Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway and Uber Eats have agreed to conduct direct checks on all UK riders’ immigration status after coming under pressure from ministers to tackle illegal working and exploitation in the sector.
The Home Office said on Tuesday (30) that the three food delivery companies had committed to changing their processes to confirm substitute riders, who share accounts with people engaged directly by the groups, also had the right to work legally in the UK.
Speaking after meeting with the three companies, illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson said, “Illegal working puts their customers at risk, drives down wages and defrauds the taxpayer. It is vital that we shut down any loophole that allows it to happen."
The companies have now committed to introducing "enhanced security checks", the government said.
Deliveroo is the first to roll out a new substitute registration feature, including right to work checks, earlier this month.
It comes after immigration minister Robert Jenrick wrote to Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat in November, explaining heightened enforcement activity had exposed the level of illegal working in the food delivery sector.
He said this was “enabled by business models which rely on individuals themselves to confirm a person’s eligibility to work, enable unchecked account sharing to take place and are completely unacceptable.”
The food delivery firms had been using a process where self-employed risers were able to appoint other people to complete work for them, with the responsibility of making sure a substitute is over 18, has the right to work in the UK and can do so safely.
A Deliveroo spokesperson said, “We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and are committed to strengthening our controls to prevent misuse of our platform.
“We are the first major platform to roll out direct right to work checks, a registration process and identity verification technology to ensure that only substitutes with right to work can continue riding on our platform.”
The crackdown comes amid a toughening stance on immigration from the Conservatives.
Diageo Great Britain has on Tuesday launched the Diageo Luxury Company, a new division dedicated to transforming Diageo’s performance in the luxury beverage sector in its home market.
The division unites existing colleagues in marketing, sales, and commercial teams under a new unified strategy and leadership team, with the launch intending to boost Diageo’s presence in the super-premium and premium segments.
The Diageo Luxury Company (DLC) will focus on bold and locally relevant innovations and brand building, as well as exciting consumer experiences across both the on and off-trades, as well as digital channels.
The DLC will have a clear portfolio focus, activating five luxury spirit brands across GB: Don Julio, Casamigos, Johnnie Walker, The Singleton, and Ciroc. Accelerating the role that these brands play in culture will be an integral part of the DLC’s growth ambition, building on recent successes such as last summer’s Casamigos’ three-floor ‘Casa House’ at All Points East Festival in London, and last month’s Johnnie Walker Blue Label ‘Ice Chalet’ experience at Selfridges, London.
The announcement comes as Diageo PLC has launched The Diageo Luxury Group, a newly created global division for Diageo’s most valuable and exceptional assets. While the DLC will work with The Diageo Luxury Group, it will operate under the Diageo GB business alongside the market’s other core spirits and beer brands.
Hinesh Shah
The new division will be led by Hinesh Shah who will serve as general manager of the DLC. Shah has been at Diageo for almost 14 years, spending most of his career in North America working in roles across finance, sales, strategy and working with the largest customers and distributors in the world. His most recent tole was Vice President – Commercial transformation in North America.
With a deep connection to Diageo’s luxury portfolio, Shah picks Johnnie Walker as the brand he is most excited to work with, a brand he says takes him back to special celebratory moments, including his graduation and anniversaries.
“We have built a strong foundation in the luxury beverage space, driving the likes of Johnnie Walker, Don Julio, and Casamigos to the heart of the luxury conversation. But it’s time to take it to the next level, utilising our incredible trade partnerships and marketing expertise to grow our luxury brands like never before,” Shah commented.
“I’m incredibly proud to lead what will become a high-performing team, united under one bold vision - to become the premier luxury drinks company in GB.”
Nuno Teles, managing director at Diageo GB, added: “Through innovation, investing in diverse talent, and a commitment to excellence in execution, the DLC promises to shape the future of luxury beverages. Our GB business has a proud history of developing authentically crafted brands, and I’m confident that Hinesh and his team will engrain these brands, and the tequila and scotch categories, into the future of luxury celebrations.”
