Asda has launched an attack on convenience stores for ruining the off-trade’s reputation by pushing high-abv beer and cider. The supermarket’s external affairs director, Paul Kelly, accused the sector of “holding back cultural change” by undercutting supermarkets with cheap deals on “super-strength” products. He said: “Eighty-five per cent of high-strength products are sold by the convenience sector, and at a price 30% cheaper than in…

Costcutter and Palmer & Harvey have formed a joint venture company with a combined buying power of £5 billion in a deal designed to counter the increasing power of the supermarkets. The move will see Costcutter take over management of P&H’s Mace, Supershop and Your Store convenience brands, bringing the combined retail estate of the two companies up to around 2,400 stores. P&H will focus…