What the Sunday papers said
The roll-out of the government's controversial identity card scheme is set to be delayed by a Home Office failure to begin the procurement process on schedule. The process to allocate contracts to private companies to build and manage the ID scheme was due to commence towards the end of this month, however the starting date has been delayed until September at the earliest. Following a series of scandals at the Home Office, fears are growing that chaos within the department is contributing to delays in beginning the scheme. - Sunday Telegraph
Paul Moody, chief executive of soft drinks giant Britvic, has launched a charm offensive aimed at US shareholders in a bid to ease their concerns after the group posted disappointing interim results last month. Moody is understood to have met Pepsico, which owns five per cent of Britvic, as well as a number of institutional investors. - Sunday Telegraph
Thousands of ordinary French wine producers could be ruined this year as they face losing out to New World rivals in key export markets. The UK is the principal battleground for the New versus Old World wines, and the superior marketing skills of the former is making its mark. Per capita wine consumption in France, Italy and Spain is declining, but the UK is emerging as the single most important market outside the wine-producing world. UK wine drinkers knocked back an average 23 litres each last year, six times more that in 2000. The top 10 brands consumed here come from either Australia or the US wineries, whose easy-to-remember names and informative labels outshine French products. - Observer
Australia's wine industry is set for an aggressive marketing push to lift UK exports after the Australian government rejected a proposed A$60m (£24.5m) industry tax to help bail out struggling producers. An oversupply of grapes saw wine makers plead for the tax, but despite rejecting it the government is expected to back initiatives to boost exports to well-established markets such as the UK, where retailers have pushed down prices. - Independent On Sunday
