Sainsbury speaks out in favour of a proper debate on GM foods on the BBC

A very sensible statement from the head of British supermarket giant Sainsburys, Lord David Sainsbury - also the former Minister for Science and Technology.

This is a great example of what we stand for - green but with common sense. There is a massive food shortage. There is also a dogmatic stand against GM crops from many quarters of the green lobby which we don't agree with. Now, there is a strong need for regulation and ensuring that we don't upset delicate ecosystems, but that doesn't mean we have to ban these things.

Let's debate it like grown-ups instead and find a middle way. What do you think?

I Know What You Did Last Summer (part II)

Well here's another thing we've been working on: we've spent the last few months calling around our proposed suppliers for core products, starting to set up relationships, prices and checking out technical specs to make sure they fit to our very stringent selection criteria.

We also check up about:
- Seriousness of supplier and capacity for reliable delivery
- Attitude towards joint branding or private label goods.

I'm delighted to be able to tell you that so far the feedback has been very positive towards bgreen, and we have found a good (perhaps unusually good) reception towards the private label initiative, which we put down to the fact that many of these companies are SMEs like us, who want to be flexible and grow with us.

So it's looking good for a launch next year. Now all we need is the money! More about that later.