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Weekly Round-Up… 12 February, 2019

By Publications Checkout
Weekly Round-Up… 12 February, 2019

British plant-based brand, Moving Mountains, is launching its new meatless ‘bleeding burger’ product into Ireland. The Moving Mountains® Burger provides a viable alternative for flexitarians, vegans, vegetarians and meat-eaters alike, with each burger containing zero cholesterol and 25g of plant protein. Irish residents and visitors can now sample the burger, which was launched on the 7th of February in Dublin’s ThunderRoad Café.

The rapidly growing Irish food company Strong Roots, which specialises in healthy vegetable products such as sweet potato fries, spinach bites and beetroot and bean burgers, is now being stocked in all major British grocery retailers. Established by Dubliner Sam Dennigan in 2015, the company has recently secured listings with supermarket giants Asda and Sainsbury’s, ensuring that it’s products are presently stocked by all leading grocery retailers (with the exception of German discount chains Lidl and Aldi) across Great Britain and Ireland. Strong Roots are also set to launch in the US in May of this year, with three major chains agreeing to stock their products at more than 3’000 stores country-wide.

A leading lobby group, The Institute of Directors (IoD) has warned that nearly one in three British businesses are planning to relocate a portion of their operations abroad or have already moved them to contend with a hard Brexit. Out of the 1’200 firms surveyed by the lobby group, 29% of members feel that Brexit posed a serious threat to their operations in the UK and have consequently taken precautionary steps to move segments of their businesses abroad. The majority of firms considering relocation were hoping to open offices within the EU.

Kopparberg, the Swedish cider brand, has promoted its former Off Trade Director Neil Robinson to the position Sales Director across both channels in its UK operation. Robinson joined Kopparberg nearly nine years ago, during which time the brand has seen strong growth. He initially managed all UK grocery multiples, before going on to manage the total Off Trade channel for five years.

Cat Rock Capital Management LP urged Just Eat to start merger discussions, saying the London-listed takeaway ordering website would benefit from a deal rather than relying on a new chief executive officer to turn around the business. Cat Rock, which owns 1.7% of Just Eat's shares, said the company should merge with a "well-run industry peer", blaming a poor record of CEO selection in the past. Just Eat's Chief Executive Peter Plumb parted with the company just after 16 months in the role.

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Shares in department store chain Debenhams rose by a third on Tuesday morning after the group secured £40 million in extra funding from lenders. The chain, once the biggest in Britain, is over-encumbered with debt, reaching almost £300 million, and plans to close up to 50 underperforming stores. It said the new loan would act as a bridge to "facilitate a broader refinancing and recapitalisation".

© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition. 

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