Tag Archives: Tesco

Tesco to revamp distribution network

Changes to Tesco’s distribution network will see the closure of two depots and the loss of 1,000 jobs, the company has said.

However, the changes, which include the closure of Welham Green and Chesterfield distribution centres, will also create 500 new roles. Welham Green’s grocery operations will move to the Reading distribution centre, while the majority of general merchandising will move into one distribution centre at Middlesbrough. The company is also withdrawing from a warehouse shared with logistics firm DHL in Daventry, Northamptonshire. Clothing operations there will move to the nearby Tesco Daventry distribution centre.

Tesco UK and ROI CEO Matt Davies commented, “As the needs of our customers change, it’s vital we transform our business for the future. As part of this we are proposing to close two of our distribution centres in the UK. These changes will help to simplify our distribution operations so we can continue to serve our customers better.”

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Tesco & Co-op offer free fruit for children

Tesco and Co-op stores are offering free fruit to children while their parents shop.

Tesco is offering the scheme in 800 stores, offering parents a selection of fruit such as apples, some citrus and bananas in response to a suggestion by checkout colleague Maria Simpson. “We’re Britain’s biggest greengrocer, so we want to make it easier for parents to get their children eating more healthily,” said Tesco UK chief executive Matt Davies. “”As a dad, I know it can be tricky getting children to eat their fruit and vegetables, so we’re hoping this initiative will help create healthy eating habits that will stay with children as they grow up.”

In contrast, the Co-op scheme, which is restricted to Lincolnshire, is only available to junior members of the Lincolnshire Co-op between the ages of five to 15. Once registered children can claim a fruit snack bag every day.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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Tesco potato growers win contract extension

Tesco is to issue new long term contracts worth £12 million over the next three years to British potato growers and packers.

Through the Tesco Sustainable Farming Group – Potatoes (TSFG-Potatoes), growers will benefit from greater financial certainty, allowing them to invest in their businesses for the future. The group will consist of producers and industry experts from across the country, and will aim to build stronger relationships through the whole supply chain to ensure customers are offered the best range and varieties at the right price.

Matt Simister, Tesco’s Commercial Director for Fresh Food explained, “Working collaboratively with our suppliers to ensure we provide the highest quality fresh produce for our customers is right at the heart of what we do.  Whilst there isn’t a single simple solution to resolve the uncertainty faced by many potato growers, it’s important that we all play our part. These new contracts will help to bring more confidence back into the whole potato supply chain and build a truly sustainable British potato industry.”

Under the new scheme, from September, producers will be given direct contracts with Tesco and a three year rolling commitment which will guarantee in advance, the volume of the crop that the supermarket will buy. Growers will also receive a price, based on their production costs, which will take into account inflation, farming inputs like the cost of fertiliser and the additional expenses involved in growing high quality fresh produce for customers.

Potato grower Crawford Black from Fife, Scotland added “These new three-year rolling contracts will give my family business more confidence to look further ahead, make plans and invest for the future, safe in the knowledge that we have a long-term commitment from Tesco to continue to work with us.”

Photo Caption: Tesco says the new contracts will help the industry

Photo Credit: Tesco

The post Tesco potato growers win contract extension appeared first on Hort News on 17 July 2016.

Tesco agrees sale of Dobbies

As part of its continued refocusing on core activities, Tesco has sold its Dobbies Garden Centres business to an investor group led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital.

The sale represents the entire share capital of Dobbies Garden Centres Ltd. Tesco will receive £217 million in cash for the entire share capital of Dobbies Garden Centres Ltd, which will be used for general corporate purposes.

Tesco bought Dobbies Garden Centres in 2007, and since then it has grown to become the UK’s second largest specialist garden centre retailer, operating 35 garden centres across Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Tesco Chief Executive Dave Lewis commented, “Through their hard work and dedication to customer service, Dobbies colleagues have built a great business, and I would like to thank them for everything they have done. It was a difficult decision to sell the business, but we believe this agreement will give Dobbies a bright future, while allowing our UK retail business to focus on its core strengths.”

Andrew Bracey and Barney Burgess, of Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital respectively, added, “[Dobbies] is a great business with fantastic colleagues. We’re very optimistic about the potential of the business, and we look forward to growing the business across the UK from its base in Scotland.”

Photo Credit: Tesco

The post Tesco agrees sale of Dobbies appeared first on Hort News on 23 June 2016.

Tesco adds cucumbers to imperfect veg range

Tesco has said that it will add new lines, including cucumbers and courgettes to its Perfectly Imperfect range of ‘wonky’ fruit and vegetables.

The cucumbers are priced at 35p per 100g and will form part of the Perfectly Imperfect range, which already includes parsnips, potatoes and strawberries. Sales of the range have grown tenfold since it was launched, with apples and parsnips showing particular growth.

Matt Simister, Commercial Director for Fresh Food and Commodities at Tesco commented, “Providing great quality produce at low prices is clearly something our customers find really helpful, and we’re expecting our new Perfectly Imperfect cucumbers to prove just as popular as the rest of the range. We want to do everything we can to cut food waste, and we’ll continue to do more to help our suppliers and customers reduce the amount of food that is wasted from farm to fork.”

Photo Credit: Tesco

The post Tesco adds cucumbers to imperfect veg range appeared first on Hort News on 22 June 2016.

