Convenience store owners are feeling “abandoned” by the system amid spiking retail crime, Asian Trader has learnt, while some even fear that supermarket giants' new partnership with police to use facial recognition technology might actually end up further driving criminals to smaller independents.
Shoplifting has been THE buzz word for the better part of this year with unusually high numbers of organised looting and blatant crime getting reported from across the country. While several industry reports and official data suggest a sharp 25 to 35 percent spike in retail crime rate, the ground reality is even worse given the fact that a major ratio of such cases goes unreported.
Crime has shot up from a couple of incidents a week to five to six or even more such incidents a day. Criminals have evolved from being sneakier to more blatant. Operating alone or in groups, they are absolutely fearless, and even turn violent if they are challenged in the act.
In the words of retailer Benedict Selvaratnam, the owner of almost a decade old Freshfields Market Convenience store in Croydon, indie store owners are now feeling exposed, abandoned and completely on their own to safeguard themselves against fearless (and sometimes even violent) offenders.
“We have been facing a massive increase in retail crime recently, since the last 12 months specifically. Earlier, we used to have three to five incidences max a week but now we are facing somewhere between three to 10 such cases a day.
“We're based in the town centre in Croydon and criminal gangs here use several techniques to steal. They are very professional- like one of them will distract the cashiers or the floor staff, while the other person with a bag will be empty the shelves- whether it is coffee, meat items, alcohol or chocolates boxes.”
Be it organised criminal gangs or people with drug issues, they simply don't care and have no fear of law, he said.
Ironically enough, on the day of this conversation with Asian Trader, Selvaratnam had already tackled two criminals in his store, and it was not even lunch time- one was a repeat banned offender who nevertheless entered masked up while another man was caught stealing wine bottles.
For both the incidents, Selvaratnam decided not to call the police as the “response has not been great” in the past.
“Whenever we have called them, they always delay in sending someone. Mostly, 70 to 80 per cent of the time, no one turns up. So, we have stopped calling the police and we just try to manage things ourselves. Obviously, when there is violence involved, then we do call them. But otherwise, we don't bother," he said.
Left alone and unsupported, Selvaratnam is forced to take measures on his own to save his business. He now employs extra staff, some to only keep an eye on the shop floor, he said.
“We don’t need that much staff but since we are in the middle of this shoplifting epidemic and since we are also left alone to safeguard ourselves, we are forced to keep extra staff from our own pocket. However, not everyone can afford that.
“We are a younger team so thankfully, we are still able to deal with this. But I am aware that there are so many smaller retailers who just can't afford extra staff while some others are getting closer to the age of retirement and they are not in a position to physically protect their stores,” pointed out Selvaratnam.
Retailer Benedict Selvaratnam
The environment, the daily struggle with criminals, the constant tension and stress are now taking a toll on the mental health of store owners as well as of their staff.
“We already work for 12-14 hours a day. It’s so painful that someone can just walk in and take what they want and leave,” he said.
“It's tough on me; it's tough for the mental health for the team. I have also had a couple of female staff resign earlier this year as they were too shaken after some people jumped over the counter.”
Selvaratnam’s Croydon store has CCTV cameras in place though he feels they are not of much use.
"We already have 14 cameras but it's just deterrence. It doesn't actually stop people from shoplifting.”
If the situation is not tackled as a priority, it will become tougher to find people to work in retail, particularly in indie stores, he warned.
Since the government and police are not doing enough, people who are committing crimes are not afraid and continue to roam freely because they know there are no consequences. The repeat offenders, who are banned from the store, don’t hesitate in trespassing and steal again.
“It almost feels like shoplifting has almost been decriminalized. Police just give a crime reference number; it's almost like an insurance job. For under the value of 200 pounds, they don’t even visit the premises. Shoplifters and criminals are also well aware that the police won't do anything.
“Earlier, the offenders were at least taken to the police station and given a caution. None of these is happening now as the police are not even attending and, on the days, if they do, the criminal is long gone. It’s not happening only to us, but it is happening up and down the country,” Selvaratnam said, speaking on behalf of about 100 other retailers from South London who have the same woes to share.
Feeling more exposed
Answering the calls of tougher laws on retail crime, a new Retail Crime Action Plan was unveiled last month by policing minister Chris Philp, outlining how police attendance at the scene for retail crime will be prioritised in circumstances in cases of violence, where a repeat or prolific offender has been detained or where evidence needs to be promptly secured.
Where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police National Database using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts to identify and prosecute offenders – particularly prolific or potentially dangerous individuals.
