Client Newswrap: Innocent to open London cafe and Tesco signs exclusive Robbie Williams deal

 

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Brands
Smoothie maker Innocent is to open a pop-up cafe in Shoreditch, east London. The Five-a-Day Cafe will open for a week from 1 October and serve dishes, priced at £5, that contain the government’s recommended five-a-day fruit and veg intake.

New figures have shown the biggest fall in alcohol consumption for 60 years last year. According to statistics in the British Beer & Pub Association’s 2010 Statistical Handbook, UK drinkers bought 6% less booze in 2009 than in the previous year – the biggest drop since 1948.

The boss of pub chain JD Wetherspoon has branded drinks giant Diageo “a complete bunch of morons” over the Guinness firm’s calls for the government to raise duty on beer.

Crisp brand Tyrrells is set to boost its distribution in the US and Germany in a bid to build on its success in the UK and France.

Arla Foods UK has launched a rebranding and communications push in order to raise consumers’ awareness of the brand, which is behind household-name products including Anchor, Lurpak and Cravendale.

Retailers
John Lewis is expected to report a return to 2008 levels in profit when it issues its half-year results this month. The department store chain cited fashion and homeware sales for the bounceback, after profits dropped 50% to £20m last year.

The bread industry is bracing itself for a difficult autumn after 150 staff at Maple Leaf in Walsall, which supplies own-label bread to several retailers, voted to strike over pay and conditions.

Tesco has signed an exclusive deal to sell the new autobiography of Robbie Williams in the run-up to the festive season. The supermarket will have the sole rights to the Take That star’s book, which is expected to sell 250,000 copies.

Meanwhile, Tesco has also moved to expand its overseas presence by joining an auction for more than 60 Carrefour stores in Asia. The supermarket is among at least 10 bidders for the stores in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, which are valued at around $1bn.

Marks & Spencer has announced plans to sell a range of solar panel packages. The retailer’s Solar Thermal package starts at £3,999 and can, apparently, meet 50% of an average home’s hot water needs, saving around £85 a year.

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