Friday 12 June 2015

Cheetos Are Back

Walkers have brought back its popular snack brand Cheetos, to help boost sales for retailers. Available now, the range includes two single-serve packs of Cheetos Twisted and Cheetos Crunchy, pricemarked at 39p, along with a £1 sharing pac of Cheetos Twisted. Matt Goddard, head of sales said "We are really excited to continue our support for retailers with the launch of Cheetos in the UK, which we believe will help drive sales and with a '3 for £1' promotional flash which should encourage shoppers to increase basket spend.

Kreme Of The Crop

Shares in Krispy Kreme see their biggest rise in two years as revenues at the doughnut retailer jump 9%. Overall revenue was up 9.0% to $132.5m for the first quarter ending 3 May, with the bulk of this improvement being driven by its US stores. Sales at its US outlets climbed 5.2%, trouncing analyst expectations and sparking a buying frenzy for its shares. Krispy Kreme now operates 1,003 stores worldwide, up 17.3% against the same quarter last year. Boss Tony Thompson sees no signs of this growth slowing. He said: "Internationally we signed agreements in Cambodia, Guatemala, and South Africa as part of our goal to enter a total of six new countries this year."

Lidl Award

Lidl has been named Grocer of the Year for the first time at the Grocer Gold Awards, following year in which it shook up the supermarket industry, sparking a price war among the more established big four brands. Lidl, which originated in Germany and launched in the UK in 1994, still has a relatively small market share of 3.9 per cent. Lidl now has 620 stores across the UK. It invested £5.1 million on TV and press advertising in the four weeks to May 23, 320 per cent more than the same period last year, outstripping its nearest rival Asda with a £4.8 million spend.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Apple Music

Apple has announced a new app that combines a streaming song and music video library, an internet radio station and a way for artists to share unreleased tracks and other material.The service is set to challenge Spotify, Tidal and other music apps. Apple also revealed that the UK will be the first country to get its Apple Pay service outside of the US. Apple said the service would launch in more than 100 countries on 30 June, and would cost $9.99 (£6.50) per month in the US for one person - the same as Spotify - or $14.99 for families containing up to six people.

Caffix - Eat Fresh, Pay Less

It's a rarity in London to spend anything less than £10 on lunch but a new cafe in posh Fitzrovia is bucking the trend of expensive lunches by pricing every single item at just a pound. Absolutely everything in Caffix including cakes, coffee, salads, sandwiches and drinks, are marked at the same price. And all the food served in the cafe is freshly made on the premises by kitchen staff, even the bread. Owner Mr. Kaye said 'It's perfectly possible we make a profit margin, albeit a lower profit margin, but we can still make money'. Mr.Kaye who has been in the food industry for seven years and owns a coffee shop in Finchley, hopes his novel idea could become the next rival to Starbucks. 

Pizza Projector

Pizza Hut thinks it can do more than just bring food to your front door. It wants to deliver your entertainment for the evening, too. At least, that's the case in Hong Kong, where the pizza chain is delivering some pizzas in specially-designed boxes that convert into pseudo movie projectors. Designed by Ogilvy Hong Kong, the advertising stunt uses boxes with a perforated, pop-out hole in the side of the box. A very unique pizza table (also called a pizza protector) then serves as the projector's lens. Slip the plastic lens into the hole, and then use the pizza table's legs to prop up your smartphone inside the box. The contraption then blows up your phone's display onto any nearby wall.Even better, there are four different boxes, each of which comes with a separate movie download via a QR code. 

Friday 5 June 2015

KitKat Trademark

Confectionery giant Nestle is attempting to turn the shape of the KitKat bar into a trademark. Manufacturer Nestle is arguing the four-fingered version of the chocolate-covered wafer snack should become a trademark in the UK, possibly preventing similar products being made. It says that, without the red-and-white packaging, and even without the word KitKat embossed on the chocolate, it should be regarded in law as distinct.The European court is expected to issue its advice within a few months. Nestle's application then returns to the High Court, which will make the ultimate decision. A separate case is going on, in which Nestle is trying to get a Europe-wide trademark for the KitKat shape.

Can I Borrow A Pen?

Its not just the students of Whitley Bay High School that don't always have a pen. The staff at RyanAir may also sometimes find themselves without a pen as RyanAir Michael O'Leary does not buy any pens for its staff.  "We use our own biros and I tell the staff not to buy them, just pick them up from hotels, legal offices, wherever. That's what I do. Recently I did an interview and I was sitting there with a hotel pen I'd nicked from somewhere. I was asked why and I said: 'We at Ryanair have a policy of stealing hotel pens. We won't pay for Bic biros as part of our obsession with low costs."

Any Spare Change?

A Chinese man reportedly bought a $140,000 (£70,000) car Tuesday almost entirely with coins. The man, who works at a gas station, says he collected the coins from buses that stopped to refuel and decided to save them up for a new car. He walked into a Shenyang dealership and used $136,000 in coins and $4,000 in banknotes to buy his new vehicle. Ten staff members from the dealership spent an hour moving the coins from the back of a truck into the store. The coins weighed four tons overall and were over 12 feet tall when piled up. There were 660,000 coins and 20,000 low value banknotes.

Thursday 4 June 2015

Mixing It Up

Design company Incap Ltd has created a new cap for drinks that allows a lid chamber to release mixers or supplements for bottled drinks. The lid, which has to be pulled up and twister to allow the release of the supplement, means that consumers can mix their own drinks and potentially mix and match flabours and additives on the go, without having to resort to a separate bottle. The companies key message is that if its already mixed it is not fresh.

Alton Towers Smiler Crash

Alton Towers will remain closed until the cause of a rollercoaster crash that left 16 people injured is discovered, the theme park's boss has said. The Staffordshire attraction's gates are shut for a second day while the Health and Safety Executive investigates Tuesday's crash. Nick Varney, of Merlin Entertainments, which runs the park, said it could only reopen when they knew the problem was isolated to the rollercoaster.

More Than Meats The Pie...

One of the biggest names in savoury pastries, Pork Farms Group, will be allowed to take over the pastries business of Kerry Foods. The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) said the new combination would not affect prices or quality of "hot pies, cold pies, sausage rolls, pasties and slices" in the £1bn sized market. The deal would allow Pork Farms to expand the product range.

Deliveroo


A group of British start-up companies are trying to disrupt the food takeaway business, by making it easier for restaurants to deliver, that wouldn't normally consider it.The largest of these is Deliveroo, now operating in major cities including London, Brighton, Nottingham and Edinburgh. It uses mobile internet technology to connect drivers and restaurants, and an army of electric bikes. Follow the link to watch a quick video about it.