A round-up of supermarket news and gossip
ASDA has evicted a network of clothing recyclers from its car parks after discovering that the companies behind some donation bins are not registered charities. The supermarket sent a legal letter to Planet Aid, a company linked to the mysterious Danish organisation Humana People to People, asking it to remove all bins. Each of the bins can generate as much as £450 per month.

Tesco missed the launch date for its much-hyped Tesco Direct web site and was unable to confirm when the internet service will be up and running. However, Tesco is still trying to grab a bigger share on non-food sales by investing £30m in a programme to put general merchandise, from home furnishings to power tools, on line. The company has also stepped up its assault on the financial services market by signing a joint venture with AXA PPP to sell medical insurance.

Shares in dairy group Robert Wiseman fell 6% after it and six other Scottish dairies were accused of price fixing by the OFT. Marks and Spencer is to take on Curry’s and Argos with the opening of electrical departments in almost 100 stores. Work on the Marble Arch store has already started.

Five of the world’s biggest food manufacturers are to start a huge advertising campaign in an effort to defeat government proposals for “traffic light” labelling of food. Kellogg’s, Danone, Kraft. Nestle and Pepsico plan to promote their own rival labelling scheme instead. Traffic-light labels appear to have a big effect on consumer behaviour. As an instance, J Sainsbury has suffered a 40% fall in sales of chicken madras.

Small food manufacturers are going bust at the rate of more than one a month, according to industry experts, who partly blame tough dealing from supermarkets. A spokesman for Grant Thornton, the accountancy firm, said that more than half distressed businesses he dealt with had got into difficulties as a result of apparently unreasonable behaviour by a supermarket buyer. Mr Swift of the same company said there was evidence that supermarket buyers were ignoring the voluntary code of conduct introduced by the regulators several years ago. About 1% of food manufacturers are failing annually. The number of businesses has shrunk as supermarkets opt to do business with a smaller number of large suppliers in order to increase efficiency. Only last week two small food product makers, Millar McCowan, the Scottish confectioner and TQF, a meat manufacturer, went into administration. Proper Cornish, the pastry maker, saved Furniss of Cornwall, a biscuit maker, from a takeover.

Ahold has ignored requests for a meeting with Centaurus and Paulson, the two hedge funds that put pressure on the Dutch retail giant to sell its American divisions. The hedge funds own 6.4% of the company between them.

In view of the latest developments in Thailand, talks on the expansion of Tesco in that country have been delayed.

The owner of Kwik Save has hired Price Waterhouse Coopers to advise on a £30m fundraising. Sources said that Kwik Save, bought in February from Somerfield by a private company, was being forced to raise money because it continued to sustain heavy losses. Under Somerfield’s ownership, the group was estimated to be losing £1m a week.

Ocado has hired Michael Grade as non-executive chairman, re-igniting expectations that the online grocery retailer linked to Waitrose will try a stock market flotation. Rivals say that Ocado’s business model, based on a central distribution centre, is flawed and that the company will never be able to deliver goods profitably. Rivals Asda, Tesco and J Sainsbury pick and deliver their groceries from their stores. Asda is seeking a new partner to back its life insurance products after ending a three-year deal with Scottish Widows.

GEMINI