France's wine output is expected to fall by nearly a quarter this year after adverse weather hurt vineyards throughout the cycle with the Champagne region most hit, the French farm ministry said on Friday.
In a monthly report, the ministry projected wine output this year at 36.9 million hectolitres, down from 37.5 million forecast last month and now 23 per cent below last year's small vintage when there had been major disparities between regions.
The revised forecast, based on the latest harvest results, was 17 per cent below the five-year average of 44.2 million hectolitres.
A hectolitre is the equivalent of 100 litres, or 133 standard wine bottles.
"This year was characterised by unfavorable weather, with precipitation from flowering to harvest in most wine-growing areas and health problems that reduced volumes," the ministry said in a monthly report.
"In many vineyards, flowering took place in cool and damp conditions, leading to "coulure" (dropping of flowers and young grapes) and "millerandage" (formation of small grapes). Added to this were losses due to frost in the spring, mildew and hail in the summer," the ministry said.
All types of wine were affected, as well as those intended for the distilled spirit eau-de-vie which benefited from an exceptional harvest in 2023, it said.
Champagne recorded the sharpest fall in output among large wine-producing regions this year with a fall 46 per cent from a good 2023 and 31 per cent below the five-year average.
"In addition to the lack of sunshine which disrupted the development of the grapes, there were spring frosts, mildew, hail, scalding and excessive rainfall," the ministry said, referring to the Champagne region.
Champagne producers in July had called for a cut in the number of grapes harvested this year after sales of the wine fell more than 15 per cent in the first half of the year as customers tightened their belts due to an uncertain economy.
(Reuters)
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A view of palm oil plantation on November 13, 2016 in Trumon subdistrict, South Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia
Nestle, P&G investigate palm oil sourcing after green group's deforestation report
Consumer brands including Nestle and Procter & Gamble said they conducted investigations after an environmental group said palm oil sourced from an illegally cleared wildlife reserve in Indonesia may have found its way into their supply chains.
Rainforests within the legally protected wildlife reserve had been cleared to make way for palm oil plantations during the last eight years, the US-based Rainforest Action Network (RAN) said, citing satellite images that it says reveal deforestation in the area.
The group shared images which it said showed stretches of cleared brown land cut into the lush green expanse of Indonesia's Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve, with rows of young palm trees now planted along its borders.
Some images, which RAN said were taken during a field investigation in February 2024, showed that oil palm seedlings were planted on burnt ground surrounded by fallen trees inside the reserve, according to the report published on Monday.
The wildlife reserve, located in Aceh province in the northwest of Indonesia's Sumatra island, has lost 2,609 hectares (6,447 acres) of forest since 2016, with palm trees now growing on 645 hectares of the cleared area, RAN said.
Indonesia's forestry ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
RAN said its investigation, conducted in September and October, had found fresh fruit bunches from the illegal plantations were sold to mills PT Global Sawit Semesta (GSS) and PT Aceh Trumon Anugerah Kita (ATAK), both of which supplied major brands including Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Mondelez and PepsiCo, according to the RAN report.
GSS and ATAK, which are located in remote areas, could not be reached by Reuters for comment.
Companies typically source palm oil from Indonesian mills through intermediaries.
A Nestle spokesperson said it promptly engaged with its direct supplier regarding GSS to investigate RAN's findings, adding that, by the end of 2023, 96 per cent of its palm oil supply was "deforestation-free".
"Should there be a need to find remedies, we will take necessary action," the spokesperson said.
Procter & Gamble told Reuters that it had conducted an investigation following RAN's findings and immediately suspended sourcing from both GSS and ATAK.
Singapore-based Royal Golden Eagle Group (RGE), Musim Mas and Indonesian firm Permata Hijau also sourced palm oil from GSS, RAN said.
Apical, an RGE unit, said the firm has engaged with GSS to look into a supplier who allegedly sourced illegal fresh fruit bunches from the reserve. GSS has suspended the said supplier since late October until investigations are concluded, Apical said.
