Claims by a government agency that consumer spending on eating out of home has overtaken meals at home have been dismissed as rubbish by a foodservice expert.

Eighteen new Italian wines have been added to Bestway Group's Cellar Estates own label wine range.

Landmark Wholesale member Vitality Group, which is based in north London, has acquired Stephens Wholesale of Dartford in Kent

The current chairman of the FWD and two of his predecessors will be among speakers at the Grocery Wholesaling 2006 conference on September 27.

Spar and The Co-op movement have formed a new buying alliance for own label products.

A £500m turnover foodservice business has been created by the takeover of DBC Foodservice by Woodward Foodservice.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has reminded wholesalers that from October 1 new legislation comes into force requiring duty stamps in the spirits category.

Landmark Wholesale member, Parfetts Cash & Carry has announced plans to re-locate its trading department from its depot at Aintree to its head office in Stockport.

Malt House Vintners, Booker's own label wine range, has introduced three new rosé varieties. It is now available in the River Wild (Californian), Rouwke's Drift (South African) and Marcel Hubert (French) ranges, and Booker claims the extensions make its rosé offering one of the best in the market.

Tangerine, the Blackpool-based confectionery firm, has bought the confectionery arm of Burton's Foods.

MBL is re-launching its fresh fish range this month and returning it to Budgens own label.

== Associate member ==

New own label designs have been launched by MBL for both its Londis and Budgens brands.

3663 has launched a range from an Italian pizza-maker which produces stone-baked and wood-fired pizzas in the traditional way.

Nestlé FoodServices has hailed the Foodservice Rewards loyalty scheme as a success after more than 8,000 caterers signed up for the scheme in its first year.

Confectionery maker Topps has teamed up with sales and marketing broker Jenks in a bid to increase distribution within the cash and carry, wholesale and convenience sector.

AJ Foods is the newest member to join the Landmark Wholesale group, taking Landmark's membership to 30 in total.

Two Stockport retailers have won pitch-side advertising at Stockport County Football Club's ground in a competition run by Parfetts Cash & Carry.

The Nestlé Rowntree Manager of the Month for September is awarded to Gerry Fraser, senior trader, at Bellevue Cash & Carry in Edinburgh.

The FWD Take Home Blueprint for Ales, Lagers and Cider is re-launched this month, ahead of Christmas, the biggest trading peak of the year for the wholesale sector.

A high level of activity in the wholesale world during August is usually a sign that good weather is boosting the business. But, a close look this year would have revealed that most of the midnight oil was actually being burnt by the management teams responding to a recent request for information from the Competition Commission.

Parfetts has seen management changes with financial director Robert Miller retiring and Iain Martin appointed as company accountant.

Mike Fitton has joined AF Blakemore to take on the role of retail sales director for Spar Distribution.

Peter Segal has joined HIM as a main board director.

Capper & Co has appointed Mark Dempsey as its new retail forecourt specialist.

? Job title: trading controller

England footballer Sir Geoff Hurst was the guest of honour at the Today's Group Football Crazy roadshow staged receptions at Holmes Wholesale Services depots in Coleraine, Belfast and Lurgan in Northern Ireland.

Makro has been busy this summer with multiple promotions.

Bestway Cash and Carry's 30th birthday promotion has had a successful start, following the launch of the 30/30 promotion at the end of July.

September

BRAVEHEART. You couldn't make it up. It's reported that the Scottish Executive is planning to relax planning rules to allow more giant superstores to open.

United Wholesale Grocers, the cash and carry Landmark member based in Glasgow, has chosen to upgrade its point of sale system and implement a new merchandise management solution with STL.

Easilift Loading Systems has provided loading bay equipment for Nisa-Today's national distribution centre in Scunthorpe.

Sanderson has won a contract to supply its entry level Small Business Solution (SBS) to Scunthorpe Licensed Wholesalers (SLW).

Freeway Commerce, a provider of e-commerce and electronic trading systems, has supplied a fully managed EDI service to catering and support service provider Sodexho.

For Brakes, Christmas 2006 means time to think about Christmas 2007. The process of choosing new products starts roughly 12 months in advance as Brakes' product managers investigate new ideas and products. Coming up with a new product can work in different ways. Sometimes a supplier will bring a product or idea to Brakes, where they will then develop it until they are happy for it to go out. Or Brakes will present a brief to the supplier and then develop that. When giving a briefing to suppliers Brakes covers the details of the visual look, the flavour and the cost.

