‘Dry January’, as well as ‘Veganuary’, saw thousands of UK shoppers shun alcohol and meat.

Britain’s major supermarkets are forecast to report lacklustre Christmas sales this week, reflecting weak economic growth and comparisons with generally solid festive results in 2018.

Irish fin-tech company Fexco has announced a new partnership with UK supermarket group, Morrisons.

Tesco will next week become the first major British supermarket group to offer a subscription customer loyalty scheme, the latest weapon in its fight to stem the market share gains of German-owned discounters.

It’s being proven again and again that a most effective way to train people to do something is to show how they can save money, however small the amount, by co-operating.

Asda, the British supermarket arm of US retail giant Walmart (WMT N), said uncertainty surrounding Brexit was affecting its customers as it eked out a small rise in second quarter sales, helped by the later timing of Easter this year.

The fortunes of supermarkets are diverging on either side of the Irish Sea, with UK grocers posting their first fall in sales since June three years ago and Irish supermarkets adding sales and increasing prices.

James Davey Amazon has teamed up with clothing chain Next to offer a network of stores where the online retail giant’s UK customers can collect their parcels.

A batch of Cow & Gate baby food has been recalled from Boots after some jars were found to contain pieces of a rubber glove.

Sainsbury’s, reeling from last week’s decision by the UK regulator to block its takeover of rival Asda, was alone among Britain’s big four supermarket groups in seeing sales fall in the latest 12-week period, industry data has shown.

Sainsbury has lost its status as the UK’s No. 2 supermarket group by market share to its takeover target Asda for the first time in four years, industry data showed.

UK supermarket Sainsbury’s and its takeover target Asda have committed to deliver £1bn (€1.1bn) of lower prices annually by the third year after completion of their proposed €8.5bn deal.

Sainsbury’s sales fell in the latest 12-week period, industry data showed, as the group continued to underperform Britain’s other big four supermarket chains, including planned merger partner Asda.

Sainsbury’s and Asda are in talks to create Britain’s biggest supermarket group, a combination which would surpass Tesco’s grocery market share and be worth up to £15bn (€17bn).

Tesco has reported a 2.7% rise in like-for-like sales at its Irish operations for its latest financial year.

Gluten-free foods contain more fat, salt, and sugar than their gluten-containing equivalents, and are more than twice as expensive, a study has found.

Major supermarkets in the UK are selling plastic-packaged fruit and vegetables for less than customers can buy them loose, an investigation has found.

British industry enjoyed solid growth in November, benefiting from a global upturn that has allowed the economy to outperform gloomy forecasts made after the Brexit vote, although the economy still faces an “underwhelming” 2018.

Tesco shares struggled — rising gradually after being down for most of the day — despite data showing that the supermarket giant probably outperformed its smaller UK rivals during the festive season.

Fashion chain Next has posted a rise in UK sales over Christmas as the retailer upgraded its profit forecast and signalled that inflation pressures are set to ease.

British supermarket giant Tesco has reported a surge in half-year profits and rising sales as it hailed efforts to keep prices low amid Brexit-fuelled inflation.

The appointment of a new chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has been broadly welcomed in Cork, with interested parties saying his strong background in retail and services will complement the county’s airport growth strategy.

Lidl has leapfrogged upmarket supermarket Waitrose in the UK’s competitive food retail market, industry data showed yesterday, a sign that cash-strapped UK shoppers are still having to count their pennies.

Four UK supermarkets have taken products off their shelves in the wake of the egg contamination scare - as the Food Standards Agency says the scale of the problem is higher than previously thought.

Shares in Sainsbury’s rose after beating forecasts for Christmas trading in its core supermarket business, while fashion retailer Ted Baker shares also jumped on an unexpectedly upbeat festive sales.

Christmas spending at UK supermarkets and weak sterling helped boost London’s Ftse 100 blue-chip index, which hit fresh record highs yesterday, as other European shares also ended slightly in positive territory.

UK grocery prices rose slightly from November to December, according to data from tracking website www.mySupermarket.com

A man has been arrested after a young girl was carried off by a stranger at a supermarket in England.

London’s top flight index tumbled below 6,700 yesterday as investors baulked at a bleak economic update from the UK manufacturing industry.

Any cut in the June milk price would be totally unjustified given the Ornua Index remains fixed, the ICMSA has signaled to Ireland’s dairy co-ops.

British supermarket giant Sainsbury’s yesterday said it was prepared for an escalation of price wars in Britain’s highly-competitive supermarket sector after reporting a decline in underlying quarterly sales.

Pork and bacon producer Oakpark Foods is due to launch four new products into the UK market next month with supermarket chain Morrisons.

The London market closed higher with traders cheered by strong US economic data, soothing a hangover caused by Thursday’s stark warning by the Bank of England governor about the cost of a Brexit vote.

The UK sales decline at Tesco has slowed for the fourth month in a row, industry data showed yesterday, adding to evidence that Britain’s biggest supermarket group is gradually recovering.

Discounters Aldi and Lidl stepped up their march across the UK supermarket industry in the last 12 weeks as the impact of price cuts by the country’s large grocers faded.

Supermarkets Asda and Morrisons have reached a settlement with a French champagne producer after becoming mixed up in a legal dispute about wine, a judge has said.

Retail giant Amazon has begun selling chilled and frozen food products online amid speculation it is to launch a full-scale assault on the grocery market.

Retail giant Amazon has begun selling chilled and frozen food products online amid speculation it is to launch a full-scale assault on the grocery market.

Discount retailer Aldi reported a fall in its UK profits today as the supermarket price war there took its toll on earnings despite sales surging to a new record level.

German discounters Aldi and Lidl have had three months of booming growth as more than half of British households visited at least one of the stores, according to latest industry data.