Cadburys Darkmilk

Chocolate manufacturer, known for its Dairy Milk bar, will introduce ‘original’ plain flavor and a roasted almond one – and is the first of big companies to add a standard dark milk option to its range. Cadburys feel this choice of product reflects the growing demand for 'pure' chocolate bars. Made with more cocoa and less milk. The bar proved a success when it was trialed in Australia for a year and made $18m in its first year. For it's launch in the UK Cadbury's are ambitions for sales of around £10m by the end of its first full year as they plan to support the new bar with a £6m advertising campaign which includes PR & digital activity. The marketing manager of Cadbury said "A range of products and tastes are required to give consumers variety & choice, that is why we are expanding the range with a new type of chocolate bar". Would you buy it?

Cadbury Darkmilk

Whopper Detour

Burger King is cooking up fresh beef with fast food rival McDonald's in a creative way to make customers download its app. If customers are within 600ft of a McDonald's in the US, they can unlock a deal giving them a Whopper burger for one cent through the Burger King app. The app then offers directions to a nearby participating Burger King where customers can collect the burger. The deal will run until 12 December and customers can only access it once. While many enjoyed the promotion, some customers complained about the app not working when they tried to take up the offer.Others said that Burger King's promotion backfired and they ended up eating in McDonald's. Burger King isn't the first restaurant chain to try creative new ways to persuade customers to download their app - with its competitor McDonald's recently running a $1 (79p) fries promotion.

Whopper Detour

Staff Demand End to Forced Hugs

More than 200 members of Ted Baker staff have signed a petition against the alleged practices of Ted Baker's founder Ray Kelvin, according to workplace campaign website Organise, complaining about inappropriate behaviour towards both male and female members of staff. The company previously called hugs "part of Ted Baker's culture" and said Mr Kelvin greeted many people with a hug, "be it a shareholder, investor, supplier, partner, customer or colleague".The allegations have hit the business hard, with its share price - how much the company is worth - falling to a three-year low on Tuesday Ted Baker said: "We have always placed great importance on our culture. It is critically important to us that every member of our staff feels valued and respected at work. "We do not believe these allegations are reflective of the organisation we have all worked hard to develop over the last 30 years. "We are though taking them very seriously and the Non-Executive Directors have commissioned an urgent independent and thorough review.

Ted Baker

Odeon High Prices

Odeon has responded to criticism over the prices it is charging for seats at its new hi-tech cinema in London, where tickets will cost up to £40. It told the BBC the prices were similar to tickets for theatre or live sports. The newly refurbished Odeon Leicester Square will re-open later this month, showing Mary Poppins Returns. It has had a multi-million pound facelift in partnership with Dolby, which is providing cutting-edge audio-visual technology. Price choices vary and flex depending on a number of factors including seat type and location in the auditorium, what we're showing, time of day, and the number of people booking at one time. According to market research firm Statista, the average price of a cinema ticket in the UK in 2017 was £7.49. How & why can they charge such a high price for a cinema ticket?

Odeon Prices

How Do You Justify Selling a £2 T-Shirt?

Big-name retailers have defended selling clothes for £5 or less, saying their ability to sell clothes so cheaply is down to business models. MPs investigating the impact of so-called "fast fashion" asked the firms how they could justify such low prices. Primark's spokesman Paul Lister said the firm spent nothing on advertising and had tight profit margins. Representatives from brands including Boohoo, Misguided, Asos, Burberry and Marks & Spencer also gave evidence. Carol Kane, joint CEO of online fashion house Boohoo, was asked how the company could sell dresses for as little as £5 when the minimum wage was £7.83.  She said this only applied to a small number of dresses intentionally sold at a loss, to drive more traffic to the site. Earlier this year, the firm was strongly criticised for burning £30m ($40m) of stock. It admitted destroying the unsold clothes, accessories and perfume instead of selling them off cheaply, in order to protect the brand's exclusivity and value.

