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The Voice of Independent Retailers
Horizon
Subpostmasters speak
Diwali
Light the lamps!
Halloween
Spooky supplies
18th October to 31st October 2024
Volume 36 No. 953
Bestway
Hybrid plans
GroceryAid
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82
Booker adds 397 new retailers
as Tesco reports healthy results
Diwali
Halloween and
Bonfire Night
19
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7 NEWS
Leader: Lighting the way
Booker adds 397 new retailers as Tesco reports
healthy results
Government ministers still ‘dragging their heels’
over compensation
One Stop retailers ‘super-excited’ over new range
Anas Sarwar praises convenience stores at SGF
conference
Home Secretary promises standalone offence for
assaulting staff
Guest column: A top tipple to celebrate with this
Diwali
Guest column: The Autumn Statement – what
independent retailers need
19 FEATURE: DIWALI
Diwali always comes at the perfect time to
light up the nights and lift spirits as the days
shorten and the weather grows colder: here is
our guide to the festival
28 NEWS FEATURE:
Innocent lives shattered
The injustice suffered by the sub postmasters
and mistresses in the Horizon scandal lies not
only in wrongful convictions, but also social
humiliation +2 PAGES!
34 WORLD OF WHOLESALE
A regular round-up of news and views in the
wholesale sector
36 RETAIL CORNER:
Redefining retail,
smashing stereotypes
This Telford c-store and its visionary owner
support the local community in ways that go far
beyond retailing
38 MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Keeping up with the latest industry moves and
promotions
40 WANIS 60TH PARTY
REPORT
41/44/48/52/72
BIG INTERVIEW
NICK WALLIS: The journalist has stood by the
victims of the Post Office miscarriage of justice
for nearly 15 years. Now, as the Inquiry nears its
end, he shares his thoughts on the saga
KIERAN HEMSWORTH: GroceryAid, the UK’s
grocery industry charity, stands as a beacon of
hope. We sat down with CEO Kieran Hemsworth
to discuss the charity’s mission, achievements,
and plans
JAMIE DAVISON: With the aim of developing
100 ‘hybrid stores’, Bestway’s Retail Director
Jamie Davison sheds light on the company’s
latest game-changing strategies
DR CARRIE RUXTON:Dietitian Carrie Ruxton
delivers some home-cooked truths about HFSS,
MUP, government guidelines and the nation’s
obesity crisis
VICTORIA LOCKIE:The end of an era brings a
bright new dawn as Unitas’ new Retail Director
Victoria Lockie arrives, and discusses ambitious
plans for future growth
55 VAPE BUSINESS SECTION
63 MUST STOCK
The latest product news
70 “NOT” TWITTER
The best observations and comments from
retailers (and friends) on the ground
77 FEATURE: PASTE, RICE
AND NOODLES
Viva the not-so-basics – these meal foundations
are coming into their own as consumers
appreciate their qualities in world cuisine and
convenience of preparation
82 FEATURE: HALLOWEEN
AND BONFIRE NIGHT
A great winter and festive season opener,
Halloween is the time to get creative, add some
fun and cash-in the excitement
90 CLASSIFIED
96 GUJARATI
Retail Clubs
18th October to 31st October 2024
THE VOICE OF INDEPENDENT RETAILERS
VOLUME 36 NUMBER 953
YOUR SPIRIT.
YOUR CELEBRATION.
WITH CHIVAS REGAL
I RISE WE RISE
Nielsen IQ Data to 15.06.24
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in the Off Trade
NEWS
18 OCTOBER 2024 ASIAN TRADER 7
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Households in the UK have
weathered the worst of the
cost-of-living crisis and can
now expect to see their
disposable income continue
to rise this year, states a new
report.
According to new figures
from Asda’s Income Tracker,
disposable income increased
by 12% year-on-year in
August, the fifth consecutive
month of double-digit
growth. After taxes and
essential spending, the
average UK household had a
disposable income of £247
per week last month,
surpassing the pre cost-of-liv-
ing crisis peak of £246 per
week achieved in March 2021.
While inflation levels have
remained unchanged since
July, inflation on food and
drink slowed to 1.3%. With
prices for essential groceries
continuing to drop, house-
holds can now expect their
spending power to continue
to improve heading towards
Christmas.
However, the data
suggests that the lowest-in-
come households are recover-
ing more slowly and will
continue to feel the impact of
the cost-of-living crisis for a
little longer.
