Last week, you may have heard, Shoprite finally succumbed to the vagaries of the 2003 Eastern Cape Liquor Act, under which retailers were disallowed from selling wine alongside groceries, but given a generous ten years to comply. On Tuesday last week, the High Court found, as Shoprite had averred, that the ability to sell wine alongside food did indeed constitute “property” – but also found that in this instance Shoprite had not been “arbitrarily deprived” of the property in question. Shoprite will now have to close the wine sections of 27 of its Eastern Cape stores, which they believe will result in the loss of around R40million in sales per year. Their only hope now is to persuade the court that for a grocery business, a wine licence is in some way essential to a dignified life.

Comment: Which would be a stretch, even for so silver-tongued a grocer as Mr James W. Basson.

Comment: So there you have it: talked up a bit, no doubt, but still quietly impressive.

According to a survey by some boffs or other, 54% of punters surveyed said they had spent about 29% more time shopping online this past year, with only 4% saying that they had decreased their time online. On average, said the couch-ridden debauchees, they procured around 19% of their weekly shop this way.

“Who?” you ask, a puzzled crease upon your usually flawless brow, and we don’t blame you. Biscotti, you may recall, are those little Italian rusks you get gratis with your pricier cappuccino, but it is not they to which we now refer. Biscotti Biscuits, you see, are a bakery business owned by Bheki Zondo, an ex-engineer who acquired the concern in 2014 from its Italian owners, and they are the beneficiary of a R5million enterprise development loan and a R1.45million supplier development grant from Massmart who it seems are hellbent on doing the right thing by the emerging supplier. Biscotti now employ 70 staff and have added an extra shift to keep up with demand from their existing punters, who include Massmart, natch, but also Pick n Pay and SAA.

Comment: Excellent stuff. And while you’re here, do you mind if we have another one of those little rusky things? Seeing as they’re free…

Finally, some Unilever news which isn’t about them saving the planet, not that we mind it when they do. But the news this week is that Le Grand Bleu seems to be on some sort of skincare binge, with recent acquisitions of Kate Somerville, Murad, REN and Dermalogica. These, you rightly point out, are all high-end products, and indeed fall into Unilever’s line of “Prestige” personal care brands. Dermalogica was launched in 1986 by fabulous LA couple Jane and Raymond Wurwand, who have parted with it for an undisclosed sum no doubt in keeping with its global success – it currently retails in 80 countries.

Comment: And has found a modest place in our own rigorous skincare regime.

Comment: Nice public/private work there, fellers. And indeed, ladies.

The experts – financial analysts, business executives, trade union representatives, and households surveyed by the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) – have increased their inflation expectations upward from 5.4% to the higher figure of 5.6% for the second quarter, and from 5.9% to 6.1% as an average for next year. This is not what we were hoping to hear, obviously, and bodes ill for the deliberations of the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, who despite their assurances to the contrary are literally itching for an excuse to up the prime lending rate then sit back and watch us all flounder and flail. The same experts believe that GDP will grow by just 1.9% this year and 2.2% next year.

Comment: Let’s hope we’re all proved mercifully wrong.

Striking fear into the oddly mediocre US grocery sector this week would be Lidl, the barnstorming German discounter, which is opening a corporate HQ in Arlington, Virginia, and a big ol’ DC in North Carolina. About danged time.