Fast Fashion

Patagonia $10m Donation

Outdoor brand Patagonia has announced that it will donate $10 million (£7.83 million) to help combat climate change. The number wasn't plucked out of thin air - it's how much Patagonia saved in 2017 after Donald Trump cut how much tax US corporations have to pay from 35% to 21%."Taxes protect the most vulnerable in our society, our public lands and other life-giving resources," said Patagonia's CEO Rose Marcario. "In spite of this, the Trump administration initiated a corporate tax cut, threatening these services at the expense of our planet." The White House found that climate change will cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars annually and damage people's health. His stance is part of what has driven Patagonia's decision to donate what they've saved in tax to grassroots environmental activist groups. Patagonia previously joined lawsuits challenging Donald Trump's plans to reduce the size of protected parts of the US that belong to Native American communities. They already donate 1% of their earnings to environmental organisations around the world.

Patagonia

Kelloggs Adopt Traffic Lights

Kellogg's is to put "traffic light" labelling on most of its cereal packs sold in the UK from January, having previously refused to do so. The UK government's voluntary scheme, introduced in 2013, indicates how much salt, sugar or fat foods contain. Kellogg's said it had made the change after having "listened" to consumers, government and retailers. Kellogg's UK managing director Oli Morton said the decision followed a survey of 2,000 Britons asking them about their attitudes towards labelling. Mr Morton said: "Put simply, they said we should change and move to a full colour solution as they want help making healthy decisions. We've listened and now we're acting." Under EU rules, traffic light labelling is voluntary, so some manufacturers do not use it. Do you think all businesses should be using it?

Kelloggs

Black Friday

UK shoppers on Black Friday have been buying more items but spending less, credit card data suggests. Barclaycard, which processes half of all UK card payments, said that by 15:00 GMT it had seen 10% more transactions from a year earlier. However, the value of spending was down 12% on last year. Separate data suggested a continuing trend for Black Friday bargain hunting to be done online rather than on the High Street. Barclaycard said it had processed 1,087 transactions per second between 13:00 and 14:00 GMT, a record high. Due to the volume of traffic online some shoppers were 'locked out' and placed in online queues as sites struggled to manage the demand.Consumer groups have warned people to check whether deals are as good as they seem, saying many products are cheaper at other times of the year. In contrast there has been a continued rise in people taking part in 'Buy Nothing Day' which encourages people to shop less and live more. 

Black Friday

IKEA Re-organisation

Ikea may open large stores in city centres as it seeks to adapt to changing shopping habits. Javier Quinones, UK boss of the Swedish furniture giant, said the stores would be "in between" the size of its new smaller city centre format and its big out-of-town stores. "There are many formats we can try and will try," he said. The retailer plans to add 4,000 staff to its global workforce over the next two years as part of a business revamp. In total the company is creating 11,500 new posts, but eliminating 7,500 other jobs by 2020 as it focuses on e-commerce and the new smaller city stores. As many as 350 jobs are likely to go in the UK, mainly in head-office functions. The firm has been relatively slow to move to online shopping, but he said it had to respond to a fall in car ownership and consumers' desire for shopping to be convenient.The number of visitors to Ikea's website rose 10% to 2.4 billion, higher than the 3% rise in store customers to 838 million.

IKEA

Junk Food Ad Ban

 

A ban on junk food advertising across London's entire public transport network will be introduced next year. Under the scheme, posters for food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar will vanish from the Underground, Overground, buses and bus shelters. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he wants to tackle the "ticking time bomb" of child obesity in the capital. The Advertising Association has said it would have "little impact on the wider societal issues that drive obesity". The ban will take effect across the Transport for London (TfL) network on 25 February.The scheme is backed by child health experts including chief medical officer for England Professor Dame Sally Davies who described it as an "important step in the right direction". However, the Advertising Association said commuters could suffer as a result of the ban. Chief Executive Stephen Woodford said the UK already has "the strictest rules in the world when it comes to advertising high fat salt sugar foods", which mean under-16s cannot be targeted. "This will lose revenue from advertising for TfL and that will potentially have an impact on the fares that passengers have to pay," he said.

Junk Food Ad Ban

Window Washing Drone

Window washing drone takes flight A huge drone that can wash buildings and put out fires is being developed in Latvia. The Aerones drone weighs about 55kg (121lbs) and is tethered to the ground with a hose. The company says it can clean buildings 20 times faster than humans and fly higher than firefighter ladders can reach. When 5G mobile connectivity arrives it will be able to stream high-definition video to operators on the ground, Aerones says. Click the link to watch it in action.

