Signs of the Imminent Apocalypse (British Edition)

Do you like Marmite? I must say I’ve never tasted it and those who have tell me it’s disgusting, but I like anchovies despite the nay sayers and while I’ve occasionally seen it on Grocery Store shelves here in the States I’ve always been put off by the price which is rather high for a tiny little bottle and seems to me a bad bargain whether I hate it and pitch the remainder or like it a lot and want more.

In England of course your opinion of Marmite is is only slightly less controversial than your choice of Football team.

In any event the recent decline in the exchange rate for the Pound has made it pricier when you can find it and Unilever who distributes it unwilling to honor existing supply contracts. It’s kind of like Cable blackouts when content providing networks want to renegotiate.

But to those who can’t do without some ‘Soldiers’ in the morning (Marmite on toast dipped in a soft boiled egg) it is nothing short of catastrophy.

British supermarkets are running out of Marmite. Brexit just got real.
By Griff Witte and Karla Adam, Washington Post
October 13 at 6:17 AM

British supermarkets on Thursday morning were running low on Marmite. The development prompted mild states of panic from devotees of the yeast extract, along with a reconsideration of whether leaving the European Union is such a good idea after all. Marmite haters who love Europe, meanwhile, finally found something about Brexit they can support.

The shortage — what future historians will undoubtedly dub the Great British Marmite Crisis of 2016 — kicked off due to a dispute over price between Tesco, the ubiquitous mid-market British supermarket chain, and Unilever, the supplier of Marmite as well as a long line of less-divisive grocery store items, including Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and PG Tips tea.

At the heart of the standoff was the nasty fall that Britain’s currency, the pound, has taken since the country opted in a 52-to-48 percent June vote to leave the E.U. The currency has been particularly battered in recent days amid concern among traders that Britain is careening toward a “hard Brexit,” one that will take it out of Europe’s single market and end in high tariffs between the Britain and the continent.
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That has been a boon to British manufacturers, and has attracted bargain-hunting tourists to British shores. But it has also made foreign travel significantly more expensive for Brits, and is expected to yield sharply higher prices on imported consumer goods.

Tesco apparently balked at Unilever’s attempt to raise its prices even on goods, like Marmite, that are made in Britain. The impasse, according to a statement from the supermarket chain, had caused “availability issues on a number of Unilever products.”

At stores, supplies of Unilever products — Marmite included — were reportedly running low on Thursday. On Tesco’s web site, a number of goods were completely out of stock.

“Nooooo. You are kidding me?!” said Johnny Birch, a 47-year-old decorator, when informed of the shortage.

Birch, who voted for Brexit, said he likes Marmite in the morning spread on toast and dipped into a boiled egg — a peculiarly British delicacy known as “soldiers.”
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“Our mornings won’t be the same again. I want to stock up. It’s a disgrace.”

Tesco said in its statement that “we hope to have this issue resolved soon,” reassuring words that were echoed by Unilever finance chief Graeme Pitkethly.

As one wag noted on Twitter- “Our grandparents withstood bombing raids and rationing to protect our freedom. We are screeching about 10p on a jar of #Marmite.”

Tesco runs short on Marmite and household brands in price row with Unilever
by Sarah Butler, The Guardian
Thursday 13 October 2016

Tesco is running short of stocks of a range of household brands from Marmite to Comfort fabric conditioner after a row with its major supplier Unilever.

It is understood that Unilever has halted deliveries to Tesco after a dispute over price, and several famous brands are currently unavailable from the supermarket chain’s website.

The food, toiletries and household goods supplier has been attempting to raise prices across a wide range of goods by about 10%, blaming the falling value of the pound against the euro and the dollar.

The row will be embarrassing for the supermarket’s chief executive, Dave Lewis, who previously held a senior role at Unilever. It also comes after Tesco made sweeping changes to the way its buyers deal with suppliers after strong criticism from the industry watchdog, the Grocery Code Adjudicator.

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are experiencing availability issues on a number of Unilever products. We always work to ensure customers get the best possible prices and we hope to have this issue resolved soon.”

Unilever is one of the UK’s biggest suppliers of branded foods and household goods and the dispute could have serious consequences for both sides.

In different areas of the country a number of Unilever brands have sold out. They include Persil, Surf, Dove, Comfort, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Elmlea, Colman’s, Helmann’s, Marmite, Knorr, Bertolli, Flora, Comfort and Pot Noodle.

It is understood that Unilever has approached a number of the major retailers in an attempt to increase prices. One well-informed source said: “Unilever is using Brexit as an excuse to raise prices, even on products that are made in the UK.”

Bryan Roberts, a retail analyst at TCC Global, said Unilever’s attempt to increase prices was not surprising and reflected attempts by a large number of supermarket suppliers to offset cost increases. He suggested there were likely to be more disputes between retailers and suppliers.

“A lot of suppliers are seeking to pass on price increases to retailers but in the current environment retailers are increasingly reluctant to take it. They want to keep prices as low as they can to increase their affordability against the competition.”

But we have a “happy” ending-

Unilever Resolves Tesco Dispute, Makes Marmite Available Again
by Matthew Boyle, Bloomberg News
October 13, 2016 — 1:40 PM EDT

Unilever and Tesco Plc settled a Brexit-inspired pricing dispute that had caused products like Marmite spreads and Dove body wash to get pulled temporarily from the U.K. retailer’s online store.

The “supply situation” with Tesco has been resolved and its brands are fully available, Unilever said in an e-mailed statement after European markets closed Thursday.

The tussle brought home the true cost of the U.K.’s Brexit referendum and laid bare the close ties between Tesco and its third-largest supplier, which was the longtime employer of Tesco Chief Executive Officer Dave Lewis. Unilever is facing heightened sourcing costs from a plunge in the pound since the June vote to leave the European Union, and it told analysts Thursday that it would start imposing price increases in the U.K., which accounts for about 5 percent of its revenue.

Since Marmite is manufactured in Britain, Unilever really has no excuse to raise the price other than unmitigated greed and what they perceive as an opportunity to avoid the blame that is solely theirs by confusing people about the cause.

It’s not Brexit. It’s Unilever.