innocent Drinks has on Wednesday announced the grant recipients of its Farmer Innovation Fund for 2024, with 11 winners, including a supplier from the UK, set to receive financial support for projects working to help safeguard the long-term supply of fruit and veg.
The business has granted funding to suppliers spanning ten countries, growing eleven unique ingredients. The projects address key agricultural challenges including soil health, biodiversity, climate change, and water use.
The announcement follows the relaunch of the fund in which innocent increased available funding to create a grant pot of £1 million for projects that support the transition to low-carbon farming, higher biodiversity and fairer farming practices.
With over half of its carbon footprint coming from its ingredients, the brand said investing in innovative farming practices will be key to achieving a 50 per cent reduction of its scope 3 emissions by 2030.
2024 Farmer Innovation Fund (FiF) Winners
Four of this year’s recipients are previous winners of the Farmer Innovation Fund, representing a commitment to invest in long-term partnerships that deliver tangible outcomes.
Pixley Berries, blackcurrant supplier, UK: As a 2023 FiF winner, Pixley Berries will use bio-stimulant and a sensory device to look after blackcurrant crops over the next three years.
Anna Ralph at Pixley Berries commented: “Regenerative farming is a learning curve and being a winner for the second year running means we can advance our work to identify pragmatic approaches with deliverable benefits to blackcurrant growing and other crops. By combining biostimulants, measuring chlorophyll, microbials, and focusing on minimum cultivations we’re pioneering a new approach. Through this we hope to develop a revitalised agronomy fit for our times, both adapting to and mitigating climate change.”
Agrarias Manchegas, grape supplier, Spain: A 2022 FiF winner, Agrarias Manchegas have plans to transform into a fully functioning smart farm. By using innovative technologies to advance agricultural practices across Spain. They aim to enhance soil management, crop health, water usage, and energy efficiency, leading to a more sustainable farming operation.
Time 4 Bee (part of the Doehler Foundation in Poland), apple supplier, Poland: As a FiF winner in 2022, Time 4 Bee will continue its plans to improve agricultural sustainability, increase biodiversity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Piotr Podoba at Time 4 Bee commented: “Our project looks to create a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of apples as well as biodiversity improvements. We hope to have an influence on a portion on Poland’s farmers beyond only individual farms.”
Frutilight, Pineapple supplier, Costa Rica: As a winner of the FiF in 2022, Frutilight plans to focus on a new project which will establish a biofertilizer plant specifically for pineapple cultivation.
There are also seven first-time recipients of the fund:
Aspis, peach supplier, Greece: Aspis will conduct a lifecycle assessment of peaches, assessing and evaluating the CO2 footprint of each production stage of peach puree.
GNT Group, carrot supplier, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany: GNT will work with select farmers to create plots of wildflowers, herbs and plants that attract pollinators and increase biodiversity.
IBERFRUTA, peach supplier, Spain: IBERFRUTA will trial irrigation adjustments and install sensors to evaluate the physiological and agronomic behaviour of peach trees under deficit irrigation strategies.
Mother Dairy, mango supplier, India: Mother Dairy will conduct a baseline report and educate farmers about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change and their livelihood.
Sensus, chicory root fiber supplier, Netherlands: Sensus aims for 20-30% crop yield improvement by trialling seed-embedding technology to stimulate uniform crop growth, with the hope of reducing seed waste and soil disruption
Sol Organica, passion fruit and dragon fruit supplier, Nicaragua: Sol Organica will implement the conversion of food waste into compost to reduce costs, sequester carbon and reduce methane emissions.
SVZ, strawberry supplier, Spain: SVZ will implement a HIDRIX system to optimise water and fertiliser consumption, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving climate resilience in turn.
Nick Canney, CEO, innocent Drinks said: “We’re on a mission to help people live well through the delicious goodness of fruit & veg. Our Farmer Innovation Fund enables us to build meaningful partnerships with our suppliers to help make sure we can keep enjoying fruit & veg for years to come. This year’s winners are embarking on some truly innovative projects that show real potential for playing a part in the future of farming. I’m proud that we’re able to support them in delivering sustainable and healthy diets.”
Booker has launched a brand-new ordering platform exclusively for its symbol group retailers to help them deliver local groceries to their customers’ doors, in as little as 30 minutes.
The new ordering platform, Scoot, connects shoppers with their local participating independent retailer enabling them to order food, drinks and household essentials from a curated list of products chosen by the retailer.
Scoot facilitates the processes of ordering, payment, and picking processes, leaving the retailers solely responsible for organising the delivery, whether they handle it in-house or use third party.
