== Costa considers deals ==

Costa Coffee’s sales have continued to increase, but meal deals may soon be on the menu as like-for-like growth slows. The firm has said it will develop its food offering with lunchtime deals such as a panini and a cappuccino for £4.95, for example. Total sales growth is up 22% to £263.8m for the year to 26 February 2009. But like-for-like growth was at the slower rate of 2% compared to 3.7% for the first half of 2008/09.

== Uniq cheese contract ==

Wensleydale Creamery in North Yorkshire has won a contract with sandwich manufacturer Uniq Prepared Foods, to supply 100 tonnes of cheese a year, which will be used in Marks & Spencer’s Wensleydale and carrot chutney sandwiches, supplied by Uniq.

== Starbucks sees loss ==

Starbucks Corporation has reported a net revenue loss of 7.6%, down to $2.3bn, in its second quarter results to 29 March 2009. Like-for-like sales were down 8% compared to -9% in Q1 of 2009. Net revenue from US stores fell by 6.8% and international revenue was down 12.1%. The UK saw negative comparable store sales for the quarter.

== Sainsbury’s ahead ==

Sainsbury’s has grown its market share by 8.1%, more than several other major supermarkets in the 12 weeks to 19 April, according to the latest TNS Worldpanel Grocery Market Share figures. In contrast, the total grocery market grew by 6.2%.

== Correction ==

In the last issue of BB, we stated that the International Grains Council’s (IGC) estimate for global wheat production in 2008/09 was 688mt. This was incorrect. The IGC’s predicted figure for global wheat production in 2009 is 651mt.

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