John Shepherd

For all my working life in speciality food, we have yearned for the balmy, sunshine days of summer when customers seem in a happier frame of mind and have the delightful tendency to spend a little more money in a...

To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable. So runs half a Chinese proverb. As a retailer I can readily agree with that

I am writing this article on April 21st – H.M. the Queen’s 90th Birthday – and very many happy returns are in order. This is not, of course, Her Majesty’s official birthday, which falls on June 12th, but the actual day on...

Last year I visited one of my favourite places – Bologna in Northern Italy, often described as Italy’s culinary capital

Known Value Items or KVIs are literally the bread and butter of supermarkets and convenience stores. Not only because bread and butter features on the list of items, but because they are the products that form the price perception of...

'Tis the season to be analysing the Christmas trading figures... So how was it for Partridges in 2015?

The time for new year's resolutions is upon us again. Having discussed the subject already with a random selection of suppliers, customers and market traders, it is very good to note that there is a general air of optimism in circulation

A perennial activity in the life of someone in the speciality food world is visiting food shows in all their shapes and sizes

The headline of the Evening Standard on Thursday 10th September 2015 proclaimed the words “Store Wars” in bold type

Last month I wrote about the effect of the weather on sales, and so far it seems like this summer is maintaining the recent mini trend of relatively benign weather