Scoot is currently piloting in Budgens Abridge with the aim to pilot another three stores in February and March. The platform will be phased out more widely to Booker symbol group retailers – across Budgens, Premier, Londis and Family Shopper from April 2025.
The low-cost ordering platform builds on Booker’s commitment to support independent retailers in growing their business – offering the convenience of home delivery allows these retailers to reach new customers within their local community and help them increase sales opportunities.
Retailers also benefit from being able to set their own delivery, service and minimum order charges, which can vary dependent on location.
Retailers within Booker’s symbol groups that sign up to Scoot will receive a launch support package worth over £2800 – including point of sale, digital assets and thermal delivery bags.
All stores can take advantage of upweighted marketing support including targeted social media adverts, and a contribution towards a full promotional wrap for their delivery vehicle.
Colm Johnson, Managing Director for Booker Retail said: “We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to help our customers grow their business, so we are incredibly proud to announce the launch of our new delivery platform, Scoot, to support them in doing just that.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for our retailers to increase their basket spend, store sales and connect with new and existing shoppers in their local communities.
"The feedback from our pilot test has been really positive and we look forward to welcoming more retailers to the P over the next few months.”
Goran Raven, Director for Budgens Abridge said, "I am thrilled to be partnering with Booker who are enabling me to offer a new service to my customers.
"It is not only appealing to my existing customer base, but it will also help me recruit new customers. This is a fantastic opportunity and a big win for me.”
Industry charity NewstrAid has announced a major milestone, awarding over 100 grants to retailers in need since the launch of its Retailer Support Scheme in May 2024.
Designed to provide financial, emotional, and practical support, the scheme has already paid out around £50,000 to retailers facing ill health, family crises, bereavement, and retail crime, helping them navigate unexpected hardships.
"The overwhelming response to this scheme highlights just how many retailers are struggling right now," said Katie Babooram, Welfare Manager, emphasising the scheme’s impact. "While we can’t cover business-related costs, we’re making a real difference in people’s home lives – offering financial support for essential household bills, home repairs, and even giving benefits advice and providing access to counselling where appropriate.”
The Retailer Support Scheme also provides vital emotional assistance for those affected by shoplifting or retail crime, as well as financial aid for households experiencing a loss of income due to these incidents.
“It’s important to stress that this support isn’t just for business owners—anyone working in the sale of newspapers and magazines can ask for help, including shop staff," Katie added.
Each year, NewstrAid supports over 1,500 people from the newspaper and magazine industry. Crucially, all grants are non-repayable and do not affect other benefits.
InPost Newstrade, formerly Menzies Distribution, is making some changes to its carriage charge model following discussions with the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed).
In a letter to its UK customers which was being sent today (10), the news wholesaler has announced that it is to decrease the base charge to support retailers with lower sales.
For all other customers, the increase - which takes effect from April 5 - is being capped at £4.99 per store a week. In the Republic of Ireland, carriage charges are being frozen.
Commenting, the Fed’s National President Mo Razzaq said, “The Fed has been in discussion with InPost Newtrade about the difficulties our members are facing in such challenging financial times.
“The fact that the news wholesaler has listened – and more importantly – has acted on our members’ concerns is positive and we are pleased to see it taking steps to protect smaller news stores.
“That said, the Fed still does not support the carriage charge model, and we will continue to press for an alternative.
"We want our supply chain partners to get round the table to explore better ways of operating that mean publishers and wholesalers are not piling on more costs on hard-pressed retailers who can ill afford to pay them.”
In the letter to its customers, In Post Newstrade managing director Grant Jordan said, “Each year we review our Carriage Service Charge (CSC) template, which we use to recover a proportion of our costs.
"In 2025, we have taken the decision to decrease the base charge, actively supporting stores with lower sales within the category.
"We are also introducing a mechanism to make CSC more proportionate to category sales by adjusting the newspaper and magazine percentage sale contributions.
“We remain committed to working alongside our partners to support the long-term sustainability of the newspaper and magazine category, with service excellence and customer satisfaction always remaining our priority.”
This comes a few months after InPost acquired the remaining 70 per cent stake in Menzies Distribution Limited in an all-cash transaction valued at £60.4 million.
As reported in October last year, the third segment, MDS, responsible mainly for full load transport and warehousing was demerged from Menzies and is not part of the transaction. It will continue to be run by its existing management team and InPost will retain a 30 per cent shareholding.
The acquisition builds on the strong commercial growth that InPost has shown in the UK – tripling its revenue in the UK market over the last year – and will allow the business to fulfil several strategic objectives.