Project Pegasus, a unique partnership between businesses and police, has also been launched. The initiative is said to radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
So far, 13 of the country’s big retailers, like Aldi, B&Q, Boots, Coop, John Lewis Partnership and Lidl, have pledged to fund a new police team of specialist officers and analysts to work within policing in a structure called OPAL - a national team that oversees serious organised acquisitive crime, run by North Wales Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman.
The move is being widely welcomed by supermarkets, retail giants and trade bodies alike though with words of caution.
Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has welcomed the move but also stated that a lot of hard work needs to be done to turn around the surge in retail crime.
“Image capture, data sharing and arresting repeat offenders are key, but if we want to get perpetrators off the streets we also need effective sentencing and other interventions like drug rehabilitation to break the cycle of reoffending,” ACS chief executive James Lowman told Asian Trader.
BIRA CEO Andrew Goodacre
British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA), which works with over 6,000 independent businesses of all sizes across the UK, is also one of the bodies that has welcomed the police’s renewed commitment but with caution.
"The fact that large retailers are prepared to fund this kind of project tells us how big the problem is. As always though, actions will speak louder than words and we will hold the authorities to account if they do not deliver their commitments,” Andrew Goodacre, CEO at BIRA, told Asian Trader.
“Large retailers will always have the funds to invest in security and technology – the kins of investment that cannot be matched by the small independent retailers. This may leave the smaller retailer vulnerable to retail crime and we would like to think that the police will treat all retailers (large or small) with the same priority.”
Goodacre added that there is a lot of work to restore retail trust in the police and legal system regarding retail crime as for too long it has been a low priority and the criminal fraternity have now realised that shops are “low-risk, high reward targets”.
Some local store owners like Selvaratnam are skeptical about their position in this scheme of things.
Selvaratnam feels the police’s latest “high-tech solution” is not affordable for small retailers without a government grant or proper support.
“It seems that we won't be able to afford such measures. As a result, a lot of these criminals and shoplifters will be driven into smaller independents that don't have this facility. They will now turn to us and steal even more from us because it will be so much more difficult for these people to steal from the bigger stores,” pointed out Selvaratnam.
Clarion Call
For concrete results, the Croydon retailer is calling for stronger police response and more serious government attention, support and funding, saying authorities need to take local stores more seriously.
The situation is somewhat similar in Scotland as well with 8,000 reported cases of shop worker abuse or assault since August 2021. In a joint letter signed by independent retailer body The Fed, Scottish Retail Consortium, the Scottish Grocers’ Federation, Usdaw, the Scottish Co-Op Party, and GMB Scotland, Scottish Labour MSP Daniel Johnson, who introduced the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021, the associations are calling on for more teeth and concrete support.
“The new legal protection offered by my bill was an important step forward, but it must be backed up with a comprehensive plan to prevent these crimes as well as prosecute them,” states the letter by Johnson to chief constable of Police Scotland.
Meanwhile, retailer bodies like The Fed are calling on that small shops should receive £1,500 from the government to help “beef up” security systems. The group is calling for “financial help” to deal with “record levels” of shop crime, claiming that financial pressures on shops had left many “simply unable” to afford the £4,500 average annual bill per shop on upgrading and maintaining security measures.
While this year has been worse in terms of crime, Selvaratnam is particularly worried about the coming days as he is expecting a further rise during the coming winters.
“At the end of the day, the buck stops with the government. It is time that the government change or do something to help small local shopkeepers- whether through grants or by increasing police force.”
“During the pandemic, the key workers were doctors or nurses. Now, there is this shoplifting epidemic happening in the country and we are on the front line who are facing everything. But we are not getting protected nor any form of support.”
“We feel abandoned. We feel that the government and police have decided that as independent businesses, we can and should protect ourselves. But we are not the police; we are retailers and that's what we are good at. Policing the area outside our stores or people's behavior inside is not our job!” he concluded.
Scottish business conglomerate Glenshire Group has hired Daniel Arrandale as its new Property Director.
Starting in the newly created role last week, Arrandale brings a wealth of industry experience to the business, including his most recent position as Acquisitions Manager for Asda and his previous position as Development Manager at EG Group.
“I am thrilled to be joining Glenshire Group in a period of tremendous growth, with many exciting opportunities on the horizon,” said Arrandale. “I’m looking forward to working with the existing development team to maximise the opportunities within our current estate, whilst also growing the business further with the acquisition of new sites.”
As part of Arrandale’s remit, he will oversee acquisitions, development, and growth for Greens Retail, Pizza Hut, and wider Glenshire Group property development and investment interests.
The bulk of Arrandale’s career has been as Retail Director at commercial agents Christie & Co, focussing on the convenience, forecourt and franchise markets. Arrandale served at Christie & Co. for 23 years.