‘Household disposable
income to continue to rise’
Lighting the way
ark times such as the world is currently enduring,
require illumination – and as we look at all the
trouble-spots of the world, it is comforting that
in this country at least, so many people of so many
different origins and beliefs can live together with a truly
amazing degree of harmony.
Diwali, whose influence and engagement spreads
wider every year in the UK, is the perfect example of how
a festival associated with one particular belief can
welcome to its table guests from other backgrounds and
religions, to take part in the spiritual uplift of its celebra-
tions. This is also true of other occasions such as Rama-
dan, Christmas, Vaisakhi or Yom Kippur – each is open in
its imagery and rituals to visitors from other faiths and
traditions, who can join in fellowship and commensality
with worshippers who share space in their communities.
2024 is special in this respect, as it demonstrates
precisely how two different traditions intersect and
come together in a new formulation of meaning and
purpose. By chance, the first day of this year’s Diwali falls
on the same date as the traditional Christian (previously
pagan) festival of All Hallow’s Eve, which is popularly
known as Halloween. Not only that, but the five days of
Diwali end just when another younger but still tradition-
al British celebration – Bonfire Night – explodes onto the
scene.
We need hardly highlight the commercial possibilities
of this cross-selling opportunity for independent retail-
ers, and merely direct you to the Diwali feature in this
celebration issue of Asian Trader to discover all the tips
and ideas you will need to boost holiday sales; and to the
Halloween and Bonfire Night feature to make the most of
those two “book-ending” opportunities.
We hope you enjoy this bumper Diwali issue, which
over time has developed its own tradition of running
several interviews with all sorts of people involved in the
sector – in this issue many areas of experience and insight
are represented, from Nick Wallis, who has been champi-
oning the cause of the sub postmasters for 15 years, to the
wholesale world with Jamie Davison, Director of Retail at
Bestway and Victoria Lockie the new Retail Director at
Unitas, to Kieran Hemsworth, the CEO of industry
charity GroceryAid, which has recently held another
huge and hugely successful D&I in Grocery LIVE! Event in
London.
The clocks go back in a very short time, and this feels
very much like the gateway to winter – not a soggy
miserable winter, however, but more of a sparkling,
snowy winter bonanza of retail colour and sales – let’s
hope that the Autumn Budget Statement, which falls
somewhat ominously on October 30, just one day before
Halloween, has no scary surprises within it.
Many in the industry, such as Helen Dickinson, CEO of
the British Retail Consortium are becoming cautiously
optimistic following a recent uptick in autumn footfall.
It could be that consumers are ready to let their hair down
and reward themselves with some good times this
coming festive season – so let’s do all we can to help them.
Booker, under Tesco, has
integrated a further 397 net
new retail partners in the
fi rst half of this year.
Booker retail partners
now total 7,787 outlets
across Premier, Londis,
Budgens and Family
Shopper.
Operating profi t at the
company, which also owns the
Booker cash and carry business,
rose 13 per cent to £1.61 billion
in the six months to the end of
August, up from £1.43 million
over the same period last year.
Sales across the group grew
by 3.5% over the period to £31.5
billion and like-for-like sales
rose by 2.9%. However, Booker
LFL sales dropped a little (1.9%),
refl ecting a decline in the
tobacco market.
Tesco said it had lowered
prices across its everyday
grocery lines as infl ation
continued to ease.
Commenting on the
numbers, Tesco CEO Ken
Murphy said, “We’ve been
working really hard to of er our
customers the best possible
value, quality, and service and
they are shopping more at Tesco
as a result. We have lowered
prices on thousands of lines,
launched or improved over 860
products in partnership with
our suppliers and growers, and
our customer satisfaction scores
continue to improve across a
broad range of measures.
“The combination of price,
quality and innovation means
we are as competitive as we have
ever been, and we have been the
cheapest full-line grocer for
nearly two years.
“As we approach the
Christmas season, we are
looking forward to sharing the
quality of our festive food with
customers and can’t wait for
them to taste it.
Record numbers recoded for Booker’s ‘Fab Four’
symbol groups
Booker adds 397 new retailers
Booker adds 397 new retailers
as Tesco reports healthy results
as Tesco reports healthy results
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8 ASIAN TRADER 18 OCTOBER 2024
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The fi rst ever industrial
action by workers at
Tetley’s has escalated.
“These women work
their fi ngers to the bone for
this company, providing
the UK with its favourite
cup of tea,” says the GMB
Union
Almost 150 GMB
members working at Tata
Consumer Products,
which makes Tetley Tea in
Teesside, have walked out
today [Friday] in anger over
poverty pay, and a further
strike will take place on 10
October.