Musim Mas said they were investigating RAN's findings. Permata Hijau, Mondelez and Pepsi did not respond to multiple emailed requests for comment.
'Orangutan Capital'
Indonesia, home to the world's third largest tropical rainforest, says it reduced its deforestation rate to under 140,000 hectares annually between 2020 and 2023, down from more than 400,000 hectares in 2016-2020.
However, RAN said its investigation showed that deforestation within the wildlife reserve — the country's only forest where endangered orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos coexist — surged fourfold in 2021-2023 compared with the previous period, despite laws banning deforestation.
"The high-resolution imagery and analysis definitively show that the palm oil mills, traders, and global brands sourcing from this area have failed to end deforestation for palm oil in the 'Orangutan Capital of the World'," RAN said in its report.
Green groups have frequently accused palm oil producers of illegally clearing rainforests, including protected areas and wildlife reserves, to expand their plantations.
Global palm oil production has expanded over the past decade, accounting for 60 per cent of world vegetable oil exports. Mainly produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, palm oil is used as a cooking oil and in products including biofuels, chocolates and cosmetics.
Take-home sales at the grocers increased by 2.3 per cent over the four weeks to 3 November 2024 to reach £11.6 billion, making this the biggest sales month of the year so far according to the latest data from Kantar.
The take-home sales rise coincided with a jump in the number of shopping trips made by households, hitting a four-year high at 480 million.
“October 2024 was the busiest month for the supermarkets since March 2020, when people were preparing for the first national lockdown,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, commented.
“Trip numbers have been going up gradually for some time, but this steady march hasn’t reached pre-covid levels of shopping frequency just yet. The average for each household is slightly over four trips per week.”
Halloween played a part in galvanising sales and there are signs that some consumers are looking further ahead in the calendar, starting their Christmas shopping early, McKevitt noted.
Some 3.2 million households bought at least one pumpkin, and confectionery spending got a boost to £525 million in October as sales of chocolates and sweets both went up, climbing by 13 per cent and 7 per cent each.
“What’s interesting this month is the number of households who are already stocking up the cupboards for the big day in December,” McKevitt said.
“Some people think Christmas ads hit our screens too soon but it’s clearly important for retailers to set out their stalls early. 648,000 shoppers have already bought a Christmas cake, while 14.4 per cent of households picked up mince pies in October. With Black Friday on the horizon, the grocers will be hoping to capture a slice of the action there too. In the week up to 26 November last year, online and offline sales for typical Black Friday categories across all high street retailers were £1.6 billion higher than during an average week in 2023.”
Grocery price inflation was 2.3 per cent this period, up slightly on September’s figure but still within typical levels. The rate has now been below 3.0 per cent every month since the early summer.
Promotional activity by the grocers is helping to keep prices down and supporting sales of branded goods in particular, McKevitt explained.
“Spending on deals has been going up consistently for the past 18 months and it now makes up 28.6 per cent of all sales. Offers are helping to lift branded sales especially. The growth gap between brands and own-label is the biggest it’s been since February 2021, sitting at 4.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent apiece,” he added.
Ocado topped the growth table, boosting its sales by 9.5 per cent over the 12 weeks to 3 November 2024. With sales up by 7.4 per cent, Lidl was the fastest growing retailer with a bricks and mortar presence for the 15th period in a row, continuing this run into a second year.
Asda continued to see sales declining, being the worst performer in the three-month period to 03 November with a 5.5 per cent drop. Symbols and independents saw a sales decrease of 1.3 per cent, and Co-op, 2.1 per cent.
The two largest supermarkets in Great Britain also outperformed the wider market. With sales up across all its store formats and online, Tesco’s sales rose by 4.6 per cent taking it to 27.9 per cent of the market, up 0.6 percentage points on last year. Spending through the tills at Sainsbury’s climbed 4.4 per cent, making its overall share 15.5 per cent.
Asda’s hold of the market is now 12.5 per cent. Morrison’s sales grew by 2.4 per cent, outpacing the market average for the first time since June 2021. Its share of take-home sales remains at 8.6 per cent. Aldi held its share of the market steady year on year at 10.4 per cent.
