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People buying less fast food as grocery prices remain high

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People buying less fast food as grocery prices remain high


Emer Moreau

Business reporter, BBC News

Getty Images A woman in a pink shirt bites into a large burger inside a casual restaurant.Getty Images

People are going out for casual or fast food less this summer compared to last year

People are spending less on fast food this summer but are replacing those meals with smaller treats from the supermarket according to new consumer research.

Casual and fast-food restaurants have seen a 6% drop in customers over the three months to mid-July compared to last summer, research from Worldpanel by Numerator found.

But shoppers were still buying branded groceries instead of swapping for cheaper, own-brand alternatives.

Worldpanel said that grocery price inflation fell marginally from July to August, but consumers are still trying to make savings due to the high cost of everyday essentials.

Coffee shops buck the trend

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said high grocery prices affect people’s spending habits in other areas, like dining out.

“What people pay for their supermarket shopping often impacts their spending across other parts of the high street too, including their eating and drinking habits out of the home,” he said.

“Casual and fast service restaurants especially have seen a decline in visitors over the summer, with trips falling by 6% during the three months to mid-July 2025 – compared with last year.”

But coffee shops bucked this trend, with visits up 3% over the same period.

Mr McKevitt said people were also “still seeking treats in store”.

Sales of branded grocery items grew by 6.1% in August, while sales of own-label alternatives were up by 4.1%. Worldpanel’s report found that was the largest gap in favour of brands since March 2024.

There has been a trend towards people opting for smaller, cheaper ways to treat themselves, according to Sarah Coles, the head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Eating out is one of the first things to go” when people want to cut back on spending, she said.

But Ms Coles said there were “more cost effective ways to get the same reward,” such as takeaway coffees or sweet treats from the supermarket.

She added many were “trading up” to branded treats instead of opting for the own-brand version, because it was still cheaper than a meal out.

Branded sales were “particularly dominant” in personal care, confectionary, soft drinks and hot drinks categories, Mr McKevitt said.

The Worldpanel report found that grocery price inflation was 5% in August, down from 5.2% in July. The cost of chocolate, fresh meat and coffee rose fastest, while champagne and dog food saw the largest drops in price.



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Intellia Therapeutics says its Crispr-based treatment succeeds in pivotal trial

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Intellia Therapeutics says its Crispr-based treatment succeeds in pivotal trial


Intellia Therapeutics, building exterior and company sign, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Spencer Grant | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Intellia Therapeutics said its Crispr-based treatment for a rare swelling condition met its goals in a late-stage trial, marking a milestone for the field of gene editing and putting the company on track to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The company’s treatment uses Nobel Prize-winning technology Crispr to edit DNA and turn off the gene that controls production of a peptide that’s overactive in people with hereditary angioedema, causing them to experience potentially life-threatening swelling attacks. Intellia’s treatment is administered once through an hourslong infusion, making the edits directly in the liver.

Intellia said the one-time treatment reduced attacks by 87% compared with a placebo, meeting the study’s main goal. Six months after treatment, 62% of patients were free from attacks and weren’t using other therapies, Intellia said.

The company described the safety and tolerability of the treatment as “favorable,” reporting the most common side effects were infusion-related reactions, headaches and fatigue. Analysts were closely watching safety in the trial since a patient in a separate trial of a different treatment from Intellia died. That patient developed a liver injury and ultimately died from septic shock following an ulcer, according to the company.

“When you think about where we started with Crispr, just 12 years ago with some of the fundamental insights, I think there was a lot of talk about what might be possible, and we’ve had reports along the way in terms of milestones, but this is the first Phase 3 data in any indication with in vivo Crispr where you’re actually changing a gene that causes disease,” said Intellia CEO John Leonard.

The only FDA-approved Crispr-based medicine comes from Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Called Casgevy, the gene editing is done outside the body, or ex vivo. The process requires collecting a person’s blood cells, making the edits outside the body, then reinfusing them back into a patient. Intellia’s treatment, meanwhile, makes the edits inside the body, or in vivo.