Window Washing Drone

Mystery Christmas

Parents are spending heavily on mystery toys as a craze in wrapped-up collectables is set to dominate Christmas sales. Sales of collectable toys - such as the L.O.L. range - have risen by 30% in the year so far, compared with the same period of 2017. Inspired by "unboxing" videos on sites such as You Tube, the product comes with layers of wrapping before the child reaches the mystery toy inside. There are various toys to collect. Launched in April last year by privately-owned MGA Entertainment, the creators of the Bratz dolls, with no TV advertising, the level of success of L.O.L. was a surprise to the company itself, according to its managing director in the UK, Andrew Laughton. They now account for three in 10 of toys sold, analysts say.The British toy market has dipped by 5% in the first nine months of the year, compared with the 2017 equivalent, according to sector analysts NPD. Spending on Christmas toys totals £110 per child up to the age of 11, down from £121 a year ago.

Mystery Christmas

Eat Grubs

Crickets are set to hit the shelves as Sainsbury’s becomes the first supermarket to sell edible bugs. Customers will be able to fill their shopping baskets with Eat Grub’s Smoky BBQ Crunchy Roasted Crickets in 250 of the supermarket giant’s stores from Sunday. The house crickets, also known as acheta domesticus, are farmed in Europe will come in packets of about 50 and sell for £1.50 per bag. Anyone brave enough to try the snack is promised to get a “crunchy texture with a rich, smoky flavour”. Bugs already form a significant part of diets around the world and the global edible insect market is set to exceed $522m (£406m) by 2023.Gram for gram, dried crickets contain more protein than beef, chicken and pork – with 100g containing 68g of protein, in comparison to just 31g of protein in beef. Bugs also top the list when it comes to sustainable food sources. They emit considerably lower levels of greenhouse gases than most livestock and are much more efficient in terms of the resources needed to farm them – crickets, for example, need 12 times less feed than cattle.

Eat Grubs

Marmite Sprouts

Iceland have decided that Brussels sprouts aren’t bad enough, and have hatched a plan to make them even worse. Or, depending on your tastes, they’ve decided they’re not delicious enough, and have hatched a plan to make them even better. The supermarket is launching a special edition product for Christmas – Brussels sprouts smothered in Marmite butter. The aim of the launch is to breathe new life into tired old Brussels sprouts, as more and more families are exiling the divisive vegetable from the Christmas dinner table. A third of Brits say they haven’t been served sprouts in the last three years, and a fifth have never bought a Brussels sprout in their life.

Marmite Sprouts

Death of the High Street

About 14 shops are closing every day as UK High Streets face their toughest trading climate in five years, a report has found. A net 1,123 stores disappeared from Britain's top 500 high streets in the first six months of the year, according to the accountancy firm PwC. It said fashion and electrical stores had suffered most as customers did more shopping online. Restaurants and pubs also floundered as fewer people go out to eat or drink. According to PwC, 2,692 shops shut across the UK in the first half of 2018, while only 1,569 new stores opened. The data looks at retail chains with more than five outlets.Electrical goods stores were among the biggest casualties, largely due to the collapse of Maplin in February that resulted in 50 stores being closed. Italian restaurants also struggled, as Jamie's Italian and Prezzo both shut stores after striking rescue deals with their creditors, while Strada also made closures. There were some bright spots, however, with supermarkets, booksellers, ice cream parlours and coffee shops all seeing slim net gains in their store counts. Newcastle fared worst in the North East, with a net decline of 17 stores, while Nottingham fell by 35.

High Street Decline

Plug Pulled On DVD Players

The DVD's days appear to be numbered after the John Lewis department store chain said it would stop selling the players once found under almost every television. The firm said it would not put more players on shelves when stocks run out. mSales are down 40% as more people watch movies and shows on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon. However, John Lewis will continue to sell Blu-ray players, which can also be used for standard DVDs. The chain also said 55-inch televisions were now the most popular screen size, compared with 36 inches eight years ago. During the World Cup over the summer, 70-inch screens notched up the biggest rise in sales.The retailer said other gadgets proving popular were smart doorbells, which can be linked to WiFi and smartphones, and robotic lawnmowers, sales of which are up 367% and 75% respectively compared with last year.

