Birds Eye Iglo has emerged from 2008 as one of the few consumer-facing companies to benefit from the flight to frugality by anxious Britons, with sales and profits up for the year. The privately owned food producer, which was bought by Permira 18 months ago, has managed to increase sales in the UK by 5% in 2008, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew 10% over the year.

One year on from its launch, Heinz Snap Pots has taken the beans, kids and meals market by storm, generating retail sales in excess of £12 million and securing 95% distribution. Heinz Beanz Snap Pots alone has generated more than £10m of sales in the first year, which has assisted Heinz Beanz value growth of +11%1 yoy. The launch has driven category value with 52% of the volume being incremental to the total beans category, resulting in the product adding 295k buyers to the sector. The Kids market has reached a value of £58 million, having grown by +7.5% over the last year. This growth has been driven by Heinz Hoops Snap Pots, which has achieved £1.8m value sales to date and a 4% value share of the kids accompaniment sector, bringing Heinz's overall share of the Kids market to 74.7%, +12.3% on last year.

Tate & Lyle shareholder Harbinger, the aptly named activist hedge fund, could sell its stake in the sugar giant – news that prompted a slump in Tate & Lyle's share price.

Conservative MEP Chris Heaton-Harris called on his colleagues to throw out proposals on labelling at the European Commission, brandishing the rules as ‘barmy’. The proposed new rules, will see nutritional information and Guideline Daily Amounts become mandatory on packaging, but Mr Heaton-Harris warned labels will end up becoming too confusing if they are introduced. The rules will also require nutritional information to be printed in a far bigger font – no smaller than 3mm – which would take up more of the packaging than before.