Weekly Digest #04

25.08.2025

👋 Welcome to the Forks & Founders Weekly Bite-Sized Digest a.k.a The Fork’s Lens

Every week, we serve up a quick, flavourful dose of what’s cooking at the intersection of food, drink, and entrepreneurship.

Expect:

🍴 Sharp founder insights

📊 Bite-sized industry trends

🛠 Tools & tips to level up

🔥 Events & openings worth your time

For founders building food brands, launching products, or just hungry for what’s next – this one’s for you.

📨 Weekly #03: Crops, Costs, and CEOs 👨‍🌾

🍴 What’s Up?

Food prices are biting harder, major UK chains are reshuffling leadership, and vertical farming is learning tough lessons after a decade of hype. This week’s roundup highlights the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the food landscape.

🇬🇧 UK Spotlight

• Grocery Inflation Edges Lower

  British grocery inflation nudged down to 5.0% over the four weeks to August 10, providing limited relief for consumers. The figure compares to 5.2% in the previous month. Despite the slight decrease, sales of branded grocery items were up 6.1% over the four weeks, indicating continued consumer spending. Discounter Lidl and online supermarket Ocado were Britain's fastest-growing grocers over the 12 weeks to August 10, with sales up 10.7%.

• M&S Bets Big on Automation

  Marks & Spencer is investing £340 million in a robotic warehouse in Daventry, aiming to double its food business by 2029. The facility will enhance stock availability, boost efficiency, and create 1,000 permanent roles (plus 2,000 during construction).

• Leadership Shake-up at Waitrose and McDonald’s UK

  Waitrose CEO James Bailey will step down at the end of September, with Tina Mitchell taking over as interim managing director. Meanwhile, McDonald’s UK and Ireland CEO Alistair Macrow will step down after four years, with Lauren Schultz set to succeed him on 1 September. 

• Poundland Prioritises Value Pricing

  Facing retail headwinds, Poundland is relaunching its £1-value offer, ramping up £1 grocery items to 60% of store stock. However, 68 stores will close by mid-October as part of a broader restructuring plan.

• Global Demand Rises for Food-Safety Testing

  The UK food-safety testing market, valued at US$1.3 billion in 2024, is projected to double to $2.8 billion by 2033, growing at a 9.2% CAGR.

• UK’s Biggest Pizza Chains Struggling

  Rising ingredient costs, labour shortages, and changing consumer habits are hitting major pizza chains across the UK, with some reporting reduced margins and slower growth. Domino’s Pizza UK has revised its annual core profit forecast downward and Papa John’s has announced the closure of 74 stores in the UK after reporting a pre-tax loss of £21.8 million

• McWin Capital Partners to Take Control of Flat Iron Steakhouse

  Private equity firm McWin Capital Partners is set to acquire a controlling stake in Flat Iron Steakhouse, aiming to accelerate expansion and optimise operations.

💡 Weekly Spotlight: Vertical Farming – From Hype to Hard Lessons

Vertical farming was once hailed as the future of food – billions poured into indoor warehouses promising to feed cities sustainably. But high capital costs, soaring energy bills, and fragile economics have cut the industry down. AeroFarms, Bowery, Kalera, Infarm, and even UK-based Jones Food have gone bust, leaving debt and empty shelves behind.

Not even billionaire backing could save it. Kimbal Musk’s Square Roots shuttered most sites in 2023 after layoffs, and Larry Ellison’s $500m Sensei Ag project in Hawaii was battered by climate, energy, and execution failures.

Yet, the idea hasn’t fully died. The 80 Acres and Soli Organic merger creates one of the largest indoor farm networks, UK’s GrowUp Farms is scaling salad greens after a £145m raise, and Italy’s Planet Farms is betting big on a UK mega-facility.

The verdict: vertical farming didn’t fail – it overpromised. Now, the survivors are leaner, focused on niches like herbs, greens, and alternative proteins. The hype cycle is over. The rebuild has begun.

🧋 Did You Hear: 99p Iced Tea, No More?

In the US, Arizona Iced Tea's iconic 99-cent price tag may soon come to an end after more than 30 years due to new 50% tariffs on imported aluminum. Founder Don Vultaggio expressed reluctance at the potential price hike, saying he has long resisted raising prices to help consumers, despite inflation and rising input costs that would justify a $1.99 price today.

💭 The Fork & The Flame

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." – Socrates

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About Forks & Founders
We believe bold food brands deserve bold support. That’s why we’ve built a collective of seasoned foodies, retail rebels, creative storytellers, and numbers nerds—people who’ve been in the kitchen, the boardroom, and the shop floor. We jump in where you need us most, helping you turn big ideas into bites people can’t stop talking about. Because building a food brand isn’t just business—it’s passion, flavour, and a little bit of chaos. We’re here to make sure it’s the good kind.