owned NutriCentre and a candid analysis by its recently appointed management team of earlier operational failings, news that the supermarket is to close its specialist health and wellbeing business has shocked the natural products industry.
Last month four prominent Soil Association trustees who recently resigned from the charity accused it of disowning the ‘O’ word. They also warned that the organization had become “controversy-averse”. At the heart of their criticisms is the implementation to date of the Soil Association’s flagship strategy The Road to 2020, launched in 2011 after a long […]
Organic retail sales in the UK are on the move again and growth, though modest, are outpacing conventional sales. But organic’s share of total food and drink sales stubbornly refuses to move. At just below 2% it’s significantly lower than that of other European countries with mature organic markets – it’s 3.7% in Germany, 3.59% […]
In the New Year the Soil Association is to get a rebrand. The most visible change will be the organic charity’s new logo, which got its first outing at this month’s Soil Association Annual Conference. The new logo is a striking departure from the current, serviceable but slightly buttoned up design. It’s in colour for […]
In 2002 the pro-GM Labour Government held a national debate to test public opinion on GM food. When the findings of the GM Nation? debate were published it was clear that the British public comprehensively rejected the technology. In fact, only 2% of the 30,000 people who took part in the GM Nation? consultation said […]
When the big four supermarkets pulled swathes of organic lines from their shelves in the early stages of the 2008 recession they set in train a self-fulfilling prophesy. As organic food sales duly fell away the retail giants could claim that their prediction that shoppers would abandon premium-priced ‘discretionary’ items like organic had been right. […]
“A compelling combination of retail, food service and community” “The retail equivalent of your uncle trying to be groovy at a wedding and failing” Two rather different interpretations of Tesco’s widely publicised plans to breathe some life into its underperforming superstores – the first from Kantar Retail, the second from the New Economics Foundation’s Andrew […]
The former Iceland and Wickes chief executive Peter Grimsey is the latest supermarket boss (ex in this case) to give a mauling to Mary Portas’s scheme to revive the British high street. Even if Portas does divide opinion you do wonder how much opprobrium the big beasts of the retail jungle can heap on one […]
Tesco’s horsemeat media confessional continues. First there was the visually stark yet otherwise strangely chatty We Apolgise advertisement. “You’ve probably heard or read that we had a serious problem with three of our frozen beef burgers …” it began, with no small measure of understatement. Next up was the What Burgers Have Taught Us double […]
“Some companies seem to think consumers will keep taking it on the chin because we accepted being spoon fed this stuff for so long and have seen our high streets die in front of our eyes and replaced by faceless, unaccountable conglomerates – without conversation, without relationships, and they think we’ll accept anything, that we’ll […]
“Next week”, announced the dulcet-toned Charlotte Green, “Radio 4 will broadcast the first in a two part-series in which Lord Gus O’Donnell makes a provocative and passionate plea in defence of bureaucracy. “In the programmes the former Cabinet Secretary will argue that an efficient bureaucracy isn’t just a symptom of a mature democracy – it’s […]
“Some people join associations to make problems go away. It’s not enough. You’ve got to engage.” (more…)
I’m not sure when the phrase ‘reconnecting people with their food’ was first coined (it began cropping up in the media around the time the Curry Report was published, in early 2006). But because it resonates strongly for so many people it’s now passed into general currency. (more…)
Forget the Baby Boomers and Generation X (oh, and the Echo Boomers and Generation Y). Here come the ‘millennials’. (more…)
Residents of Tunbridge Wells are usually acutely aware of their ‘disgusted of’ reputation. We live each day as a national joke (yes, I speak from personal experience). (more…)
The philosopher Mary Midgley has written extensively about what modern thinkers can learn from Nature. She also suggests that we can all learn from the way that modern industrialised societies regard Nature. (more…)
Industry analyst Organic Monitor has an intriguing New Year prediction. Not only will mobile technology be used by growing numbers of people in 2012 but — in the form of smartphone apps — it could cut the maze of eco-labels that consumers have to navigate every time they go shopping. (more…)
I wonder if George Osborne might come to regret the slightly self-satisfied way he told the House of Commons last week “we are not going to save the planet by burdening business with endless social and environmental goals”. (more…)
In her foreword to the Soil Association’s new strategy paper The Road to 2020, the organic charity’s new director, Helen Browning, writes: (more…)
A major new report exposes how mixtures of pesticides commonly found in food, water and soil could be harming the health of both humans and wildlife.
Cru8 has launched of a new funding round on Seedrs to enable the business to keep up with the burgeoning demand for free-from, paleo and keto products.
Zac Goldsmith has written to the House of Lords about a European Parliament proposal to ban words like ‘sausage’ and ‘burger’ to describe plant-based foods.
Unilever has announced plastic reduction goals it says ‘are even bolder’ than its previous commitments, pledging to halve its use of virgin plastic by 2025.
Want the truth about sustainable packaging? It’s complicated – but consumers and brands are both committed to change, says Matt Chittock
With 72% of adults reporting that they exercise on a weekly basis, Kate Miller highlights why a broader definition of sports nutrition could be advantageous
With celebrity followers helping boost its appeal the keto diet is still very much in vogue. But does it sit comfortably within the natural health sector?
From Fairtrade chocolate to skincare botanicals, Claire Lavelle showcases the best festive retail offers this season (more…)
It may seem counter-intuitive to apply mud to your skin in order to cleanse it, but the skin-enhancing benefits of mineral-rich mud have been harnessed for beauty treatments all over the world for centuries. Antipodes® uses white volcanic mud sourced from central New Zealand’s dramatic central plateau in its new Halo Skin-Brightening Facial Mud Mask […]
The Health Store’s ever popular Open Day makes a welcome return on Sunday 8th September. Paul Rideout, Sales & Marketing Manager at the Health Store, explains “The Open Day is back by popular demand! This will be our 8th Open Day since we launched the event back in 2009 and it is more popular than […]
Over the past few years Hemp and its CBD-rich extracts have made a stunning entrance to the nutraceutical business. More and more people are now commenting on the wonderful health benefits of supplementing their diet with natural phytocannabinoids and new CBD oil brands pop-up regularly as a result.
Experts across Europe have warned the EU to brace itself for a bad flu season this winter. A new vaccine has been produced which is effective in fighting H3N2, the flu strain likely to hit the region this year; however, the vaccine is generally available for free to over 65s, pregnant women, those with an […]
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