Tensions between workers
and bosses were further
infl amed when management
called the police during
previous industrial action,
claiming the predominantly
women strikers were being
“intimidating”.
Police took no action and
now the company is suing
their own workers for
trespass.
“These women work
their fi ngers to the bone for
this company, providing
the UK with its favourite
cup of tea,” said Paul Clark,
GMB Organiser. “But
they’re paid a pittance and
it is just not right.
“Not only that but, now
bosses are trying to sue them
for exercising their legal right
to strike.
“Tata bosses need to be
clear; these women will not be
intimidated and will not back
down.”
Tetley strike escalates – owner
calls in police against women
A top tipple to celebrate
A top tipple to celebrate
with this Diwali
with this Diwali
Nick Gillett is
Co-founder and
Managing
Director of
successful spirits
distributor
Mangrove
Global, as well as an industry
expert and commentator. In his
column for this issue, Nick
celebrates India’s contribution
to classic toasts with its
wonderful and increasingly
well-known whiskies
October is here, and our thoughts turn
to many of the remaining celebrations of
the year – and fi rst up we have Diwali. A
time for lavish decorations, food,
sweets, and drinks, Diwali begs the
question: what will you have in your
glass for a toast? For me there’s one
answer, and it’s whisky.
Whisky as a category is changing.
Enthusiasts are exploring beyond the
shores of Scotland and Ireland and
buying “world whiskies” from all corners
of the globe. North America and Japan
have had their moment – and now it’s
India’s turn.
Indian whiskies showcase Indian
traditions of whisky distilling – with some
added innovation. The humid Indian
climate ages the spirit much faster, giving
deep, complex fl avours. But the nation’s
distilleries are experimenting with
dif erent casks, strengths, and ingredients
to bring us fascinating liquids that are now
sought after, all over the world.
We launched Indri in the UK a few
months ago – and it’s been a runaway
success that even we couldn’t have
predicted. Distilled in Rajasthan, Indri
uses six-row barley that’s been grown in
the region for thousands of years. The
ageing process varies across the range,
but let’s take a closer look at the brand’s
aptly named, limited edition SKU – Di-
wali. Aged in Pedro Ximenez sherry
casks this whisky is smooth, sweet, and
smoky. No bones about it, this is a
collector’s item – and there will be
another limited release this year.
So, this Diwali, ensure you celebrate
India’s whisky-fuelled success and stock
a bottle or two of the nation’s favourite
on your shelf. And if you celebrate it,
have a very enjoyable Diwali.
The Post Of ce (POL) Horizon
IT scandal victims will still not
receive payouts by the March
2025 deadline given by the
campaigner Sir Alan Bates, the
postal minister Gareth
Thomas has said.
Thomas said it would be
dif cult to achieve the
deadline but promised that
there would be “substantial
progress” toward clearing the
compensation claim backlog
by next summer.
“I wish I could commit to
Sir Alan’s timeframe,” Thomas
said, speaking to BBC Break-
fast today (2). “I think we will
have made substantial
progress by next summer.”
Thomas’ statement comes a
day after the inquiry into the
scandal heard testimony that
claimed the compensation
strategy had previously been
focused on saving taxpayers’
money, as opposed to the
supposed goal of “full and fair”
compensation for those
af ected.
The former POL chair
Henry Staunton told the
hearing that during his time in
the role he formed a view that
the state-owned body had a
bureaucratic, unsympathetic
and adversarial approach.
“With respect to remedia-
tion, the government and Post
Of ce were dragging their
heels,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sir Alan said
last week that fi nancial redress
schemes “can’t be allowed to
drag on for years again”,
adding, there’s no reason it’s
just the “bureaucracy driving
them into the ground again”.
Last month, Sir Alan sent a
letter to hundreds of former
branch owner-operators
calling for a March 2025
deadline for fi nancial redress
for those af ected by the
Horizon scandal, in which
hundreds of post of ce
operators were wrongly
pursued through the courts
over account shortfalls that
were later linked to a faulty IT
system.
Thomas refuses to commit to Sir Alan’s PO scandal victim timeframe
Government ministers still ‘dragging
Government ministers still ‘dragging
their heels’ over compensation
their heels’ over compensation
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NEWS/COMMENT
Happy
Diwali
from all of us at Booker
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Leading One Stop retailers are
excited over reports that One
Stop stores will soon be able to
stock Tesco’s core own-brand
range as the symbol group is set
to phase out its current
own-label range.
