Several of the UK’s largest supermarket operators have written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves requesting that large food retailers be exempted from a proposed business rates surtax. Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Lidl all signed the letter organised by the trade body the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The letter argues that including supermarkets in the surtax on properties with a rateable value above £500,000 ($6,66,220) would add to the sector’s costs and risk passi ...

The Dutch competition watchdog has launched an investigation into the price of grocery products in the country’s supermarkets. In a statement, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) said the probe was prompted by claims the prices of “certain food products” are higher than in unspecified “neighbouring countries”. Dutch food industry association FNLI said it “welcomed” the move to examine whether there are “bottlenecks” in the market. The investigation will look at “the price breakdo ...