Can I hear a whoop-whoop for Waitrose this week…
I’m not commending their special promotions or profit margin. Instead, I want to congratulate them for the work they are doing in Croydon at the moment. They have made a significant investment in revamping the premises previously occupied by Somerfield, spending millions to create a premium food store with specialist meat, fish, cheese and delicatessen counters. But the real applause goes to the fact that they have kept all the Somerfield staff and are retraining them. The new team will also become partners in the parent company, sharing in annual profits from next year. In a recession, these good news stories seem to be so few and far between and when they happen right here in your neighbourhood, you have to give credit where credit is due. So, I’m signing off to go and shop at Waitrose – they have my vote for the store that cares 
Youngs and Co, the company behind Young’s bitter and Bombadier ale, announced a mixed balance sheet today. However, the brewery did state that food promotions such as its ’2 dine with wine for £20’ offer and the fact that most of its pubs are in London, are helping it to weather the economic downturn better than most.
The team at William Murray are as cool as cucumbers in what is a particularly busy week… product launches, ad campaigns, communication strategies, features, website launches, event planning, sponsorships…. it’s all happening and it’s happening fast
I’ve never been a fan of blue cheeses, instead preferring the cheddar and brie varieties, so I wasn’t surprised to hear that Cropwell Bishop’s Stilton was named Britain’s smelliest cheese. Today’s Sun reports that judges in Bath likened the smell to a ‘rugby club changing room’, a harsh but fair description in my opinion…
The William Murray Wonder Women have turned into the golden girls in preparation for their weekend of team building. All are looking tanned – perfect timing as the summer sun looks to have made an early appearance. Long may it last!
Daniela made her way to the Ministry of Defence Barracks in Devon this week for the ‘Flora Healthy Heart Day’. Unilever and Sodexo joined forces to put on an awareness day at the barracks, where anyone on site could book a 15 minute check-up to find out their cholesterol levels, height and weight, with instant results given and advice on how to maintain or lower their cholesterol levels. It was an extremely popular day with all appointments booked out.
If you walk along any high street, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll see at least four coffee shops, and guess what… we’re going to be seeing more.
McDonald’s is aiming to overtake Starbucks as Europe’s biggest coffee chain, with plans to open several hundred McCafé stores selling pastries and cappuccinos this year.
While Starbucks has been scaling back on its European expansion, McDonald’s has ambitious growth plans for its branded cafes on the continent. The chain is expecting to open 1,200 in Europe by the end of 2009.
Well done Holly for securing some fantastic coverage for First Choice Coffee and Electrolux in this month’s issue of Cost Sector Catering with a combined PR value of over £13,000! Check out Ian Martin’s focus on combi ovens where Electrolux’s Alan Evans emphasises the importance of training. And for you coffee lovers the focus is on hot beverages with Refreshing the cuppa, which looks at the latest coffee trends and includes some great sector specific tips from First Choice Coffee.
The Guardian today reported that Sainsbury’s is supporting the fair trade movement’s drive to source more goods from conflict zones. This has led to the first gourmet coffee being ordered from war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s reported that some 1,300 farmers in the Sopacdi cooperative from the troubled Lake Kuvu region (the area, near the Rwandan border that gained notoriety 15 years ago when bodies from the Rwandan genocide were dumped there) in the east of the country will supply Sainsbury’s with fair trade speciality-grade coffee. The order will arrive in the UK in 2011 – the first speciality coffee to be imported here from DRC in 30 years. Let’s hope that what is to us a daily pleasure will make a real difference.
The debate on British and American spelling has come up yet again, and this time the word in question is yoghurt. Or wait, is it yogurt?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word has Turkish roots and was spelt yogurt when first introduced, but the English equivalent of the Turkish ‘g’ has always been ‘gh’, therefore making the Brits correct once more in the American vs. Britain spelling wars.
And just for the record, it’s organisation, colour, favourite, skilful, metre, catalogue and cheque!