Harris Aslam, Managing Director at Glenshire Group added: “We are very excited to welcome Dan into the Glenshire family. Having worked with Dan many times over the years on several transactions, I can confidently say his breadth of knowledge and experience in this sector will give us a huge advantage as we continue to expand our portfolio.”
Currently operating 27 convenience stores and 20 Pizza Hut franchises in Scotland, Glenshire Group has committed to significantly furthering new location openings in Scotland as well as bolstering their property portfolio.
Brewer Carlsberg is shifting some of its marketing focus to cheaper brands, it said on Thursday (31), as consumers in major markets bought cheaper beer and in reduced quantities.
The maker of Kronenbourg 1664, Tuborg and Somersby said beer sales volumes fell by 1.3 per cent in the third quarter, noting declines in China, France and the United Kingdom. Premium sales fell 0.5 per cent in the quarter."In Western Europe, there's no doubt that the average consumer is holding back," CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen told Reuters.
"In Asia, China stands out as a market where the consumer is very weak. Most other Asian markets are actually okay," he said, adding the company had not yet seen Chinese stimulus measures having any impact on consumer behaviour.For years, brewers have relied on a strategy of developing and promoting their more expensive premium brands to offset an overall decline in drinking.
Aarup-Andersen said he remained confident in the long-term growth potential of premium beer and that the category will comprise a significantly larger portion of Carlsberg's business in a decade.For now, however, the company is adjusting its marketing.
"In markets where we are seeing a significant pressure on premium, we are reallocating some of our focus into making sure that we are promoting properly around the right mainstream brands," he said.
The world's third-largest brewer behind Anheuser-Busch Inbev and Heineken said third-quarter sales rose 1 per cent to 20.5 billion Danish crowns ($2.98 billion), compared with 20.7 billion expected on average by analysts in a poll gathered by the company.
Despite the shift in consumer behaviour, Carlsberg said it still expects full-year organic operating profit growth to be between 4 per cent and 6 per cent. The company lifted its full-year guidance in August.
Also on Thursday (31), the world's largest beer maker Anheuser-Busch InBev reported third-quarter profits, revenues and volumes behind forecasts. AB InBev's third-quarter statement highlighted stronger growth for its more expensive beers, like Corona, which grew 10.2% outside of its home market, Mexico, during the period.
Consumers now want a greater commitment from retailers in cutting food waste, refilling stations, sustainable packaging, and partnering with social purpose organisations, states a recent research, which also highlights that a good majority (69 per cent) of younger consumers are more likely to shop with what they see as socially responsible retailers though price sensitivity still plays a crucial role.
According to the findings, published in Vypr’s Consumer Horizon Report, reducing food waste is the most important factor for the majority of UK consumers (29 per cent), especially for Gen Z women aged 18-24 (38 per cent). More than a third (37 per cent) of men aged 18-24 said they needed food storage advice. A similar number of women aged 18-24 (33 per cent) want meal kits with the exact amount of ingredients included for them to cut down on food waste.
Refill stations for personal care, cleaning products, dry goods, and beverages are also in high demand. Consumers, particularly Gen Z women, are keen to use these stations, provided they offer a cost-saving of 6-10 per cent compared to packaged goods. The study indicates that older shoppers are less likely to use refill stations unless prices are reduced by 15 per cent or more, which Vypr said shows the importance of price in driving consumers to adopt sustainable shopping habits.
The third priority for brands and retailers is to adopt sustainable packaging. Awareness of eco-friendly packaging is high, especially among younger generations. Two-thirds of UK consumers say they expect to pay more for sustainably packaged products, and that figure rises to 86 per cent among Gen Z and Millennials. However, Vypr’s research suggests that while shoppers express willingness to pay more, price sensitivity still plays a crucial role.
Ben Davis, founder of Vypr, said: “There’s often a disconnect between consumer intentions and actions. Brands need to understand that simply offering sustainable options may not be enough if price points don’t match consumer expectations.
“For Gen Z and Millennials, sustainable products need to be competitively priced or risk losing long-term loyalty. We tested this by presenting products with and without the label ‘100 per cent Recycled Packaging’ and found price remained the key purchase decision-making factor for most consumers.”
Another factor in building loyalty among younger consumers is to showcase social responsibility. The research reveals that 60% of shoppers are more likely to shop at retailers that partner with food rescue organisations or promote a charitable cause. Among Gen Z and Millennials, this figure jumps to 69%, showing a strong preference for brands that demonstrate a social purpose.
