The Government is under pressure to alter the current Planning Bill to stop supermarkets from expanding without planning permission by building mezzanine floors inside existing stores. MPs met last week to agree a campaign to stop supermarkets exploiting a loophole in the planning law after Asda almost doubled the floorspace of an out-of-town superstore and is doing the same to three more. The company, owned by US retail giant Wal-Mart, has said it could build extra floors in 40 other UK stores, raising fears about the impact on local shops and traffic.
Matthew Green, Liberal Democrat spokesman on planning, said Lib Dem and Labour MPs would ask Ministers either to alter the Planning Bill to stop stores expanding floorspace by more than 10 per cent without permission, or to change official guidelines. This would cover all attempts to avoid planning limits - including one supermarket reportedly digging into the cellar to expand - said Green. 'It's a means of making sure we don't end up with lots of small shops shutting because a store does something nobody could stop them doing.'
Asda said there were no firm plans to expand more than four of the 40 stores. 'We're doing exactly what planners want, making more efficient use of the space we have in store without having to build large extensions taking up more land,' said Asda spokesman Nick Agarwal.
DEFRA is planning to put out a consultation paper at the end of this month proposing key sustainability indicators. Producers, wholesalers, caterers and retailers will be working with the government on a strategy to improve the food and drink industry's economic, environmental and social performance.
The aim is to tackle issues such as pollution, litter, waste, food miles, transport and energy use. Food and Farming Minister Lord Whitty will chair the new stakeholder group, which will involve a wide range of industry bodies such as the Food and Drink Federation, Federation of Wholesale Distributors, British Retail Consortium and groups such as the National Consumer Council.
Tesco has extended its share of the grocery market to a record 26.9%, up from 26.7%, with Sainsbury and ASDA unchanged at 16.8% and 16.3% respectively. Safeway continued to lose ground with its market share down to 9.5%. The data, from industry researcher Taylor Nelson Sofres, based on till receipts provided by the industry, showed that Sainsburys market share dropped by 0.9% % in the year-ago period.
Supermarket milk prices have risen by 2p per litre, following a successful campaign by farming groups to increase the prices paid to the producer. The additional 2p/l charged to consumers is passed on directly to dairy farmers.
Other dairy products, including cheese, are likely to be affected by the price rise.
Most of Britain's supermarkets charge too much for Fairtrade products, according to a recent report. The Fairtrade scheme is designed to ensure that farmers are paid a fair price for their goods, and consumers are increasingly willing to pay the higher prices charged by supermarkets.
It now appears that most of the profit from the premiums charged may be going to supermarkets rather than farmers, according to the Sunday Times.
John McCabe, a retail pricing expert with the consultants Connector Global, said: "they [consumers] will be surprised to learn that the lions share of the extra money appears in many cases to be going to the supermarkets. Much of the premium over and above the fixed price they must pay the farmers appears to be going straight into their profits."
Fair trade?
Average supermarket price (pence/kg):
Regular bananas:
80p
Fairtrade bananas:
154p
Price difference:
74p
Paid to third-world farmers:
24p
Additional supermarket income:
50p
According to the report, Waitrose is the only major supermarket not to make extra income from Fairtrade items.
The report does not appear to take into account any additional costs incurred in selling Fairtrade produce.
