In the private equity takeovers of Morrisons and Asda, there have been a lot of unexpected items in the bagging area.

Developments in recent months have underlined the pressure facing both supermarket giants: the parent owner of Morrisons has posted its second consecutive year of £1bn-plus losses, while Asda’s recent sales growth is trailing behind its rivals and one of its co-owners is now rumoured to be looking at selling his stake.