Weekly Roundup... 28 July, 2020

By Donna Ahern
Weekly Roundup... 28 July, 2020

Just Eat, Ireland’s leading online food ordering and delivery marketplace, today unveiled a new look. In a move that will see the brand further align with the identity of its new global group, Just Eat Takeaway.com, customers will notice a change from red to the Group’s signature orange colour. Following the merger of the two food giants earlier in the year, Just Eat is now part of one of the world’s biggest food delivery companies, with 2,600 local restaurant partners in Ireland offering a range of over 40 different cuisine types for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Marking another major milestone for the brand in Ireland, the Just Eat app has also now been downloaded more than 2.5 million times since it was launched here in Ireland six years ago.

UK retailer Asda has announced that it is testing a ‘trolley wash’ machine that sterilises all parts of shopping trolleys to ensure a safe shopping experience for customers, reports esmmagazine.com. The move is part of the retailer’s response to the challenges posed by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The machine coats shopping trolleys with an anti-microbial solution that eliminates 99.99% of all known bacteria, viruses and pollutants. It dries up seconds and ensures that the handles, rails and child seats in the trolley are thoroughly sterilised. The machine, located at the store in Morley in Leeds, operates on electricity and uses a water-less technology to spray electrostatically charged mist on trolleys.

Aldi group buying director John Curtin has responded in relation to the Government’s July stimulus package, which includes a VAT reduction from 23% to 21%, aimed at benefitting consumers and encouraging spending. Responding to the Government’s July stimulus VAT reduction measure, Curtin said: “The Irish Government July Stimulus Package announced yesterday includes a reduction in the 23% VAT rate to 21%, for a period of 6 months from September 1st.  We’re not waiting for that and are pleased to confirm that Aldi Ireland will be passing on this VAT reduction to our customers on all affected products from the 1st of August.  This is in keeping with our commitment to customers that we will never be beaten on price.”

Reacting to the outcome of the news that Irish farmers will receive an estimated €10.73 billion, the IFA President Tim Cullinan said that while a deal was needed, the funding provided for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) over the next seven years is not consistent with the EU’s aspirations for farming as part of the European Green Deal. In a statement, Cullinan said: “On the one hand, the Commission wants farmers to take costly actions to implement the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, but on the other hand, they don’t want to provide the necessary funding." “The overall allocation for CAP is down approximately 9% at constant prices, compared to the previous seven years. The Government will need to come forward with significant co-financing to protect payments,” he said.

French sugar and ethanol group Tereos said it had secured a state-guaranteed loan of €230 million ($269 million), which should help it meet heavy challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. Tereos, the world's second-largest sugar producer, posted its first full-year net profit in three years last month, helped by higher sugar prices in Europe and asset sales, but debt remained high, at €2.6 billion by 31 March. The loan, granted under a programme to support businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, was guaranteed at 80% by the French state and repayable within five years, Tereos said. It was secured with Natixis, BNP Paribas, Rabobank, Commerzbank, Bred Banque Populaire, Banque Palatine, Caisse d’Epargne et de Prevoyance Grand Est Europe, Credit Cooperatif, Crédit Industriel et Commercial.

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