Facts and figures

Some facts and figures about Tesco (and, in a few cases, other supermarkets) :

Unhealthy Food:

  • 35% is the number of Tesco promotions for fatty and sugary foods compared to only 14% for fruit and vegetables. (National Consumer Council survey 2005)

Undermining trade unions and workers’ rights:

  • 10% is the pay rise that Asda Walmart offered 340 of its drivers and warehouse workers in Durham if they left the trade union GMB. Asda was subsequently fined for offering illegal inducements to its workers. (www.tescopoly.org)

Sharing the benefit?

  • £ 2.5 billion in profits were announced by Tesco in 2007. (www.tescopoly.org)
  • £ 19.7 million is the total annual pay for Tesco’s board of directors, which consists of 16 executives and is one of the most expensive boards in the FTSE-100 list of biggest companies. (The Ecologist, May 2007)
  • £ 11,594 is the average annual salary for full-time Tesco employees. (The Ecologist, May 2007)
  • 25 % is the pay rise Tesco chief executive Terry Leahy received in 2006, taking his income up to almost £4 million, including bonuses of £2.8 million. (The Ecologist, May 2007)
  • 345 years is what a Tesco employee on an average salary would have to work to catch up with Leahy. (The Ecologist, May 2007)

Market dominance

  • 75% of the £120bn UK grocery market is controlled by the four UK supermarket giants Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. The Office of Fair Trading has called for the third investigation into market dominance in seven years. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4753707.stm)
  • 31% is Tesco’s current market share in the UK, which is nearly twice as big as the share of its nearest rivals Asda and Sainsbury. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4694974.stm)
  • 108 is the number of British postal areas in which Tesco has almost total control of the food market. This is 7.4% of the country. (www.corporatewatch.org,)
  • “One Stop” convenience stores were taken over by Tesco when it bought up T&S Stores in 2003. About 400 were converted into Tesco Express, the remaining ones continue to trade as “One Stop”. (www.onestop.co.uk)
  • £8 out of every £10 spent on groceries is spent in a supermarket. (http://libcom.org/news/article.php/supermarket-power-uk-analysis-250606)

Eroding competition – the impact on independent retailers

  • 6% is what the market share of independent food retailers has been reduced to since the 1960s when it was still 60%. (www.corporatewatch.org, “What’s wrong with Supermarkets?”)
  • 2,000 independent retail stores close each year. (The Ecologist, May 2007)
  • 7,337 independent retailers went out of business between 2000 and 2004.
  • 2015 will be the year when independent convenience stores and newsagents will have disappeared completely in the UK – if this trend is allowed to continue. (“High Street Report 2015”, All-Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group)

Basement prices and the impact on farmers

  • £2 was the price of a 1.5 kg chicken at Asda in August 2007, following a price war between Asda and Tesco. This price, which is the lowest for decades, has to cover everything from rearing the bird, slaughtering it, waste disposal, transport and environmental charge, whilst the supermarket is still making a profit. (The Guardian, Saturday 4 August 2007)
  • 56p per kilo is what a chicken farmer needs to survive. (The Guardian, Saturday 4 August 2007)

Is this community investment?

  • £250,000 is the approximate amount you would have to spend at a Tesco store in order to benefit from the supermarket’s “Computer for Schools” scheme and obtain one of their mid-rank computers. (The Ecologist, May 2007)
  • £1,140 is what you would have to spend at a Tesco store to get a pack of three tennis balls as part of the supermarket’s “Sports Equipment for Schools” scheme. £1.25 is what you’d pay at an average retailer. (The Ecologist, May 2007)

Food miles

  • 25,000 is the number of miles that a traditional Sunday lunch could easily have travelled if the chicken comes from Thailand and the vegetables from Africa, the Middle East or other European countries. (www.corporatewatch.org, Eating Oil: Food in a changing climate (2001) published by Sustain and the Elm Farm Research Centre)
  • 376 is the number of miles that a traditional Sunday lunch would travel if seasonal products were chosen and purchased locally, for example at local farmers’ markets. (www.corporatewatch.org, Eating Oil: Food in a changing climate (2001))

Political influence

  • 4 is the number of government task forces that Tesco CEO Terry Leahy sits on to ensure that Tesco’s voice is heard more clearly than that of the people it has put out of business. (www.corporatewatch.org)

Packaging & the Environment

  • 79 percent of the packaging used at local markets is recyclable compared to only 60-70 percent at national supermarkets (M&S 60%, Lidl 61%, Tesco 62%, Morrisons 68%, Asda 70%). This is due to the fact that at local markets fresh produce is usually wrapped in paper bags rather than in plastic and cardboard. Local markets also use considerably less packaging (710 g) than most supermarkets (Lidl and M&S being the worst offenders with packaging weighing up to 799 g). (The Independent, Tuesday 23 October 2007)

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