Sunday 17 July 2016

Pokemon Go!

Investors are still catching some of the global success of Pokémon Go global success, which has Nintendo shares hit a six-year high. The Japanese game company’s shares have climbed 86 per cent since last Thursday on the back of Pokémon Go’s popularity. That’s almost $15 billion (£11.1 billion) added to the company market value in a week. Nintendo’s latest 10 per cent surge on Friday made the company more valuable than trading house Mitsubishi, financial company, Nomura or clothing retailer Uniqlo, according to the FT. David Gibson, a Macquarie Capital Securities analyst, said the game is on the track to generate $4 billion year in sales. “When you look at the way it's becoming a social phenomenon in the US, the rally is understandable even though it's not clear yet how much it will boost profits,” said Toshiyuki Kanayama, a markets analyst at Monex Securities.

Burger Pizza

One of the world's largest pizza chains has just announced a move into an altogether different fast food - burgers. Dominos has unveiled a burger pizza, taking arguably the best parts of two popular foods and making them into a delicious hybrid. The massive result of Domins India's innovation has been shared across the brand's social media sites. And it's actually garnering a lot of positive feedback online, with the #BurgerPizza tag on Instagram revealing plenty of happy diners. Given the tagline "Looks like a burger, with the goodness of a pizza", the price of the massive meal starts at 89 rupees, or around 99 pence before taxes are added.

PopTang

Yumsh Snacks Ltd has unveiled new Apple and Orange flavour popcorn called Poptang. The new popcorn offer a tangy taste of Tango and is available in 20g and 70g bags priced at 69p and £1.59. Tony Goodman, CEO of Yumsh Snacks, said "Poptang is about to make a fruity explosion in the snack world. Yumsh Snacks are renowned for their premium quality popcorn. These have been intrinsically woven together with two sensational flavours from Tango to create a fizz-tastic new snack, which will tang the socks off the nation. 

Thursday 7 July 2016

Hershey Rejects Takeover

Hershey has rejected a $23bn (£17bn) offer from Mondelez that would bring some of the world's best known biscuit and chocolate brands under one roof. A deal would have merged the maker of the famous Hershey's chocolate bar with Mondelez's Oreo and Cadbury brands. And it would have combined Hershey's strong US business with Mondelez's global distribution footprint. Hershey's controlling shareholder, the Hershey Trust, is a $12bn charity created by the firm's founder in 1894. Hershey said in a statement: "The board of directors of the company unanimously rejected the indication of interest and determined that it provided no basis for further discussion between Mondelez and the company." According to the Reuters news agency, a source said Mondelez had sought to provide assurances to Hershey that it would keep its name and preserve jobs. Mondelez sees little antitrust risk given the limited geographic overlap of the two companies' businesses, Reuters says. Mondelez is the second-largest confectionary company globally while Hershey ranks number five.Their merger would have put them in the top place, with 18% of the market, according to research firm Euromonitor International.

Tesco's Carrots Don't Cut It

Tesco probably didn't know what they were dealing with when they asked this customer to elaborate on his unhappy tweet about their carrot batons earlier this week. Because this customer was only too happy to elaborate. In fact, he drew them a diagram. But then Aaron Swift from Manchester is, by all accounts, a bit of a carrot connoisseur, so the quality of his batons matter to him. On Monday, Aaron messaged the grocery chain with the following complaint 'As some may know I am somewhat a carrot aficionado and it has to be said that these Tesco batons are the worst'. Laura from Tesco responded just 10 minutes later, asking Aaron if he could 'elaborate' on what was wrong with his batons. We're guessing Laura was expecting him to respond that they were too soft/too watery/didn't taste that great. She probably wasn't expecting the level of detail that she actually got.

Ninja Hot Dog

Ikea hotdogs are well known and are sometimes the only thing that gets you through a trip to Ikea. This however is not your regular 60p hotdog that you would find in a UK Ikea, this is known as a 'Ninja Dog' and was recently released upon the Japanese public in Ikea stores. The Ninja dog features a black bun, which is wrapped arounda 30cm long black sausage before being slathered with a vivid red ketchup and yellow mustard combination. It has apparently been released to celebrate Ikea Japan's 10 year anniversary. It as been said that the black colour in the bun and sausage comes from 'edible bamboo charcoal' which is said to have detox properties. Will this be a food trend that we are likely to see in the UK soon?

Sunday 3 July 2016

Paid To Sleep

For staff at insurance group Aetna, it pays to get a good night's sleep. Specifically $300 (£225) a year. Such is the US firm's concern about the impact of sleep deprivation on employee performance, that it encourages its workers to sign up to a scheme that rewards them for getting at least seven hours of shut-eye per night. Aetna staff that participate can earn $25 for every 20 nights in which they sleep seven hours or more, up to a limit of $300 every 12 months. Introduced in 2009, about 12,000 of the firm's 25,000 employees participated last year, an increase from 10,000 in 2014. Staff are trusted to manually record how long they have slept every night. Kay Mooney, Aetna's vice-president of employee benefits, says that the sleep scheme is "one of many different healthy behaviours we wanted staff to track". The firm's staff also receive extra funds if they do exercise. Aetna's commitment to ensuring that its workers get enough sleep comes as a number of studies warn that not sleeping long enough can significantly affect our ability to do our job.

Ab Fab Diet Coke

Diet Coke is to release limited edition cans and bottles bearing cartoon versions of 'Absolutely Fabulous' characters Edina and Patsy. The designs strike one odd note in not picturing Patsy with her trademark cigarette hanging from her lips, although whether or not this would break packaging regulations Coca-Cola would understandably want to avoid any backlash from including it. Jennifer Saunders, the creator and star of the sitcom, said: "Just like Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, Diet Coke oozes glitz and glamour so I'm really excited about the partnership and can't wait to enjoy a 'Diet Coke break' with the limited-edition product!". Bobby Brittain, marketing director at Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: "The two brands’ target demographics mirror each other perfectly, making the pair an ideal double act." An Absolutely Fabulous limited-edition 250ml ‘Alu' bottle will also be available from Liberty London and Boots stores nationwide to mark the launch of the film.

Yeezy Money

Kanye West has struck a new deal with Adidas, expanding his partnership with the German sportswear giant for a new line of Yeezy branded clothing. What separates the new deal from his former, is that Kanye will add sportswear to his lineup of street and lifestyle clothing line, and Adidas will dedicate several stores worldwide to showcase the gear. “These past two years Adidas and Yeezy have given a glimpse into our future,” West said in a statement. “This partnership illustrates that anyone with a dream can dream without limitations.” “Kanye is a true creator who has the ability to see things others don’t,” Adidas CMO Eric Liedtke added. “We are exploring new territories by opening up the sports world to Kanye’s creativity. This is what Adidas has always been about, empowering creators to create the new.”