Peter Shears

Radio frequency identification and food retailing in the UK

Purpose – This paper aims to offer an outline of the characteristics of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and briefly discusses some of its perceived benefits and challenges for food retailers in the UK.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws material largely from trade and practitioner sources and illustrates general themes with specific retail examples.Findings – The paper suggests that RFID has the potential to offer food retailers a wide range of benefits throughout the supply chain including tighter management and control of the supply chain, reductions in shrinkage, reduced labour costs and improved customer service while also facilitating compliance with traceability protocols and food safety regulations. At the same time food retailers will need to address a number operational and strategic challenges and consumer privacy concerns before they can fully realise these benefits.Originality/value – This paper provides a brief and accessible outline of the RFID developments in food...

Radio frequency identification in retailing and privacy and public policy issues

Outlines the characteristics of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and shows the growth of retail interest in the technology’s introduction in the UK. Discusses privacy and public policy issues that are associated with RFID. Concludes that retailers have to address a series of privacy and public liberties, associated with RFID.

Food fraud - a current issue but an old problem

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the topic of food fraud which has been so widely and variously reported over recent months and years. Its purposes are to set current experience into an historical context and to illustrate the tension between the science of deception and the science of detection.Design/methodology/approach – This is a desk study of published literature and historical documentation, together with interviews with those professionally concerned with detection and enforcement.Findings – The piece concludes that with all the scientific developments and analytical techniques that seem so mind‐bendingly sophisticated, there remains the basic problem of a lack of resources.Practical implications – It is asserted that more is owed to the memories and the reputations of those who pioneered the effort to combat food fraud. Without a considerable increase in the resources made available for the appliance of the science currently available and that being developed, the battle will nev...

The European Food Safety Authority

There have been several “food scares” in Europe and across the Atlantic in recent years. They have led to nationally orientated reaction – often in the face of otherwise apparently binding international commitments. This article is concerned with such events and the planning, development and emergence of an international food safety agency for the European Union, taking into account “enlargement” and certain transatlantic perspectives. Concludes that the appliance of science should supersede the politics of nation states and the desire for re‐election, while bearing in mind that this is an unlikely dream.

Food for thought ‐ What mad cows have wrought with respect to food safety regulation in the EU and UK

An in‐depth examination of the evolution of legislation, practice and thinking in food safety in the UK and Europe in general. Explores the reduced levels of confidence exhibited by consumers.

Food retailers’ responses to the GM controversy within the UK

During the late 1990s the controversy surrounding the use of genetically modified ingredients in food became an increasingly controversial issue within the UK. This paper provides a short case study which focuses on the principal issues within the GM debate and reviews the major food retailers policy responses to this debate.

The eighth “C” of (R)etailing: customer concern

Looks at the state of selling through digital technology and the types of business which have emerged in this sector. Reports on the findings of two surveys in the UK which highlight the nature and scale of customer concerns in the market. Concludes that the jury is still out on the future of (r)etailing and that the dramatic developments earlier envisaged may be scaled down as it is assimilated alongside traditional methods. States that growth will require more attention on the consumer and the addressing of their concerns.

Hang your shingle and carry on: estate agents – the unlicensed UK profession

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the fact that whilst most providers of professional services in the UK are regulated by means of pre‐entry qualifications or required standards, those setting themselves up as estate agents face no such impediment. This is particularly surprising in that these practitioners are centrally involved in what is often the largest and most stressful of consumer transactions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper traces the many and various attempts at establishing a regulatory framework, the many and various ways in which they failed, and current proposals for change.Findings – It is asserted that more and better protection is owed to these vulnerable consumers. Whilst the majority of practitioners are members of one professional body or another, there remains a significant minority who are not, and that the time has come for universal regulation.Originality/value – The paper is important in that it seeks to take a long view of a matter of public concern that h...

Gated residential developments in the UK

States that although inclusions my be complex and challenging, sometimes characterized by both ambiguity and a lack of rigour, it is usually used to cover other differing facets. Uses housing as an example of a central issue for the modern family and its lifestyle hopes. Discusses gated residential areas as small but growing features with perhaps a privileged status in many people’s views. Concludes that the public sector may wish to keep a weather eye on gated residential developments in the future.

A case of Bargain Booze

This market for alcoholic drinks sold for home consumption has become increasingly dominated by the multiple grocery chains at the expense of small specialist off‐licences. However, one specialist company, Bargain Booze, which specialises in the sale of a limited range of leading brands at competitive discount prices via a franchised network of corner shop outlets, seems to be “bucking the trend”. Provides a short case study of Bargain Booze. The case includes a review of the changing structure of the off sales trade, an outline of Bargain Booze’s origins and development, an examination of the principal elements in the company’s retail marketing mix and concludes with a discussion of the past, and potential future, market development strategies.