Food and Drink
Get the perfect beach body without breaking the bank
Filed under: Travel, Food and Drink
It's the summer holiday season – and millions of Britons are heading off to sun themselves on beaches or poolside loungers. But for many women, the thought of squeezing into a bikini or swimsuit can ruin the excitement they should be feeling at jetting off on holiday. And even if you are motivated to lose weight, the cost of organic produce and gym membership can be off-putting in itself.
That's why we've come up with five top tips on how to get – and keep – the beach body you want, without it costing the earth.
How to save money at farmer's markets
Filed under: Food and Drink, Budgeting & Planning
There's been hype surrounding farmer's markets for some time now, and rightly so, I love them. They're great way to buy fresh and affordable quality produce and support your local farmers.However, if you've been to one expecting to pick up your usual weekly grocery list, you may have ended up spending more than at the supermarket. So how can you save money at a farmer's market?
On 'miracle diets' the only thing you'll lose is money
Filed under: Food and Drink
Two reports have revealed that 'fat busting' food supplements offer no help at all in the battle for weight loss, at the cost to consumers of hundreds of thousands of pounds. Researchers investigated all sorts of products from cabbage powder to bean concentrate and plant extracts, and highlighted what most people have suspected all along: many of them are a massive con designed to exploit desperate dieters.
Will you shop at Amazon's new grocery store?
Filed under: Food and Drink
Amazon has launched its own internet grocery store in a bid to rival the delivery services of major supermarkets.The online retailer well known for its cut-price books and electrical goods is aiming to compete with superstores such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's by offering customers a range of 22,000 household items. But do we need another online grocery store and is Amazon offering us anything new?
Five powerful rights you never knew you had
Filed under: Travel, Food and Drink
Sometimes you have to fight for your rights, as anyone who has seen a Clint Eastwood film knows. But you probably don't even know some of the rights you have. Here are five good ones to bear in mind:The waiter was rude? Then the meal is free
When you eat out, you are making a contract between you and the restaurant. It basically means they will serve you the meal you expect in the manner in which you expect, and it is covered by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.
Tate & Lyle sell off sugar business in a very sweet deal
Filed under: Food and Drink
Back in 1878, Henry Tate opened a sugar refinery on the banks of the Thames in Silvertown, East London, after he bought up the rights to the newly invented sugar cube.Abram Lyle, who opened his own refinery in nearby Plaistow in 1883, first began putting Golden Syrup into its famous green and gold tins in 1885 after it proved an instant success with customers. The syrup is made from by-products in the sugar refining process.
How to beat the VAT hike on groceries
Filed under: Economiser, Food and Drink, Budgeting & Planning
Consumers need to be more savvy when they go food shopping to avoid VAT, which is going up to 20% from 17.5% next January.The rise will add at least £33 a year to shoppers' supermarket baskets, according to the comparison website mySupermarket.co.uk. But there are some clever tricks that can help you keep your bills down.
Ocado customers win as it delivers on stockmarket float plans
Filed under: Investing, Food and Drink
Having never turned a profit since it began 10 years ago, online grocery story Ocado is to launch onto the stockmarket in a move that puts a £1 billion price tag on the business.Set up by three guys – chief executive Tim Steiner, Jason Gissing and Jonathan Faiman – who still retain 13.3% of the company, Ocado has around 1.6 million customers and has just renewed its deal with Waitrose, to sell and deliver its own-brand products for the next ten years. And to be honest, that's probably the real value as many people identify Ocado and their client Waitrose as the same thing.
Restaurants are conning diners with false menus
Filed under: Fraud , Food and Drink
Restaurants are ripping off their customers by listing luxury-end food on the menus, but secretly serving bargain-basement meals made from cheap ingredients. Some even sell "home-made soup" that was made from powder in a packet with hot water added.An investigation by Trading Standards found eateries across Britain are conning diners. They found restaurants listing the famous Goosnargh Duck, even though the birds served up had never set webbed foot in the Ribble Valley village; Morcambe Bay shrimps which were really from Canada; and a "home assured apple pie" which had come straight from a supermarket.
Inflation falls back on food and alcohol prices
Filed under: Food and Drink, Budgeting & Planning
The latest inflation figures bring some respite for cash-strapped families. Inflation has finally fallen back, with food and drink becoming cheaper while petrol prices have come off their recent highs. The data raised hopes that price pressures have now peaked and that the cost of living will come down further in coming months.
