A government plan to increase the National Living Wage (NLW) to £10.50 by 2024 has received a mixed response. The Resolution Foundation think-tank welcomed the “hugely ambitious plan” to eliminate low pay; however UKHospitality argued the increase would hit sector margins and damage jobs. The pledge to increase the NLW to reach two-thirds of typical…

Ikea and the World Bank are among the latest organisations to commit to slashing food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030. The pair joined a number of US universities and other organisations in making the Cool Food Pledge during this week’s United Nations Climate Action Summit. The pledge is overseen by the World Resources…

Top executives from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Coop and other retailers have this week held meetings with the government following a row over the impact of a no-deal Brexit on food supplies. There were two different meetings this week with Michael Gove as well as a separate scheduled meeting with top civil servants, the BBC reported. These…

The National Farmers Union (NFU) is calling for the government to establish a new commission to ensure UK food standards are not undermined by Brexit trade deals. NFU President Minette Batters has written to the environment secretary, Theresa Villiers, asking her to establish a trade and standards commission to ensure the UK’s future trade policy…

Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Unilever are currently among the top 10 most criticised brands due to their perceived inaction to tackle excess single-use packaging. However, Hilton has received high praise for its commitment to animal welfare, according to the latest data from tracking firm Sigwatch. Nestlé was the company most criticised by activists in the second…

Supermarkets are making slow progress in supporting the public to eat less and better meat, according to a new league table. The NGO, Feedback, released a scorecard this week assessing how UK supermarkets are supporting a shift to healthy, low-meat diets. It used a mixture of publicly available data and mystery shopper assessments to rank…

A new app that provides recipe advice based on what’s in your fridge is being hailed as the latest weapon in the battle against food waste. The Kitche app scans shopping receipts to create a digital list of ingredients and then designs recipe plans that make use of the food purchased. Users receive alerts five…

Deliveroo is joining forces with Sainsbury’s to deliver takeaway pizzas from the supermarket’s in-store counters to local customers. Sainsbury’s has launched a trial in five stores – Cambridge, Selly Oak, West Hove, Pimlico and Hornsey – across four UK cities which will see around 50 products listed on the Deliveroo website for home delivery. In…

Iceland has admitted that its much-hyped commitment to remove all plastic packaging from its own products by 2023 is proving far from easy. In an interview with PA, reported by ITV, the retailer’s managing director Richard Walker admitted that eliminating plastic is “damn hard work and it’s costing us a lot of money”. Walker didn’t…

Poor implementation of the EU fish discards ban has placed fish stocks at risk, according to a House of Lords sub-committee. The EU landing obligation – also called the discard ban – aims to protect fish stocks, and the wider marine environment, by requiring fishers to land all fish caught (and be counted against their…