Co-op and Waitrose’s shares sit at 5.7 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively. Iceland now makes up 2.2 per cent of the market, the same proportion as a year ago.
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Young women publicising Barney Springer Ltd produce at the New Covent Garden Market on the day of its official opening in Nine Elms, London, UK, 11th November 1974
Photo by Reg Lancaster/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
By the time most Londoners had rolled out of bed on Monday morning, Gary Marshall was already winding down for the day at New Covent Garden Market.
Located on the south bank of the River Thames, surrounded by high-rise buildings glinting in the dawn of early winter, the wholesale market is the UK's largest for fruit, vegetables and flowers.
"It's London's best kept secret," Jo Breare, the market's general manager, told AFP on its 50th anniversary.
London's historic fruit and vegetable market in Covent Garden, moved from central London to the southwestern suburb of Battersea on November 11, 1974, in a bid to expand and modernise.
Marshall has been working at the market for over 45 of those years, alongside nearly 200 businesses supplying London's local grocers, restaurants, hotels and offices.
He is the third generation in his family associated with the market, and his son, George, will take over his business, Bevington Salads, after him.
"New Covent Garden is part of us. It will be part of my son's life, maybe part of my grandson's life," he said.
"Once you're in it, honestly, you're in it for life," said Marshall, who is also chairman of the New Covent Garden Tenants Association.
'Like magic'
The working "day" begins at around 10:00 pm in the evening (2200 GMT) for some 2,000 people who work at New Covent Garden, with produce arriving from all over Europe and the world.
"Once you get here at 10 o'clock, you have a cup of tea, you have a look at your produce arriving.
"And then it happens. Then the buzz is on. The market's alive," described Marshall, his eyes lit up with pride.
Traders sell their produce in "old school" fashion - face to face - through the early hours, then, as the sun rises, it is shipped out across the capital and southeast England.
"So, by the time people are getting out of bed and walking into their hotel or into their office or a school or a government building, it's there... It's like magic," said Marshall.
"If you're here at one, two or three in the morning, it's like a little city with hundreds and hundreds of people," said Wanda Goldwag, chair of the Covent Garden Market Authority, which manages New Covent Garden Market.
The New Covent Garden Flower Market in Nine Elms opened it's doors on April 3, 2017 after moving from it's previous site, also in Nine Elms where it had been since 1974Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The sprawling complex even has its own cafes and a post office that runs from 3:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Overnight work hours, in place since a decade to remove daytime commercial traffic in the congested British capital, have made attracting younger generations tricky, according to Marshall.
But the market and its vendors have weathered many storms in the last half a century.
When demand slumped at the end of the 20th century as supermarkets grew, New Covent Garden turned its attention to the hospitality industry instead.
Relevance
The market still supplies Michelin star restaurants, celebrity chefs and upscale London landmarks such as retailer Harrods and the Claridge's hotel.
One loyal customer is French chef Pierre Koffmann, who used to frequent the market when he ran La Tante Claire, his three-Michelin star London restaurant.
"It was a pleasure to come here, to meet people who were different and talk about vegetables," Koffmann told AFP.
Now, he mainly comes down to buy flowers, from the bundles of pink-purple hydrangeas to crates of roses and tulips that the CGMA says supply 75 per cent of London's florists.
For Goldwag, remaining relevant is one of the main challenges.
"So, so many of us buy our food from supermarkets now. And of course, in tough economic times, everyone is very money conscious," she said.
"Wholesale markets have to make sure they stay relevant and sustainable."
London's other main wholesale markets, Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market, face uncertain futures after plans to relocate them were put on hold.
"They could very soon be out of anywhere to work from," rued Marshall, adding that New Covent Garden would "support" the other markets.
At New Covent Garden, however, business is booming, with a turnover of £880 million last year, regeneration plans set to be completed before the end of the decade and a guaranteed lease for at least the next 25 years.
"I don't know if I'll still be here in 25 years," said Marshall. "But my son certainly will be."