The report also reveals that 85% of shoppers are willing to pay a deposit for reusable products, though it is younger consumers, particularly those aged 18-24 who express the strongest support for such initiatives.
The Consumer Horizon report which provides insights shaping retail, product innovation, and consumer behaviour going into 2025, can be seen here.
Sugro UK, the number one buying and marketing buying group*, in partnership with b2b.store, is thrilled to announce a further expansion of its existing E-Loyalty scheme programme, which has proven to be very popular with its members and retailers, by introducing E-Loyalty Extra Compliance and Execution scheme as well as E-Coupons.
The E-Loyalty Extra is aimed to boost compliance and execution at retail store level to drive new product launches, core range compliance, some exciting fixture trials with its supply partners and more! It will be available to all member owned and member affiliated retail stores within the group.
The E-Loyalty Extra loyalty scheme will be accessible by retailers via WhatsApp platform and will allow retailers to capture evidence of compliance by simply clicking “take photo” button.
With the addition of another digital enhancement introduced to the group recently – Coupon - based loyalty mechanic, members are now empowered to incentivise and reward customers, driving stronger consumer connections and fostering brand loyalty at a granular level. Retailers can now simply redeem a coupon at the point of check out. Another key digital development within the group is WhatsApp E-Presell which enables Sugro UK’s retail partners to provide advance product volume commitments for new product launches. This functionality is particularly powerful as it ensures that suppliers have accurate forecasts before product launches, enabling better stock availability from day one of product being available on the market.
The ease and speed of using WhatsApp for these commitments simplifies the presell process, ensures accuracy and strengthens relationships across the supply chain.
While other industry players may soon consider introducing similar digital tools, Sugro UK are proud to be at the forefront of enhancing retail-focused digital solutions. This early adoption not only ensures that Sugro UK members remain competitive but also guarantees them access to the best digital tools available in the market. These efforts are part of Sugro UK's ongoing commitment to delivering value to its members and empowering them with innovative solutions for growth and success in an increasingly digital retail environment.
Sugro Head of Commercial and Marketing, Yulia Petitt said: “I am delighted that Sugro UK members are now able to provide photographic evidence of retail compliance and in-store execution to our supplier partners, using a wide range of display and compliance criteria such as planograms, secondary displays, trials, and new product developments (NPDs).These digital features allow members to share real-time proof of execution, enhancing accountability and building supplier confidence. The launch of E-Presell functionality opens a huge digital advantage for the group which will benefit all – members, retailers and suppliers in gaining accurate forecast and ensuring product visibility in store from day one of product being on the market and with the ease of using WhatsApp, the entire pre-sell process becomes a much quicker and easier process to manage for all parties.
"The Group has had 18 consecutive years of growth and, once again, on track to deliver in 2024, with the year-to-date performance of +15% year on year and growth across all categories.” Rob Mannion, CEO of b2b.store, added: “The rate of innovation in the wholesale sector is increasing and these launches are further great examples of that. We’re particularly excited about the developments and different uses of WhatsApp in the industry, with more coming in the pipeline for 2025 – it’s a tool no wholesaler or buying group can afford to ignore because of the level of influence it’s having in the sector and there’s no sign of that direction of travel changing any time soon.”
Sugro UK is proudly owned by its 90 plus independent wholesale members, with a combined turnover of over £2.5 billion.
Expanding its footprint in the World Foods category, Paulig has acquired Panesar Foods, a prominent UK-based producer of sauces and condiments.
Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Tipton, Panesar Foods is a family-owned business with three production facilities, employing 308 staff and achieving a turnover of £59 million in the 2023 fiscal year.
This collaboration is expected to accelerate product launches and drive growth in diverse offerings, including sauces, salsas, marinades, dips, and condiments.
"We have collaborated with Panesar Foods for 17 years, and we are very pleased to welcome the company to Paulig," said Rolf Ladau, CEO of Paulig. "Today, our combined taste expertise and innovation skills unite around a shared ambition: to accelerate our international growth and expand our World Foods offerings."
Bill Panesar, CEO of Panesar Foods, expressed confidence in the partnership, stating, “As Panesar Foods becomes part of Paulig, I am confident that our ambitions for international growth will be realised, and the business will continue to thrive. We share a strong commitment to innovation and delivering high-quality, flavourful products, and I look forward to bringing even more delicious products to the market, together."
Jas Panesar, MD of Panesar Foods, echoed, “This partnership will allow us to reach new markets and deliver our authentic World Food flavors to a broader audience. We look forward to combining our passion for quality food with Paulig’s commitment to sustainability and innovation.”
All 308 Panesar employees will transition to Paulig’s team. Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed.