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Weekly Round-Up... 11 May 2021

By Maev Martin
Weekly Round-Up... 11 May 2021

The Griffin Londis Group recently presented a fundraising cheque for €57,500 to the St James’s Hospital Foundation, which was the proceeds from a hugely successful car giveaway raffle. Londis has had a presence in St James’s Hospital since 2011 and has been long-term supporter of the Foundation. 'There was great excitement when Annette Leahy from Dublin 8 received the keys for her brand new Kia Rio car,' the retailer said.  In total, more than €57,500 was raised for the St James’s Foundation by the raffle, which was also supported by Aryzta, much to the delight of Seamus Griffin, St James’s Foundation and Londis. “We are delighted with the success of the raffle. All the money raised goes to the Foundation to enhance facilities, support, innovation and research, provide education and training for hospital employees and elevate the standard of care for all patients," said Seamus Griffin of the Griffin Londis Group. “We are absolutely thrilled to have raised such a significant sum for this very worthy cause,” he added.

Irish shoppers have voted Aldi as the most reputable supermarket in Ireland according to the new RepTrak Ireland Report, published today. The annual RepTrak Ireland survey measures the level of trust, respect, admiration and esteem consumers have for Ireland’s largest and most visible companies. The findings announced today are from a comprehensive survey of 7,000 members of the public during January to March 2021.  Aldi scored consistently well across key criteria including Workplace, Governance and Citizenship. Commenting on the achievement, Niall O’Connor, group managing director, Aldi Ireland said, “Irish shoppers voting Aldi as the most reputable supermarket is testament to the dedication of our amazing store teams, suppliers and business partners, all of whom have worked tirelessly to provide the best customer experience for Aldi shoppers in incredibly challenging circumstances.”

Czech stores opened on Monday for the first time in 2021, as the country gradually eased COVID-19 restrictions after having faced one of the world's worst outbreaks of the pandemic. For many shoppers, it was a welcome chance to try on shoes and clothes again rather than relying on online shopping, which has helped retailers survive nearly continuous lockdown restrictions since October. "I will definitely be buying summer things first," said Vera Lazakova as she browsed a Prague shopping mall. She added that she would not miss visits to the post office to send back online purchases that did not fit. Prague watch store owner Jiri Wildt said the re-opening could help him return to profit. "People only came to the window (for services during lockdowns) and the profit then was, at most, enough to maintain our operations," he told Reuters. Non-essential retail outlets last opened briefly for several weeks in December before a rise in infections - the second in a series of three spikes since October - led to renewed restrictions.

Britain withdrew its Royal Navy vessels from the waters off Jersey on Thursday but said it would remain on standby to support the Channel island after a dispute with France over post-Brexit fishing rights escalated rapidly. France and Britain both deployed maritime patrol vessels to the area after a flotilla of French trawlers sailed in protest to Jersey's main harbour and a French minister suggested earlier in the week that Paris might cut electricity to the island. French fishermen say they are being unfairly deprived of access to rich fishing grounds off the coast of Jersey, a self-governing British Crown Dependency. Jersey says it is following the rules for issuing licenses set out in Britain's post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. Britain said it backed Jersey. The EU called for calm.

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures extended a rally above eight-year highs on Thursday as dry weather threatened harvest yields in major exporter Brazil and kept traders' focus on ebbing global supplies. Soybeans approached an 8-1/2-year peak reached last week, buoyed by rallying vegetable oil prices, and wheat was also higher. Corn crop losses due to dryness in Brazil could shift export demand to the United States, which is already grappling with tight inventories, analysts said. "We're still very dry in Brazil," said Brian Hoops, president of U.S. brokerage Midwest Market Solutions. "That crop is in retreat."

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