Bord Bia has reported a surge in interest in its post-graduate masters’ programmes with a 20% increase in applications last year. Over 2700 applications were received for almost 80 places across the five programmes in the Bord Bia Talent Academy. Each participant receives a fully funded masters, guaranteed work experience in Ireland or abroad, plus a tax-free monthly bursary. Applications close for its 2021 International Graduate Programme on 29 January with closing dates for further programmes to be announced in the coming months.
Waitrose & Partners has declared seaweed the must-have ingredient of 2021, with sales of the product up 23% last year when compared to 2019 and 71% higher when compared to 2018. Seaweed is fast becoming a store cupboard staple for the public due to its versatility. As well as being used as a fragrant garnish for noodle dishes, it can also be used to make a wonderful crispy side salad or to create an umami-rich dressing, reports esmmagazine.com. Customers are also looking for inspiration on Waitrose.com, with searches for ‘seaweed’ up 141% compared last year and searches for ‘crispy seaweed’ up 18%, possibly linked to an uptake in home cooking due to the implementation of lockdowns.
German retail sales are expected to have grown around 4% during 2020 following a buoyant November, the Statistics Office said, indicating that consumers spent their way through the broader economic damage wrought by the coronavirus, reports Reuters. Retail sales rose 1.9% in November, against analysts' expectations of a contraction, thanks to very strong growth in online sales and in spending on home improvements, the office said on Tuesday. That month's figures relate to a period when Germany was in partial lockdown, with shops still open. Most shops were forced to close from mid-December when curbs were tightened to contain surging infection rates. The Statistics Office said its provisional full-year growth figure - contrasting with an expected drop of 5.5% in gross domestic product, according to Bundesbank data - included December's full lockdown.
Sonae MC has been named the top retailer in Portugal when it comes to the use of reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging, a new study has found. The findings were revealed in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Annual Report, which reports on the progress across the close to 400 signatories of the New Plastics Economy global commitment, reports esmmagazine.com. The Portuguese retailer was also one of the best-performing global retailers among the signatories, placing fourth in terms of the percentage of reusable plastic incorporated in its packaging (13.4%), surpassing companies like Starbucks and Delhaize.
© 2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
