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Innovation Report: The glass debate

Published:  10 May, 2022

Is glass creating a bottleneck in the drive to greater sustainability and can we change consumer perception of it as a strong indicator of quality? Andrew Catchpole reports back from Harpers’ recent Sustainability of Glass webinar.

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Looking ahead: Simon Cairns, BWS category trading manager, Co-op

Published:  07 August, 2019

As the first half of 2019 draws to a close, Harpers asked key trade figures to highlight the current challenges, ongoing trends and opportunities

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The battle for the retail shelves

Published:  23 March, 2017

The latest Nielsen retail reports make for interesting reading. Supermarket own-brand wines showed growth of 12.6% in the 12 weeks leading up to January 28, 2017, an escalation from 5.5% year-on-year growth, while brands lost 3% share.

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Supermarket sweep: A week in review

Published:  17 February, 2017

On the international stage, the big news this week has been dominated by an increasingly maddening number of acronyms and portmanteaus - CETA, Brexit, TTIP - as the top echelon of global businesses and governments on both sides of the Atlantic make decisions which will impact the immediate future of the trade.

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Performance review: An early look at the multiples' Christmas trading

Published:  12 January, 2017

In retail head offices across the country, buyers will be analysing this year's trading, investigating highs and lows, and providing the traditional Christmas post-mortems.

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Men driving growth of Fairtrade wine says Co-op

Published:  08 December, 2016

Evidence that the growing number of ethically sourced and social responsible drinks companies is in response to consumer demand for alcohol with a conscience has been backed by data from the Co-op which revealed that its sales of Fairtrade wine are up 25% YOY.

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The week that was: top news, Q&As and opinion on Harpers.co.uk

Published:  28 October, 2016

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, we have put together a review of the top online news, Q&As, and opinion stories.

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Co-op sets up European distribution hub in radical change to supply strategy for its continental wines

Published:  26 October, 2016

The words 'agility' and 'flexibility' are used frequently by Simon Cairns. As the Co-op's beers wines and spirits trading director, he has overseen a category enjoying buoyant growth this year, with a 4.3% increase in like for like sales across the sector, according to the latest Nielsen reports.

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The week that was: top news, Q&As and opinion on Harpers.co.uk

Published:  30 September, 2016

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, we have put together a review of the top online news, Q&As, and opinion stories.

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Co-op profits halved as they continue to implement turnaround strategy

Published:  26 September, 2016

The Co-operative Group saw profits drop to £17m in for the first half of the financial year, but revenue rose by 2.2% to £4.7bn compared to the same time period last year.

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Kantar Worldpanel: Alcohol sales help keep grocery figures in the black

Published:  26 September, 2016

While overall figures for the supermarket sector remain relatively flat with growth at 0.3%, alcohol sales provided a needed boost, up 8.5% according to Kantar Worldpanel's most recent figures.

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Kantar Worldpanel: Weather turns heat up on grocery sales

Published:  23 August, 2016

According to Kantar Worldpanel figures out this week, the good weather helped UK consumers increase their spend with grocers, with market growth hitting 0.3%.

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Nearly 90% of UK wine drinkers considering themselves 'wine buffs'

Published:  08 August, 2016

According to a recent survey of 1,586 Brits, conducted by UK research and consulting firm Ginger Research, 88% of respondents said they considered themselves a wine buff or a wine lover.

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Co-op unloads 298 stores to McColl's Retail Group for £117m

Published:  14 July, 2016

The Co-op has announced it is selling 298 of its smaller food stores to the McColl's Retail Group for £117 million.

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Lidl and Aldi hit record high as top four lose market share

Published:  28 June, 2016

Grocery share figures show that the big four have lost market share on last year, while Lidl and Aldi hit a record high of 10.5% in combined market share.

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Data is driving Co-op wine range changes to help continue growth

Published:  18 May, 2016

The Co-operative is gaining ground in an ultra-competitive channel and at yesterday's summer tasting which previewed several of the new wines being introduced to the retailer's range, the science behind the changes seems to be paying off.

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Co-op remains tight-lipped on plans to sell off 300 stores

Published:  20 April, 2016

The Co-op has refused to deny rumours that it is planning to sell off 300 of its unwanted shops to manage debt and improve the rest of the chain.

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Co-op look to UK bottling to safeguard consumer availability

Published:  11 March, 2016

"We want to be the best at Convenience," is the stated aim of the Co-operative BWS team. With the convenience sector showing market growth, the Co-operative is launching a new initiative to implement clustered ranging plans across its portfolio of over 4000 stores, and aims for "excellence in execution" on product availability.

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Simon Cairns of The Co-operative on the growing importance of convenience retailing for the company

Published:  05 June, 2015

Simon Cairns, BWS category trading manager at The Co-operative explains to Angela Mount the supermarket's strategy, its supplier relationships and how it needs to "focus totally on convenience retailing, working within 2,000- to 4,000-square-foot shop formats."

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The Co-op looks to defend its market share in the convenience retail channel

Published:  05 June, 2015

In an exclusive interview with Angela Mount for this month's print edition of Harpers, which is out today, Simon Cairns the BWS category manager for The Co-operative explains how critical the convenience retail channel is becoming for the company.

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