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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

A big year

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Booker adds 397 new retailers

as Tesco reports healthy results

Diwali

Halloween and

Bonfire Night

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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

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NEWS

18 OCTOBER 2024 ASIAN TRADER 7

www.asiantrader.biz

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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

as Tesco reports healthy results

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8 ASIAN TRADER 18 OCTOBER 2024

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

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

their heels’ over compensation

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NEWS/COMMENT

Happy

Diwali

from all of us at Booker

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10 ASIAN TRADER 18 OCTOBER 2024

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-

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

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

£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

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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