PepsiCo has entered into an agreement with PAI Partners (PAI) to sell a 61% majority stake at $3.3bn in its Tropicana, Naked and other select juice brands across North America, and an irrevocable option for certain juice businesses in Europe.
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The founder of one of Britain’s biggest food producers has claimed that supermarket shelves in the UK will be bare and panic buying will intensify unless critical issues currently threatening food supplies are solved promptly.
NamNews Implications:Over the four weeks ending 17 July, total till sales edged down only 1.3% versus the same bumper period in 2020 when demand was being boosted by the effects of the pandemic. This was an improvement on the 2.4% fall in June and 2.7% decline in May when hospitality venues first reopened.
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Trade magazine The Grocer reported that the variety discounter has now closed all of its 12 outlets located on retail parks in the Midlands and north of England. The business employed around 500 staff.
The warehouse and online business sold a wide range of products including food & drink, health & beauty, garden, and DIY products. Customers had to sign up to JFT’s free membership scheme to shop in the stores.Latest data from Kantar shows demand for take-home groceries has continued to ease from last year’s records highs, with sales down 5.1% year-on-year during the 12 weeks to 11 July as more normal trading conditions returned and less shopping was done online. However, sales are still elevated compared with pre-pandemic times and shoppers spent £3bn more on groceries than they did during the same period in 2019.
PepsiCo, along with Coca-Cola, Nestlé, P&G, and Kimberly-Clark, have issued similar warnings in recent months due to a host of factors, including disruptions in global supply chains and rising demand that has pushed up raw-material prices.
The move to raise prices will also be used to offset higher advertising and marketing costs, which rose 30% in the period as the company looked to take advantage of a reopening of the US economy.A shortfall of up to 100,000 lorry drivers in the UK has partly been caused by an exodus of EU workers in the wake of Brexit and the pandemic. Covid-19 restrictions have also impacted the training and tests of new drivers, whilst costs are rising due to changes to taxation rules for self-employed drivers.
