The Co-operative is continuing its crusade to be the ethical retailer of choice, with a ban on the sale of all eggs from caged hens.

The Competition Commission is to take decisive action to attempt to force large retailers not to change terms agreed with their suppliers.

In September 2007, for the first time, McCain took one of its best-selling food service products to the retail market: Beer Battered Ridge Cut Chips. We wanted to offer consumers the pub-food taste at home and provide an alternative product to the chip market. A CAMRA award-winning beer is the key ingredient, which represents McCain's 'It's all good' ethos; using natural ingredients, combined with a 'ridge cut' finish for a crispy bite.

As reported on page 4, the Co-operative Group is further polishing its ethical halo by banning all sales of eggs from caged hens. In contrast to Tesco's £1.99 chicken this move is perfectly timed following the high profile gained by celebrity chefs recently attacking battery farming. The immediate ban means all of group's eggs are now either free range or organic or both. Peter Marks, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said: "More than one in four of our members said animal welfare was a priority".

The Convenience Retailing Show takes place at the Birmingham NEC from 6-9 April, with new exhibitors including Arla Foods, Birds Eye, Bobby's Foods, British American Tobacco, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Colgate Palmolive, GlaxoSmithKline, Holland's Pies, Panasonic and Tchibo.

Today's consumers are not satisfied with cheap, low-quality products - they are on the look-out for something special. However, this trading-up has to be balanced against consumer spend that is tighter than ever.

Between the ages of 12 and 18 I was a vegetarian. I ate fish, but nothing with four legs or feathers passed my lips.

Research undertaken by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) and parenting website Netmums has found that parents remain "confused about which foods contain salt".

The number of shoppers who believe supermarkets should concentrate on food rather than non-food has halved since 2006, according to a survey by Key Note.

Twenty-one leading food and drink manufacturers have signed up to the Food and Drink Federation's initiative to reduce water use.

Ofcom's ban on adverts for junk food aimed at children under 16 has now come into force, but campaigners say the ban does not cover enough programmes.

Despite "record levels of promotions" in the run-up to Christmas, shoppers provided a "lacklustre" sales performance in stores, according to Nielsen.

Shoppers who abuse priority spaces in Asda's car parks will now be fined £60.

Tesco is claiming it is happy with its Christmas performance, with non-food sales rising 3.1% (excluding petrol) in the six weeks to 5 January.

Tesco is set to expand its business overseas by £30bn to £74bn within five years and double store numbers.

The present wrapping has gone for recycling, the credit card bills are piling up, we're still treading on sharp pine needles and the children have already flung some of their toys to one side. Yes - you can tell Christmas is over for another year and 2008 has arrived.

Retail ready packaging is the name given to product packaging designed to go directly from the factories on to shelves without the need for unpacking or decanting.

Now well-established in the UK, Fairtrade Fortnight is being exploited to the full by multiple retailers and producers alike.

Fresh veg specialist Parripak said it has had a successful and busy winter when it comes to onions and has put 251 tonnes of finished onions through its Bedfordshire facility, equating to two million hand-sorted onions. The company said it was looking forward to some exciting new launches and healthy eating-based promotions this year. Demand for onions was up from the ready meals and soup sectors, said Parripak.

Werther's Original Sugar Free is a great example of how the confectionary industry is meeting consumer needs on two levels. The product offers all the creaminess and taste of the topselling Werther's Original Butter Candies, now worth £19.4m, but it also appeals to consumers who are looking to reduce the amount of sugar in their diets without cutting out sweet treats completely.

This time last year all the noise was about naturalness - in food and drink, and even in alcohol, toiletries and household products.

Gavin Strachan began working at the Co-op in St Leonards On Sea, just outside Hastings, in 1976. This has meant that last year's merger of the Co-op and the northern United Co-operatives is nothing new for him - but is just another stage in the process of this unique retail group's development.

Of all the categories in multiple retailing, snacking has to be one of the most competitive. In a category that was once defined solely by crisps, snacking has evolved to include everything from fruit to meat and nuts to carrots - all in handy pack formats to cater for consumers on the move.

nSome people look down on Iceland. Brash, cheap, cheerful and very, very orange, it's hardly Waitrose or Fresh & Wild, is it? However, real mums (as opposed to middle-class women subsidised by an overpaid banker/media worker husband) love to shop at Iceland.

QAt the front of my store is a large area of empty space that in the summer we use to sell barbecue equipment. What kinds of products are going to generate the most income off this fixture and what's the best way to rotate this kind of area?

Britain's ethnic mix is changing. Since the EU expanded to include countries such as Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary, the UK economy has been boosted by thousands of workers flocking to our shores to find better-paid work.

QFrom the outside, it's a gloomy start to 2008. Tesco "fails to convince" and M&S produces a mild downturn, but the market knocks millions off the value of the shares. Retailers' needs for increased sales and maintained margins translates to lower, or, at best, retained prices from manufacturers.