Our chef columnist Mark Hix on his enduring love for black pudding and the dish that made him fall in love with it January 10, 2017 I’ve been hooked on black pudding ever since it first passed my lips as a kid. There was just something about it I loved, even though the blood pudding I grew up with probably contained way too much rusk or filler and not enough actual meat, which was cheap and low quality. Maybe it was [...]
Brexit fears send profits plummeting at Walkers Crips as growth spending drives revenue down November 21, 2016 Wealth investment company Walkers Crips reported a massive drop in profit in the first half of its financial year as the Brexit vote continues to keep companies guessing about the future. Pretax profit fell by 91 per cent to £53,000 from £589,000 in the six months to the end of September. Revenue dropped to £13.2m from [...]
Retailers will need to brave fierce headwinds in 2017 January 2, 2017 The high street's cold snap over Christmas and the New Year is not just seasonal. Several chills running through the sector could finally be felt with their full force in 2017. Rising inflation, falling wage growth, escalating costs and sterling's depreciation are all expected to weigh on retailers in the coming months. If inflation takes [...]
Christmas sandwiches tested: which have been naughty and which are nice November 8, 2016 We filled a basket with the first crop of Christmas sandwiches – find out which ones we thought worthy of your lunch money and which to avoid like the Grinch. Pret Christmas lunch ★★★★☆ Too much going on here – piles of slightly-too-dry stuffing and a clumping of fillings in the middle. But saved by [...]
Moving clearing from London to Europe is no piece of cake March 17, 2017 "Britain cannot have its cake and eat it over Brexit negotiations.” Comments such as this from the Prime Minister of Luxembourg at the height of political tensions following the EU referendum have, perhaps unsurprisingly, become synonymous with the Brexit debate since 23 June. But with the triggering of Article 50 just around the corner, it [...]
Just Eat grows its presence in Latin America February 16, 2015 Online takeaway group Just Eat is preparing to push into Mexico with yesterday’s acquisition of the country’s leading takeaway group. SinDelantal Mexico will expand Just Eat’s business into its thirteenth country as the group looks to grow in the Latin American takeaway market. “We are delighted to be entering the thriving Mexican market, which offers [...]
Just Eat had a great 2014, and this year is looking just as good as international expansion continues March 17, 2015 Just Eat had a year of growth, with users, revenue and orders reaching new heights. The figures Just Eat's revenue for the year ended 31 December was £157.0m, marking a 62 per cent increase from 2013's figure of £96.8m. This was driven by a 52 per cent increase in orders and a 37 per [...]
Coconut flour, cactus water and charred food: Waitrose unveils 2016’s top food trends November 2, 2016 Were cactus water, wonky vegetables and coconut flour on the list for your latest weekly shop? No? Well, get with the times, apparently they were among the top food trends of the past year. So says Waitrose's 2016 Food and Drink Report, as consumers are becoming ever more focused on eating "lighter and fresher", while [...]
New flavours and quirky marketing help popcorn burst in popularity as sales rise 14 per cent to £120m September 26, 2016 Innovations in flavours and marketing, as well as snackers acquiring a taste for healthier treats, have pushed popcorn sales up 14 per cent in the last year. Total UK popcorn sales rose to more than £120m in the 52 weeks to 16 July, according to market intelligence group IRI. Both volume and value sales increased, [...]
Getting an Opec output cut won’t be a piece of cake September 26, 2016 With the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan rate decisions out of the way, focus could now shift elsewhere. Like towards the expected weaker US durable goods orders (which are, according to Credit Suisse, set to drop to -2.3 per cent in August compared to 4.4 per cent in July), or the oil [...]