Apple variety improves in storage

According to Tesco, a new apple variety which actually improves in store is set to ‘transform the UK apple industry.’

Red Prince, which is a cross between Golden Delicious and Red Jonathan, is grown in Kent by Adrian Scripps and will marketed through Tesco stores around the country. “We use the very latest storage technology to put the apple to sleep by lowering the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the cold store to ultra-low levels,” explains Adrian Scripps managing director James Simpson. “Apples are monitored daily for any change in the skin colour, which can indicate that the levels are incorrect and are putting the apple under stress. Oxygen levels are set at an optimum level found for the apple to store longer. This is different than normal storage where a standard regime is used that is not bespoke to the fruit in store.”

Tesco’s Master of Apples John Worth, commented, “As the English season doesn’t start until August the Holy Grail for growers has been to come up with a variety that holds its freshness and taste whilst it is put into cold storage during the winter months. Our grower has gone beyond that and found a new variety that actually improves in taste whilst it is dormant.

“Red Prince has a tangy, sweet taste and is large and firm. Somewhat like a fine wine, while it sleeps, its flavour and texture are enhanced as the natural sugars and acids mature to elevate the eating experience of this premium apple.”

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Tesco to sell wonky fruit as well as veg

According to reports, Tesco is to widen its specifications for certain fruit lines after successfully trialling ‘wonky veg’ in its potato and parsnip lines.

The retailer said that it had worked with its suppliers to extend its retail specifications so that it could sell Class II apples and strawberries to its customers at value prices. It added this meant that it would sell 95 per cent of its supplier’s strawberries and 97 per cent of their British apples.

Matt Simister, commercial director for fresh food and commodities at Tesco, told the Fresh Produce Journal, “The work doesn’t stop here though. We have experienced high levels of waste in-store on the parsnips in particular, and therefore need to continually develop our specifications so that we minimise the food that is wasted in any part of the chain.

“We’ve already facilitated the up-take of 35 tonnes per week from our potato partner Branston into our ready meals partner Samworth Brothers, and we’re hopeful that the establishing of a juicing relationship with Scripps, our key grower of British apples, will utilise the remaining two per cent of the edible crop.”

Photo Caption: Tesco says it will now sell 97 per cent of the British apples grown for it.

Photo Credit: Tesco

The post Tesco to sell wonky fruit as well as veg appeared first on Hort News on 15 April.

Tesco re-introduces ‘Festive Five’ at even lower price

In the most recent example of extreme retailer discounting of fruit and vegetables, Tesco has reintroduced its ‘Festive Five’ fresh produce promotion on key lines, but at a sale price 20 per cent less than last year.

The promotion includes 2.5 kg of white potatoes, 1kg packs of carrots, 500 g packs of Brussels sprouts and parsnips and whole cauliflowers at a retail price of just 39p. A Tesco spokesperson told The Grocer, “The Festive Five offers shoppers great value deals on great quality produce.”

The promotion is seen as a direct response to Aldi’s long-running Super Six and the Co-Op’s Fresh Three promotions, both of which share the 39p price point since. However, with produce always selling well over the festive period, in particular potatoes, carrots and sprouts, many in the industry will question the wisdom of taking value from key products in the hope that it is offset by increased sales. It may however help suppliers deal with a glut of cauliflowers caused by unseasonably warm weather.

Photo Credit: Tesco

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Tesco to make produce two days fresher

Tesco says that a new initiative to remove a food packing stage in the journey from farm to fork will mean that customers will benefit from salads and citrus fruit that will stay fresh for up to two extra days.

The foods covered by the initiative include imported lettuce; tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli and celery. As part of its ongoing programme to tackle food waste Tesco looked at its supply chain to identify ways of working directly with producers to speed up the process by which freshly picked produce arrives in store. It found that as a result of advancements in packing and storage it was now possible to ship produce directly from European suppliers to Tesco stores, cutting the amount of time spent in transit which means getting produce to customers faster, and therefore fresher.

Tesco Group Food Commercial Director Matt Simister said, “For millions of our customers this move will mean having up to an extra two days in which to enjoy some of the most popular fruit and vegetables. The extra days of freshness will particularly benefit customers who are pressed for time and will mean they are less likely to throw away food.”

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Tesco apologises and improves payment terms

Tesco has said it will simplify its payment terms to suppliers as chief executive Dave Lewis apologised for its past trading tactics.

He told the press; “I want to make an apology for the way we behaved in the past. We are recovering from big, bad decisions.” Reports suggest that the retailer, which saw its underlying profits for the first half of this year fall 55 per cent, is in secret talks with the Serious Fraud Office about its £326 million accounting black hole, possibly with a view to agreeing a deferred prosecution agreement which would allow it to admit wrongdoing but avoid any immediate criminal sanctions.

Speaking at and IGD Conference in London earlier in October, Mr Lewis said Tesco will no longer use a combination of complex and varied terms, but will introduce a standard approach, which will offer concessions to help small and medium-sized businesses. Smaller suppliers, who deliver up to £100,000 worth of products in a year, will be paid within 14 days, whilst medium-sized suppliers who deliver up to £10 million in product value per year, will have their accounts settled five days quicker than larger suppliers in their category. For those supplying fresh produce to Tesco, payments will be made in 23 days, instead of the current 28 days.

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