The retail industry is being “raided like a piggy bank”, chief executive of Marks & Spencer has stated, calling on the UK government to delay or ease planned tax and recycling charges.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Stuart Machin said that without pausing or staggering the changes to national insurance and business rates, which come into effect this April, UK retail would get smaller.
He also speculated on whether successive governments were guilty of a “snobbery” about retail.
Machin said a plan to lower the threshold at which employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) kick in should be phased in over two years.
Machin has stated previously too that changes to NICs would add £60m to the company’s costs which equated to about half a total rise in wage costs for M&S, including an increase in the legal minimum wage.
He wrote, "The sector already pays an effective tax rate of 55 per cent and the chancellor’s budget will add £7 billion of extra employment costs and an increased packaging levy to a sector working on margins of 3-5 per cent.
"While businesses like M&S will fight tooth and nail to hold down prices for customers, the British Retail Consortium and Institute of Grocery Distribution are already projecting food inflation of more than 4 per cent."
Machin further warned that UK food manufacturing and farming would contract, domestic products would go up in price and more food would be imported with potentially less stringent quality and environmental standards.
The retail boss also attacked the upcoming Deposit Return Scheme, which is slated to go ahead in 2027, calling it "nonsensical".
Extended producer responsibility (EPR), born as an environmental levy to fund recycling, would give retailers "a tax bill 20 times the current amount with £2 billion going straight to the Treasury as general taxation and no improvement to recycling".
"Retail is being raided like a piggy bank and it’s unacceptable," he wrote.
Machin is calling on the government to delay the increase in EPR fees and, more broadly, pause and review all Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) circularity recycling schemes.
"They have been poorly planned and evidence to date shows that they are highly costly and nigh on impossible to operate," he pointed out.
" Rethink the approach to business rates. We need a proper review of business taxation facing retailers, not a tweak that redistributes funds within the sector.
"The £500,000 threshold hits high street stores, which I know the government did not foresee, so take those shops out of it.
"Ensure the Defra minister works with the sector, not against it. Co-create a food strategy focused on growing British food production, push on with a veterinary agreement to help smooth the impact of Brexit, and think again on inheritance tax.
"These would be the right decisions for the environment and welfare, too," he stated.
Pernod Ricard is exploring a sale of its champagne brand G.H. Mumm, Reuters reported citing five sources familiar with the matter, as the company looks to focus on premium labels in its portfolio.
The French spirits giant behind Absolut Vodka and Jameson Irish whiskey is working with investment bank Rothschild & Co on the possible divestiture, that could attract interest from other spirits and beverage companies, the sources said.
The brand, a top French champagne house, is unlikely to be sold for less than three times its annual sales of €200 million (£166m), one of the people said. The company has been selective in who it sells assets to and a sale may not happen, the person cautioned. The sources were speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is not public.
“Pernod Ricard regularly assesses and evaluates its strategic opportunities and is continuously exploring options, including divestments or the streamlining" of businesses, the company said in a statement.
"This is a usual process in line with management’s mission of delivering value to shareholders, employees, clients and stakeholders." It added no decision about any particular action had been taken.
Rothschild declined to comment.
A sale of Mumm should it go ahead would be the latest shift towards a portfolio more focused on spirits. Last year, Pernod divested a large portfolio of wine brands. Pernod Ricard also owns the champagne brand Perrier-Jouet which is not part of the talks.
The drinks group cut its 2025 outlook on Thursday, citing challenging market conditions in the United States and China. It is now expecting a low single digit decline in organic net sales for the full 2025 year.
Its finance chief Helene de Tissot also said that tariffs imposed by China and the United States could deal an estimated £200m blow to Pernod Ricard's business annually.
China has already imposed temporary tariffs on European brandy imports, hurting Pernod's sales of its Martell cognac brand, in retaliation for punitive duties on China-made electric vehicles into the European Union.
The second-largest Western spirits maker faces the threat of US tariffs on Mexico, Canada and the European Union, which would affect products ranging from Irish and Canadian whiskies like Jameson to tequila and agave brands like Codigo 1530.
Pernod acquired G.H.Mumm in 2005. It was founded in 1827 in the Champagne region of the country and launched Mumm Napa in 1979 to make sparkling wines in California.
Mumm is known for its motto "Only the Best" and its Cordon Rouge red ribbon label.
French champagne shipments fell by nearly 10 per cent last year as economic and political uncertainties hit consumers' appetite for the sparkling wine in key markets such as France and the United States, the producers association said.