Heinz is offering a share of £150,000 cash with Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

Maggi is offering caterers an Eat Out promotion of a meal for two at a top UK restaurant.

Nestlé FoodServices has expanded its foodservice Aero Bubbly Hot Chocolate to include a powder format which creates a frothy drink when added to hot milk.

Unilever Foodsolutions has introduced Knorr 100% Soup Single Serve Ambient Portions.

The news gathering function of local free or paid for newspapers, TV and radio stations is generally a least-cost affair with the number of journalists staffing the newsroom pared down to a minimum. So when a caller rings in to say "I've got a story for you", the editorial team will be more than pleased - it has saved them from more grafting under pressure.

In a declining market Parfetts has been able to increase its turnover on tobacco, and Paul Mason, general manager of the Aintree depot, believes Gallaher can share in the credit for this achievement.

The overall dairy category is huge, with a value of £7.5bn a year, and it's getting bigger. It's currently growing at a rate of 5.7% a year, with some industry estimates suggesting that it could reach £10bn a year by 2010.

Advertising in the batteries market is heavily seasonal, Mintel reports over 60% of all expenditure in the sector in 2005 coming in the last quarter of the calendar year, reflecting the importance of the pre-Christmas period. This makes Christmas a time when wholesalers should make sure their supplies are stocked and POS is in place.

Bendicks is aiming to continue growth in the Christmas boxed chocolate market with a range of luxury products.

Lindt has been working on its Christmas chocolate range.

Leaf International has launched a 'healthier' range of sugar confectionery branded as Red Band.

Toblerone One by One has been given a new pack design, which aims to give the product a more premium, adult look. Toblerone One by One includes a mix of flavours including classic milk, white and dark chocolate Toblerone chunks, as well as praline centred chunks and chunks of classic Toblerone chocolate with white chocolate peak.

Cadbury Trebor Bassett is launching Cadbury Dairy Milk Melts this month.

Tetley has redesigned packaging for its Quickbrew brand which now features a union jack and retro-style teapot.

Persil has launched its 'Be My Coach' initiative, which aims to encourage parents to play sport with their children.

Gallaher is extending its use of 14-cigarette packs to its Camel Subtle brand. It launched packs of 14 cigarettes last summer for Benson & Hedges Gold and Silver.

United Biscuits has launched Mars Mini Rolls. The mini rolls have a soft caramel filling and are covered in milk chocolate.

Birds Eye is introducing new chicken recipes to its Simply range - Simply Chicken Rosemary & Sage and Simply Chicken Lightly Seasoned.

Bacardi Rum has launched a new global advertising campaign entitled 'You In?'.

Beverage Brands is aiming to raise WKD Red's profile among shoppers with an added value promotion.

Following the on trade launch of Carling C2 in 2005, Coors Brewers has announced the launch of Carling C2 mid-strength 2% ABV lager into the off-trade.

Carlsberg UK has launched a promotion to give consumers the chance to win their own seats at the new Wembley Stadium.

Crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks are now frowned on but what impact will it have on the contents of school lunch boxes prepared at home, and will the children still go home to an economy sausage, burger or chicken nugget with chips supper.

A Spar retailer, one of our regulars, made the same point saying he can't afford to feature the full Spar national package and that some promotion prices were set far too low.

Is it any wonder the £3.88 average bottle price hasn't moved for years in spite of the demise of cheapies like Liebfraumilch and Lambrusco. In 1998 we promoted Nottage Hill to retail at £3.99 a bottle and only a few weeks ago we saw a multiple offering the same deal - nearly eight years on. Fantastic value, yet we think many of the so called half-price multiple deals do take a lot of believing - like £7.99 reduced to £3.99. Who's kidding who?

Hardly a wild success! 'Must try harder', as my old headmaster used to say.

Now even that is under threat as many small caterers turn to multiples to purchase morning goods, lured no doubt with offers like Sainsbury's soft white and wholemeal rolls at 12 for 70p. Firing the ovens at 4am to scratch out a living may soon be a thing of the past.