Ok so recently Fresh and easy opened up on the west coast, and they claim to be a "neighborhood market, so it only makes sense that we care about our neighbors and our environment".

Fresh and easy

Dont trust them and try to be aware that not everything is as they seem, their owned by Tesco (the supermarket, not the blogger) which is the 3rd largest retailer in the world which earned £2.55bn in profits last year.



They dominate the market in the UK and are akin to Walmart in size and in practices.

Tesco

Critisms of tesco

Criticism of Tesco includes allegations of stifling competition due to its undeveloped "land bank", pugilistically aggressive new store development without real consideration of the wishes, needs and consequences to local communities,using cheap and/or child labour,opposition to its move into the convenience sector and breaching planning laws.

Convenience stores
Tesco's 2004 Adminstore acquisition led to local and UK-wide protests.[2] Tesco's other store openings and expansions are sometimes contested by campaign groups. When a company controls more than 25% of a business sector in the UK, it is usually blocked from buying other companies in that sector (but not from increasing its market share through organic growth). The Office of Fair Trading currently treats supermarkets and convenience stores as two distinct sectors — although this definition has been challenged by smaller retailers, including the Association of Convenience Stores.[3]


Exploitation allegations
In Autumn 2006, Tesco was caught up in two scandals over the treatment of workers in factories supplying it in Bangladesh. The first was a Channel 4 News investigation, which found child labour in four such factories.[4] The second was a report published by War on Want, which alleged that wages were as low as 5 pence per hour, with workers often working 80+ hour weeks.[5] In its defence, Tesco said that, "All suppliers to Tesco must demonstrate that they meet our ethical standards on worker welfare, which are closely monitored. Our suppliers comply with local labour laws, and workers at all Bangladeshi suppliers to Tesco are paid above the national minimum wage."[6] Campaigners have argued that the minimum wage in Bangladesh is too low, and that monitoring systems used by clothing retailers are ineffective.[7]


Pricing/advertising
The group has been criticised for its tactics, including allegedly misleading consumers with "phoney" price cuts. For example, increasing and swiftly decreasing the price of a particular item back to it's original value and advertising it as a 'price cut'.[8]


Suppliers
Tesco is also censured by those who think that it infringes upon the interests of farmers and smaller suppliers. The company responds by claiming that it follows industry-best practice and sources locally where it can to meet customer demand. In March 2005 the Office of Fair Trading published an audit of the workings of its code of practice on relationships between supermarkets and their suppliers. It reported that no official complaints had been received against Tesco or any of the other major supermarkets, but the supermarkets' critics, including Friends of the Earth, contested that suppliers were prevented from complaining by fear of losing business, and called for more rigorous supervision of the supermarkets. A further report by the Office of Fair Trading in August 2005 concluded that the aims of the Code of Practice were being met.[9]

In September 2006, Tesco came to an agreement with Tyrrells Crisps to stop selling grey market supplies. Tyrrells was started by potato farmer Will Chase after big supermarkets' power of purchasing almost put his farm out of business. He started Tyrrells to gain greater margin by selling directly, and only sold through delicatessens and Waitrose supermarket. After Tesco bought supplies from the grey market, Chase sought legal advice but Tesco backed down.[10]

Labour relations
In May 2004, Tesco announced it was reducing sick pay in an attempt to reduce levels of unplanned absence, which led to concerns over employees continuing to work despite poor health (faced with a reduced income otherwise).[11]


Planning infringements
In February 2006, a group of UK MPs produced a report highlighting the near monopoly powers of the big four supermarkets.[12] One problem discussed by the group was that of building without appropriate planning permission.[13] The discussion stemmed from the company's building of a store in Stockport that was 20% larger than the company actually had permission to build. In September 2006, subsequent (retrospective) planning permission was requested by Tesco but refused.[14]


Privacy
In January 2005, Tesco faced criticism for their testing of RFID tags used to collect information on product movement in pilot stores. Critics label the tags "Spy Chips" and allege that they are to be used to collect information on customers' shopping habits