DVD Players

Dr.Pepper Beans

Dr.Pepper beans actually exist! The beans are only being sold in the US, in Walmart. They’ve been labelled ‘Sweet and A Little Bit Sassy Dr Pepper Baked Beans’, and are made by the Serious Bean Co. Amazingly, they’ve already sold out online but are available in-store for $1.48. The product description reads: ‘With its blend of 23 flavors, Dr Pepper has long been a secret ingredient among top BBQ Pitmasters.‘The 23 original flavors of Dr Pepper give this batch its name and its amazing flavor. Sweet and Sassy success. No preservatives. Seriously Delicious. Always original. Always bold. Always delicious.’

Dr. Pepper Beans

Zoella's Guide To Life

28-year-old YouTube star Zoella, real nme Zoe Sugg, has been slammed by readers of her latest book, ‘Cordially Invited.’ The £20 self-help style book offers some surprisingly obvious lifestyle tips – including how to make a sandwich and the importance of carrying an umbrella during the months of spring. “When ready to assemble your sandwiches, lay your bread out on your work surface and butter each slice,” reads one passage. “Take an umbrella — weather can be a little unpredictable at this time of year so it’s best to be prepared,” reads another. The YouTube sensation boasts almost 12 million followers on her Zoella YouTube account and almost 5 million on her Zoe Sugg YouTube account. Despite her massive fan following, readers of the book have flocked to Amazon to slam its ‘simplicity.’One review advised customers ‘not to buy this book’ because it  ‘gives tips like ‘change the beds’ every season and suggests that you choose spring/summer etc duvets.’
Zoella

Premier Pods

Premier Inn’s owner, Whitbread, is launching a no-frills hotel chain with small pod-style rooms as the company seeks to refocus its business after the sale of its cafe chain Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola. Called Zip by Premier Inn, the new hotels will be located on the outskirts of major towns and cities. Rooms will cost from £19 a night and be less than half the size of a standard Premier Inn room, at 8.5 square metres. Premier Inn prices typically start at £49 while its more upmarket brand, hub, starts at £69 a night. Premier Inn is Britain’s biggest budget-hotel chain. Whitbread’s chief executive, Alison Brittain, said the spin-off would cater for the “ultra-price-sensitive customer looking to zip in and out”. Similar to no-frills airlines, there will be other optional paid-for extras. Rooms are not cleaned daily but additional cleaning can be purchased for £5 per day; wifi is free, although fast wifi costs £5 for 24 hours.
Premier Inn Zip

Greggs Switches Ups Sign

High street giant Greggs has explained why they have reversed the signs on one of their busiest outlets. Shoppers where the store is in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, spotted the curious sign recently. And Greggs explained it's so people taking photos of a department store's famous Christmas display get their logo the right way round in the reflection off the window. The nearby Fenwick window was unveiled on Friday evening and each year many thousands of North East families queue up to see the displays which are seen by many shoppers as an essential part of Christmas. The ploy also ensures that every photo taken of Fenwick's display will also contain a reflection of the baker's logo, while the mirror-image letting also makes it easier for users to take a proud selfie outside Greggs. 

Greggs Sign

Post Malone x Crocs

The most unexpected collaborations of 2018 may as well go to the recent team up between multi-platinum-recording artist Post Malone and footwear manufacture Crocs. alone’s Crocs, which retail for $60, sold out in under 10 minutes. Apparently even Madonna was unable to purchase a pair and messaged Malone on Instagram asking where she could get some. Collaborations like this mark a strange new chapter for Crocs, arguably the most divisive shoe brand in recent history. After first hitting stores in 2004, they grew rapidly and left their foam footprint across the world. In 2007 they created $847m in revenue and CNN described them as “2007’s hottest shoe”. But soon after, Crocs became code for a style faux pas, the ultimate symbol that you’ve given up all hope on your personal appearance.

Post Malone x Crocs

Kleenex Drop 'Mansize'

Kleenex is scrapping "Mansize" branding from its tissue boxes after 60 years on the shelves as consumers called it out for being sexist.  The company said the tissues would now be called "Extra Large".  One customer questioned the firm after her four-year-old son asked if "girls, boys and mummies" can use them. Kleenex told shoppers to "keep an eye out" for the new branding, saying some of its new larger boxes are already on sale.Online critics tweeted Kleenex to ask them why its products still used the term "Mansize", saying "the world is changing" and that "it is 2018". Kleenex thanked customers for their concern and confirmed the new "Extra Large" labelling. A number of products have drawn criticism for "sexist branding" in recent years - but what do you think?

Mansize Tissue

Tiny Palm Smartphone

A tiny Android smartphone designed to be a "companion phone" to a full-sized device has been launched in the US - using the brand name Palm. The handset is the size of a credit card and has two cameras but no headphone jack or wireless charging. It aims to help people take a break from their main phone, the firm said, despite being a fully functioning smartphone in its own right. It has been greeted with bemusement by tech commentators and on social media. The device will cost $349 (£263) and will be available in the US, on the Verizon network only, from November. It is described in its marketing material as "a fully connected product that is in sync with your existing smartphone, so all of your connectivity can go where your smartphone can't".

Palm Smartphone

New Face of £50

England defender Kyle Walker has now joined the push for international team-mate Maguire to feature on the new design - while riding an inflatable unicorn. Created by Jonny Sharples, the petition has already gained more than 15,000 signatures. Sharples told BBC Radio 5 live that it would be recognition for England reaching the World Cup semi-finals in the summer.He hopes Maguire's representation of "core British values - bravery, strength, and a big head", will persuade the Bank of England to seriously consider his suggestion. The Bank of England is redesigning the £50 note and has a committee which asks for public nominations in a chosen field. Sadly for Sharples, and Maguire, it seems unlikely that the centre-back will feature on the note - the Bank of England states that it avoids "fictional characters, or people who are still living (except the monarch on the front of the note)".

Bank of England

More Dough Needed To Save Patisserie Valerie

The multi-millionaire chairman of Patisserie Valerie is pumping £20m of his own cash into the stricken cake and cafe chain to keep it in business after “fraudulent activity” was uncovered that left the business teetering on the brink. Details of the proposed emergency rescue plan came hours after it emerged that the finance director of Patisserie Holdings, which has over 200 cafes and nearly 3,000 staff, had been arrested at his home by police. On Friday afternoon, Patisserie Holdings Plc said it needed at least £20m in new cash to avoid calling in administrators. It revealed that historical statements about its finances “were mis-stated and subject to fraudulent activity and accounting irregularities”. The company said an initial investigation into its accounts showed that instead of having £28m in the bank, as it last reported, Patisserie Holdings is nearly £10m in debt. Mr Johnson, who invested in Patisserie Valerie in 2006, is a serial entrepreneur who is best known for taking control of Pizza Express in 1993 before selling out in 1999.

Patisserie Valerie

Crispmas

Walkers is launching a range of Christmas flavours in single and multi-pack formats, in a move designed to “spark debate” about Brussel Sprouts. Single pack flavours include Turkey & Stuffing, Pigs in Blankets, and Brussels Sprouts, each retailing at 65p each. Andrew Hawkswell, marketing manager at brand owner PepsiCo, said: “Walkers has a proven track record of launching fun and playful flavours that really get the nation talking, and this year we wanted to bring some of that magic to Christmas. “We know the sprout debate is one that divides the nation, so we wanted to offer product solutions for both sides of the debate, and ask people to decide whether they are a #SproutLover or #SproutHater.” The limited edition range will be available from 15 October and will be supported by TV, digital and PR activity.

Crispmas

Coca-Cola Cinnamon

Coca-Cola is gearing up for Christmas with the addition of a festive flavour for Zero Sugar and an on-pack push  across its core portfolio. The limited edition Zero Sugar Cinnamon has launched in a 1.25-litre format featuring a red and gold design. Zero sugar was "the fastest-growing cola brand during Christmas 2018" according to the Coca-Cola. The supplier has also kicked off a competition offering shoppers the chance to win a pair of tickets to Capital FM's annual Jingle Bell Ball. The early arrival of Coca Cola's yuletide pushes set to be followed by next moth by more activity that would "keep Coca-Cola at the centre of Christmas celebrations for both consumers and retailers".

