A round-up of supermarket news and gossip
Millions of shoppers are facing bigger bills at the supermarket for their weekly groceries. Prices for comestibles at Britain’s big four supermarket chains have increased by an average of 2.8% year-on-year in the wake of rising fuel and packaging costs, according to the monthly survey by The Grocer magazine.

Tesco has confused shoppers by ignoring official advice on food labelling, according to Which? The supermarket rejected the Food Standards Agency’s colour–coded ‘traffic lights’ nutrition labels and chose a system that is more difficult for shoppers to interpret. A survey indicated that 86% of people understood the Tesco labels, compared with 97% for the FSA system.

Shoppers at Morrisons have been told they enjoy the best customer service in the UK after the chain won the The Grocer’s Gold Award. The same company announced the appointment of Marc Bolland as chief executive. Morrisons has also slashed its petrol prices and claims to be the first national petrol-filling company offer unleaded at below 80p/litre, at every one of its 289 Morrison and Safeway branded forecourts.

Tesco is considering making a bid for the Polish retail business of Casino, its French rival. In June Sainsbury produced its strongest quarterly sales growth for four years. Nisa today is offering its members 51% of the company after a merger with Costcutter, in a move to win over dissident shareholders.

Supermarkets, DIY stores and other large shops are to be prevented from staying open longer on Sundays. In a letter circulated to the cabinet, Alistair Darling, the trade secretary, said that the public “had no appetite” for liberalising opening hours.

At Sainsbury head office in Holborn, suppliers and analysts were taking a preview on the company’s Christmas profile.

Thousand of workers at Asda are to stage a five-day strike amid a bitter pay dispute. Shoppers could face disruption and half-empty shelves when members of the GMB union walk out. Workers are demanding a bonus of £300 each that the union says they are owed from 2005.

b>Ahold, the Dutch retailer, reported a 76% increase in its first quarter net profits to £161m.

Morrison and Asda are first on the list for visits from the Competition Commission.

Spar is planning expansion in emerging markets after opening its largest store in China. The company is aiming to open 120 stores in three Chinese provinces within the next three years as well as adding to its nine stores in India. The company has 14,500 stores in 33 countries including Britain, India, and Russia. In 2005 Spar recorded sales of £19bn.

Waitrose has bought six stores and a distribution centre from Morrison in a deal worth more than £80m. Employees will transfer to Waitrose when contracts are completed.

Tesco has bought Leader Price, a Polish convenience store chain previously owned by Casino for £72m.

Carrefour has opened a hypermarket in Italy and its 32nd hypermarket in Hwaseong City Korea.

This week Asda announced it is piloting a scheme to sell homes through its chain of 300 supermarkets and intends challenging the estate agency business by charging sellers only 1% commission.

Tesco and Sainsbury have agreed to investigate working conditions at a farm that produces a third of the strawberries supplied to UK supermarkets. The TGWU said that it had gathered evidence at S&A Produce in Herefordshire suggesting mistreatment of workers, including 14-hour shifts, with less than 30 minutes’ break.

Somerfield has been working on refurbishing new stores. Three formats have evolved: Market Fresh, Essentials and Progressive Mixed. Market Fresh stores are local convenience stores with an enhanced array of fresh foods. Essentials are for those in a hurry with an easy-to-negotiate layout. Progressive Mixed are branded as Somerfield and represent the majority of its 700 shops.

GEMINI