According to recent reports,
the Tesco-hosted symbol group
has announced it will phase out
its current own-label products
and replace them with its
parent’s “Core Own Brand”
range across its estate of 1,000+
stores.
Owner of One Stop Mount
Nod store in Coventry, retailer
Aman Uppal confi rmed the
reports, saying that the
announcement was made at a
recent One Stop franchise meet.
Uppal told Asian Trader, “I
am very happy and super-excit-
ed over this news. I have been a
part of One Stop for the past
eight years and have been
waiting for something like this
for a long time.
“Tesco Core Own Brand
range carries trust and familiari-
ty. People are going to love it
that the range is available at
their nearby One Stop conveni-
ence stores.
“I feel it’s a win-win
arrangement for all of us.
Though I also understand that
the roll-out and logistic will be a
bit challenging and might come
with some conditions.”
With a slump in sales and
margins being squeezed, this
move is being welcomed by
several One Stop retailers as
stocking Tesco products is
expected to give them a
competitive edge, potentially
increasing footfall as well as
basket size.
The Tesco products will be
introduced in phases, starting
this month and possibly rolling
into next year. The of er will
include an expanded range of
healthier and af ordable
options.
Deal means prospect of selling Tesco core skus in-store
One Stop retailers ‘super-
One Stop retailers ‘super-
excited’ over new range
excited’ over new range
Almost half of UK Gen Z’ers
(46%) and 29% of other
generations have abandoned
a brand they were once loyal
to because they grew “bored”
of them, a recent study has
shown, also highlighting the
changing expectation of
customers and increasing use
of AI in marketing.
According to SAP Emarsys’
annual Customer Loyalty
Index (CLI), younger
consumers are particularly
drawn to innovative market-
ing. In fact, the study states
that 30% of Gen Z, compared
to 23% of all demo-
graphics, have tried a
new brand because of
its “creative market-
ing”.
Additionally, over
a quarter of Gen Z
(31%) are enticed by brands
that use “cool” content or
imagery, versus only 21% of
other age groups. Meanwhile,
28% of Gen Z, compared to
17% of other demographics,
seek out brands that deliver
“memorable experiences”.
The study also focused on
the increasing use of AI to
optimise the marketing
process. It points out that
brands like Ferrera Candy
Company and Pizza Hut are
making every interaction
count more by creating
personalised, two-way
conversations, meaning the
brand can better predict the
customer’s developing
preferences.
Half Gen Z abandons ‘brands that
become boring’
KP Snacks profi ts
KP Snacks profi ts
despite cyber attack
despite cyber attack
Profi ts at KP Snacks surged to
almost £100 million despite a
debilitating 2022 cyber-attack, said
the maker of Butterkist, Tyrrell’s and
Popchips.
The Slough-headquartered
business, whose brands also include
Mccoy’s and Hula Hoops, reported a
pre-tax profi t of £93.7m for 2023, up
from the £64.3m it achieved in 2022.
Accounts show the fi rm’s
turnover jumped from £546m to
£626.7m over the same period.
The board said, “KP grew share in
2023 and continued to strengthen
its branded position in the UK crisps,
snacks, popcorn and nuts market.”
Pets Choice surpasses
Pets Choice surpasses
£100m in turnover
£100m in turnover
The leading pet food, healthcare and
accessories manufacturer an-
nounced a record fi nancial year,
surpassing the £100 million turnover
milestone for 2023.
The North-West based company,
which is behind brands including
Webbox, Bob Martin, Felight and
TastyBone, reported a revenue
increase from £95 million to £109.7
million for the year ending 31
December 2023.
This growth is largely attributed
to Pets Choice’s strategic brand
acquisitions, including the plant-
based pet care brand HOWND and
premium pet food brand Vet’s
Kitchen, enhancing its presence in
the premium pet care sector.
Happy 3rd birthday for
Happy 3rd birthday for
Scan & Save
Scan & Save
Retail technology company Jisp has
marked the 3-year anniversary of its
Scan & Save app, achieving impres-
sive performance fi gures and
receiving high praise from its retailers.
Since launching in 2021, Scan &
Save has earned retailers almost
£6million and shoppers over
£2.2million. Total scans of the app’s
AR vouchers broke through the
fi ve-million mark, with redemptions
topping four million.
Stores also hit 1,000 for the fi rst
time, continuing the impressive
recruitment of new retailers into the
business, while registered Scan &
Save users grew to 123,000.
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