Now that the summer’s out of the way, the country can get down to something serious. Goodbye to barbeque summers, stockpiled BBQ dinners in the freezer, and summer woolies, and Hello! to austerity spending, and hoping that there will not be a P45 in the stocking for Crimbo, as the worse may be over of the financial crisis, but the unemployment tail still continues to lash at consumer confidence.

This time it is the public sector which is in the front line for cuts and job insecurity.  The CBI is predicting an increase in consumer confidence for the next quarter, which will then drop off in 2010 because VAT will go back to its 17.5% rate. Recent research on behalf of ASDA has revealed that consumers are starting to buy for Christmas now – to spread the cost, rather than because they want to think H-A-P-P-Y.

But I suppose the really good news is that there are signs that the consumers have put behind them the nightmare of economic meltdown, as the fortunes of Waitrose and the discounting retailers have been reversed when it comes to market growth. It seems that the purse is now full enough to indulge in a few luxuries in food.

Source:- readymealsinfo.com newsletter
30.09.09