Intellia said it has started a rolling application with the FDA and plans to complete the filing in the second half of this year. The company expects to launch the treatment in the U.S. in the first half of next year, if it’s approved.

If approved, Intellia’s treatment, lonvoguran ziclumeran, will compete with about a dozen other chronic drugs for HAE. Despite the allure of a one-time treatment, genetic medicines haven’t always been a commercial successes. BioMarin withdrew its gene therapy for Hemophilia A because of weak sales, for example.

Leonard said there are important differences between the two, like the fact that BioMarin’s therapy faced questions about how long the effects would last. In contrast, he said Intellia hasn’t seen a single case in almost six years where the effects diminished over time.

Despite the results, he’s reluctant to call Intellia’s treatment a functional cure.

“I think this is a tipping point for the disease and tipping point for Crispr-based in vivo therapy where you can make a change [and] it’s permanent,” Leonard said. “And, as far as we can tell, we don’t have a single patient in this program or other program where there’s been any waning of the effect of what we did to the gene or the effect of what we’ve seen with the clinical aspects of the disease itself. So it’s pretty exciting.”

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that a patient in a separate trial of a different treatment from Intellia developed acute liver injury and ultimately died from septic shock following an ulcer.

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Claire’s closes all 154 stores in UK and Ireland with loss of 1,300 jobs

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Claire’s closes all 154 stores in UK and Ireland with loss of 1,300 jobs



All of the chain’s standalone stores have stopped trading in the UK and Ireland.



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Domino’s Pizza stock falls on disappointing sales — and CEO thinks more chains will follow

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Domino’s Pizza stock falls on disappointing sales — and CEO thinks more chains will follow


A pedestrian walks by a Domino’s Pizza on Dec. 9, 2025 in San Francisco, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Domino’s Pizza stock fell 10% in morning trading on Monday after it reported weaker-than-expected U.S. same-store sales growth.

The chain’s domestic same-store sales rose just 0.9%, lower than the 2.3% bump expected by Wall Street analysts, based on StreetAccount estimates.

“We’re not happy with it,” CEO Russell Weiner told CNBC.

The pizza chain also lowered its full-year U.S. same-store sales forecast to low-single digit growth, down from its prior projection that U.S. same-store sales will increase 3%.

Weiner said he expects more fast-food chains to report similar headwinds from winter weather and weak consumer sentiment, which took a dive in March due to spiking fuel prices caused by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

“One of the bad things about reporting first is you don’t get to hear about anybody else,” Weiner said.

Domino’s kicked off the earnings season for restaurant chains. Starbucks is on deck after the bell on Tuesday, and Chipotle Mexican Grill and Pizza Hut owner Yum Brands are expected to share their results on Wednesday. Rival Papa John’s will report its earnings next Thursday.

During the quarter, Domino’s also faced stiffer competition from rival pizza chains. Papa John’s and Pizza Hut both matched Domino’s $9.99 “Best Deal Ever” with promotions at the same price point. And Little Caesars undercut Domino’s $6.99 Mix & Match deal with a $5.99 version.

“People are seeing what we’re doing, and they’re sick of losing share, and they’re coming at it,” Weiner said, adding that he still expects Papa John’s and Pizza Hut to report same-store sales declines for the quarter despite the new promotions.

Looking ahead, Weiner expressed confidence that Domino’s will prove itself in the long run.

“Domino’s has got a bigger advertising budget than our second two competitors combined,” he said. “And those competitors are both going up for sale, so we know things aren’t good there right now.”

Yum announced in November that it was exploring strategic options for Pizza Hut, which could include a sale. And Papa John’s is reportedly in talks with Qatari-backed Irth Capital to go private. Both chains have also announced plans to close hundreds of restaurants this year, which could further boost Domino’s dominant position in the pizza category.

And if either Pizza Hut or Papa John’s goes private, Weiner said he expects that a new owner would shutter even more locations — a win for Domino’s.

Shares of Domino’s have lost nearly a third of their value over the last year. The company’s market cap has fallen to roughly $11.2 billion.

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