Hamayuu is the first authentic Japanese restaurant to open in Chester, and it’s booming!

Ethnic food, Export, Japan / By

Last weekend I visited old friends in Chester, England. Chester is one of the country’s historical gems, originally settled by the Romans; an old city wall which still encircles the city, a stunning cathedral and an eclectic range of shops. This year the city welcomed its first Japanese restaurant. It’s called Hamayuu. It was impossible […]

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Photo Charlotte Harrison

Vodka burners are go; private equity takes a full swig of Stock Spirits

Alcohol, Branding, M&A / By

Last week UK-listed Stock Spirits accepted a take over from private equity’s CVC who agreed to pay a 44% premium. Over 50% of Stock Spirits business is in Poland, other key markets include Italy, Slovenia & Croatia. Its core brands are Eastern European Vodka, Vodka based liqueurs and Limoncello. The company has been under pressure

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Is Peleton pedalling fast enough on exports to boost its share price?

Fitness, Health, Market entry, Marketing / By

It’s a brand that has yet reach its 10th birthday but has revenue over $1.8b. No mean achievement especially in a niche category: high end exercise bikes and treadmills. Peleton’s bikes sell for between $1900 and $4300, it has 5.4m members, and sells monthly memberships between $13 and $39. Peleton, listed on the Nasdaq, was

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©Tropicana

Are sugar concerns the real reason Pepsico strips Tropicana and Naked?

Health, Innovation, M&A / By

In the West Governments have gone to war against sugar due to concerns about obesity and related life style diseases like diabetes. In the UK, according to the food standards agency, ‘the amount of sugar in food’ is currently the number one consumer concern, ahead of food waste, animal welfare and surprisingly (for me) the

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Photo Jinomono media

Join the queue for the latest Japanese udon in London!

Ethnic food, Japan, Market entry, Start-up / By

These was the scene last week when Marugame Udon opened its doors in London. Japanese people certainly know how to queue and so do Brits! Marugame Udon is a j/v between Toridoll (the Japanese parent company) and Capdesia a UK entity. There are relatively few Udon restaurants in the UK today, Sushi is far more

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Apps like Yuka, Fooducate and ToxFox are the new-age sages of the grocery aisle

Cosmetics, Digital, Health, Segmentation, Shopper / By

As anyone who’s done segmentation studies knows, not all shoppers or consumers are the same. Marketeers love to cluster shoppers into groups based on demographics, lifestyle, shopping habits and of course spend. It’s a fundamental part of segmentation (and I have done a fair few of these studies!) The rise of apps like Yuka, Fooducate

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The Powerful and the Dammed; a tell-tale newspaper editor reveals all

Media / By

I’m a fussy and impatient reader. Either the book fascinates and I read it voraciously or it fails to enthral and it’s quickly dropped. This wasn’t the case with Lionel Barber’s tome, ‘The Powerful and The Dammed’. For 15 years Barber was editor of the Financial Times (retired Jan 2020) and by his account turned

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Photo Myriam Zilles

Self-health and Covid boost vitamin market, but careful the regulators are ready to pounce

Cosmetics, EC, Regulation / By

Ten years ago wellness and preventative health were niche but today in the US over 83% of households use vitamins, minerals or supplements (VMS). Many other developed markets are close behind. Down under most Aussies pop VMS in some shape or form. Globally VMS is worth over $140b; and it grew strongly last year as

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