Coca-Cola Cinnamon

Sprout Tea

If you love Christmas dinner and you’re a fan of tea, you’ll either be delighted or repulsed that Sainsbury’s has just launched a range of Brussels sprouts and pigs in blankets flavour teas. Yes, you can now drink meat or vegetable flavoured tea and we’re not quite sure what to think. The supermarket says the tea will make the ultimate stocking filler for any foodie – especially as it’s only £1 for 20 teabags. Despite the name of the pigs in blankets flavour, it is suitable for vegans and is totally calorie free, and is apparently best enjoyed without milk.

Flavoured Tea

Mars Makeover

From January 2019, both of the classic chocolate bars will be getting healthier, with less sugar and more protein. Both bars are going to contain 10g of protein and up to 40% less sugar, in an attempt to tackle high obesity rates. According to Mars Wrigley Confectioney, Mars ‘More Protein’ will contain 17.5g sugar per bar, which is 40% less than what it contains now. Snickers ‘More Protein’ will contain 14.1g per bar, which is 30% less.And it’s not just these two chocolate bars that will be having a healthy revamp in 2019. The company also plans to launch a new lower calorie range, which each contain less than 100 calories. As well as Mars and Snickers, this range will include Twix, Milky Way Crispy Rolls and Ripples – a move in which is being driven by David Manzini, who was hired as the firm’s UK boss in August 2017. Wanting to bring healthier chocolate products to the market, he told The Grocer: ‘There is an appetite for novelty, for innovation, new tastes and products, which is higher than in the past. Apparently, the tastes of the chocolate bars won’t be changing. But of course we’ll have to see it to believe it – because let’s face it, foods with less sugar never taste the same as its sugar-filled original.

Low Calorie Chocolate

Crisp Recycling

Snack firm Walkers has announced a recycling scheme - after Royal Mail begged campaigners not to post empty crisp packets without envelopes. From December, snack fans will be able to post used bags - in envelopes, for free - directly to a recycling company or drop them off at hundreds of collection points across the country. It will involve packets being turned into plastic items such as benches, watering cans and plant pots by recycling firm TerraCycle. Mr Ashcroft, whose petition against the Leicester-based crisp maker has been signed by more than 330,000 people, said the announcement was "really exciting". But the firm "still have a lot to do to meet their pledge of making their packaging fully recyclable, compostable or biodegradable [by 2025]", Mr Ashcroft added.

Crisp Recycling

Baby Shark Mania

It is the lovechild of Gangnam Style and Crazy Frog – so it was almost inevitable that merchandise spun out of the viral Baby Shark song and video took toy shops by storm. Demand for a range of the battery-operated singing toy sharks is so high that the first container load will have sold out online before they even arrive in the UK next month, according to the toy chain The Entertainer. “The last time I saw anything like this was Crazy Frog,” Stuart Grant, the retailer’s sourcing director, says. In 2005, the Crazy Frog ringtone famously outsold Coldplay’s Speed of Sound as Britons raced to purchase the ringtone with its distinctive “a ring ding ding” hook.Grant predicts the toys – with the cheapest selling for £7, rising to £25 for a model that gyrates in time to the music – will be among the most-coveted this Christmas. Baby Shark has blockbuster sales potential. In South Korea, the merchandise is a $100m (£76m) business that spans soft toys, T-shirts and duvets.

Baby Shark

The Apprentice

The Apprentice is back for its 2018 series and is ready to introduce us to a whole new batch of egotistical and power-hungry candidates. The Apprentice is a hit BBC reality show, now going into its 14th series, featuring hour-long episodes. Each series of the programme aims to find a new apprentice for billionaire business mogul and Amstrad founder Lord Alan Sugar, who's worth £1.4bn. It aims to recreate the toughest of business environments and tasks for its set of contestants, but it is often very funny due to the incompetence and arrogance of the competitors. It returns on Wednesday 3rd October 9pm on BBC1. Why not meet a few of the candidates first.

Apprentice Candidates

Amazon Opens 4 Star Store

Online retailing giant Amazon is opening a store in New York that will only sell products that receive a high rating on its website. The store will sell toys, household goods and other items that have a rating of four stars or more online. Customers who visit the store will pay less if they have bought into Amazon's Prime service. Physical shops are becoming a key expansion area for Amazon as it seeks to take on more traditional retailers. The four-star store will also sell books, games and kitchen utensils as well as Amazon's own Echo speakers and its Kindle e-readers. It will also have sections dedicated to items that are "trending" and proving popular with online customers.

4 Star Store

Crisp Packet Campaign

Royal Mail has stepped into a row between campaigners and crisp makers Walkers - by urging people posting empty packets to put them in envelopes. Campaigners asked people to post the non-recyclable plastic bags and "flood Walkers social media with pictures of us popping them in the post". Royal Mail is obliged by law to deliver the bags to Walkers' freepost address. But without envelopes they cannot go through machines and must be sorted by hand, causing delays. People have been taking selfies of themselves posting the crisp packets and putting them on social media with the hashtag #PacketInWalkers. It follows a petition hosted by 38 Degrees which called for Walkers to make their packets recyclable. "Walkers produce a staggering 7,000 plastic crisp packets a minute which they don't pay a penny to clean up. They need to listen to their customers and take action now."

Crisp Packet Campaign

Cadburys Say Thanks

Just as it did 100 years ago, Cadbury is playing its part in supporting those who have been affected by war. The 360g bar bears the same wrapper design as Cadbury Dairy Milk sold during the war but adorned with Poppies, which became a symbol of Remembrance after the First World War. From every bar sold, 30p will be donated to the Legion, supporting the British Armed Forces, veterans and their families. In addition to this financial contribution, Cadbury is supporting the Legion through a year-round calendar of fundraising events and activities.

Remembrance Chocolate 

Welcome To Jack's

The UK's biggest supermarket chain is taking on Aldi and Lidl with its own discount store. The first Jack's branch has been unveiled by Tesco in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, and will open on Thursday, along with an outlet in Immingham, Lincolnshire. It is named after Tesco founder Sir Jack Cohen and its chief executive said it would be cheaper than the German discounters. About 10 to 15 more stores are planned in new locations, but will shoppers make the switch?  "We have been thinking about what customers want, and bringing it to them in the most cost-effective, value-orientated way possible," he told the BBC. "The objective is to be the lowest cost for customers." Jack's stores will sell 2,600 products - far fewer than the 35,000 carried by a Tesco supermarket - with 1,800 branded "Jack's".

Jack's

Playstation Retro

Sony has announced a miniature version of the first PlayStation console, which originally launched in 1994. The mini version will come with 20 retro titles, including Final Fantasy VII and Tekken 3. The PlayStation Classic is around half the size of the original and is due to launch on 3 December. One expert said nostalgia was driving interest in retro consoles, which offer a means of making historical video games more accessible.The device will retail for £89.99. As well as the mini console, an HDMI cable for connecting to a TV and two wired controllers will be included.The design of the console is faithful to the original - even featuring a disk eject button, despite the lack of an actual disk reader. Instead, pressing the button will swap the game being played for another. The release date will mark exactly 24 years since the launch of the first PlayStation, which went on sale in Japan on 3 December 1994. It was launched in the UK the following September.

Retro Playstation

Coca Cola Considers Cannabis Move

Coca-Cola is best known for its eponymous caffeine-based drink, but the firm now appears to be experimenting with a different drug: cannabis. The drinks giant is in talks with local producer Aurora Cannabis about developing marijuana-infused beverages. These would not aim to intoxicate consumers but to relieve pain. The firm declined to comment but said it was watching the cannabis drinks market closely. Cannabidiol, a constituent of cannabis, can help ease inflammation, pain and cramping, but has no psychoactive effect.Quoting unnamed sources, BNN Bloomberg said Coca-Cola was in "serious talks" with Aurora but no deal had been finalised. "They're pretty advanced down the path" of doing a deal, one source was quoted as saying. "It's going to be more of the 'recovery drink' category," the source added.

Coca Cola

Maychup

A hybrid condiment comprised of mayonnaise and ketchup has officially arrived in the United States after a campaign to launch the new sauce was successful. Mayochup, created by Heinz, was first revealed in April, when the condiment giant released the hybrid in the Middle East. After a successful launch, the company asked the US through an online poll whether they’d also be interested in stocking shelves with mayochup - and the results found more than a half a million people in favour of the sauce. Despite the people who’d voted in favour of mayochup’s US debut, the news of the soon-to-be-released dipping sauce has been met with mixed reactions from people on social media who think it is not a new invention at all. What do you think?

Mayochup

Apple Launch

Apple has updated its iPhone X handset with three more powerful models, two of which are larger than before. The iPhone XS Max has a 6.5in (16.5cm) display. The iPhone XS has the same 5.8in-sized component as the original. The iPhone XR's screen is 6.1in but is lower quality. A new smartwatch was also launched with an added fall-detection function. There had been concerns that the relatively high £999 entry price of iPhone X would limit its appeal. But Apple said it had consistently proven more popular than either of the lower-priced iPhone 8 models. Market research firms suggest it also outsold rival companies' flagship devices. That helped propel Apple to become the world's first company with a market capitalisation above $1tn (£768bn). However, China's Huawei still managed to overtake it in terms of overall smartphone market share in the April-to-June quarter, putting Apple into third place.

Apple Launch

Shopper To The Stars

A 17-year-old entrepreneur from London has revealed how he built up a business selling designer clothes and trainers to the world’s most famous footballers. Sam Morgan has receipts from more than 300 elite players including Paul Pogba, Kevin De Bruyne and Mesut Ozil, as well as a host of England stars. The teenager operates as a personal shopper through his Instagram page, which has soared to have more than 66,000 followers. His astonishing success has not come about by luck. He has worked hard, quietly plotting at home in London. He's always had a mind for business. When Morgan was 11, a school friend brought back sweets from America and started selling them. His passion for fashion kicked in at 13, when he started to buy and sell pieces online to fill his own wardrobe. It was that interest that escalated to his current situation. His Insta page has grown to towards an impressive 22,000 followers over the past year. He made his breakthrough while in bed at night, wondering how he could capture a niche market.

Star Shopper

Ciao Starbucks

It has taken more than two years to build, but on Friday, Starbucks will open its first Italian outlet. The company's Milan "roastery" goes far beyond the usual latte production line. The marble-floored store will offer a "theatre of coffee roasting, brewing and mixology", as well as cocktails, pizza, bread and ice cream. Local businesses said they were "not afraid" of the competition, and emphasised that high-quality coffee was already widely available in the region. Traditional Italian coffee shops are designed for a quick pit-stop, where customers can knock-back a mouthful of espresso without even stopping to sit down. Starbucks is hoping to offer something different. Mintel's research, which estimates the Italian coffee market was worth €19.4bn (£17.4bn) last year, suggests 16-to-35 year-olds are open to American coffee-style concepts such as flavoured Frappuccino's and cold brew, which are less common in Italy.

Starbucks Italy

Domino's Tattoo Regret

Domino’s Pizza have done a U-turn on a promotion that promised free pizzas for life to anyone who got a tattoo of their logo. The Russian branch of the fast food company promised those that got the inkings 100 free pizzas for the next 100 years. But it would appear the brand were not expecting so many people to take part, as they quickly had to change their promotion to the ‘first 350 people’ within days of it going live.The ‘Domino’s forever’ campaign had originally been due for two months, from August 31 until October 31. But while the promotion has now been officially closed, it would appear that some Russians have not quite got the memo.

Domino's Forever

End of Life for PS2

Sony has ended its repair service for the PlayStation 2, more than 18 years after it first went on sale. The console was first released in Japan in March 2000 and remains the best-selling games console ever produced. Manufacturing of the device ended in 2012, six years after the follow-up PS3 console had been released. Sony said it was no longer able to offer repairs because it was running out of replacement parts for the ageing console. In a statement, the company thanked customers for their "continued patronage". Gamers seeking repairs will now have to try their luck with unofficial services. More than 150 million PlayStation 2 consoles have been sold compared with 80 million of the latest console - PS4.

PS2

Nike Boycott

Critics have burned Nike trainers and clothing in protest at Colin Kaepernick's appointment as the face of the brand's new advertising campaign. The American football quarterback, 30, protested against racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling during the US national anthem. In announcing the deal, Nike said he was "one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation". But opponents took to social media, promising to destroy Nike products. On Twitter, they hit out at the deal using the hashtag #JustBurnIt - a play on Nike's slogan 'Just Do It' - which trended on Twitter alongside #BoycottNike. Nike's new advertising campaign, celebrating the 30th anniversary of its 'Just Do It' slogan, also includes ads featuring tennis star Serena Williams, New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr and Seattle Seahawks rookie linebacker Shaquem Griffin. Shares have dropped 2% since the announcement.

Just Burn It