NEWS
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6 ASIAN TRADER 17 NOVEMBER 2023
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With Christmas just weeks
away, advent calendars are
surging in popularity, a recent
report has stated, adding that
beauty and alcohol advent
calendars, especially beer-
themed, has gained the most
traction.
According to new data from
Taboola, advent calendars are
surging in popularity by 295%,
which is 83% more than
traditional holiday staples like
Christmas cards.
Beauty advent calendars
have seen the most dramatic
jump, with a 1,738% increase in
readership during this period.
Content about these calendars
have been viewed more than
20,000 times, compared to just
9,200 for general Christmas
gifts. Beauty calendars made up
31 per cent of all advent calendar
sales last year, states the report.
Other advent calendar
categories are also gaining
traction, like alcohol advent
calendars, especially beer-
themed, that grew to 13 per cent
as well as adult-themed advent
calendars increased 36 per cent
to become the fourth most
popular at 10 per cent.
With 35 per cent of sales
across stationary, candles,
luxury chocolates, speciality
teas and more, there are
significant opportunities for
niche brands to tap into demand
for unique advent calendar
experiences. As preferences
shift from mass-market to
personalised, specialised
options are expected to thrive
this Christmas.
“We’re seeing a unique trend
of demand emerging for advent
calendars in the UK, which is
unlike any other market,” Dave
Struzzi, communications lead
at Taboola comments. “Tradi-
tionally, consumer interest in
these products happens later in
the holiday season with choco-
late-themed items, but this year
we’re seeing beauty and novelty
categories such as alcohol, adult-
themed and fashion calendars
shaking up the traditional choc-
olate countdown.”
‘Little prezzie every day’ dominates households’ festive prep
New themed advent calendars
New themed advent calendars
ruling Christmas season
ruling Christmas season
Carlsberg has cut all ties
with its Russian business
and refuses to enter a
deal with Russia’s
government that would
make its seizure of the
assets look legitimate,
the brewer’s new chief
executive said.
The Danish group has
since last year been trying
to sell its Baltika subsidiary
in Russia, following in the
footsteps of many other
Western companies exiting
Russia since its invasion of
Ukraine.
However, after the
company announced in
June it had found a buyer
for its business, Russian
president Vladimir Putin
the following month
ordered the temporary
seizure of Carlsberg’s stake
in the local brewer.
“There is no way around
the fact that they have
stolen our business in
Russia, and we are not going
to help them make that
look legitimate,” said
Jacob Aarup-Andersen,
who took over as chief
executive in September.
Carlsberg had eight
breweries and about
8,400 employees in
Russia, and took a 9.9
billion kroner (£1.16bn)
write-down on Baltika last
year.
Aarup-Andersen said
that from the limited
interactions with Baltika’s
management and Russian
authorities since July,
Carlsberg had not been able
to find any acceptable
solution.
Russia has ‘stolen our business’,
says Carlsberg chief says
Snappy Shopper partners
Snappy Shopper partners
with Trust Payments
with Trust Payments
Snappy Shopper has teamed up
with Trust Retail, part of the Trust
Payments Group, an EPOS
supplier, to integrate its technolo-
gy with Snappy Shopper retailers,
as part of the latest efforts to aid
retailers’ growth.
It will allow Snappy Shopper’s
retailers to achieve quicker
deliveries and control a bigger
and more relevant store range to
aid improved basket spend and
all-round store efficiency. This is
achieved by Trust Payments’
ability to offer retailers real-time
stock checking, pricing and sales
updates to reduce retailer time
spent on administrative tasks.
Asda completes
Asda completes
purchase of EG Group
purchase of EG Group
Asda said it has completed the
acquisition of EG Group’s UK &
Ireland business for a value of
£2.07 billion. EG Group, a petrol
forecourt operator and retailer,
and Asda are both owned by
brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa
and private equity group TDR
Capital.
The deal, creating a group with
combined revenue of nearly £28
billion, was announced in May,
when the value was put at £2.27
billion. Asda’s strategy is to boost
its convenience store presence by
rolling out Asda Express stores
across EG’s 356 UK sites.
Expo Foods joins
Expo Foods joins
Sugro UK
Sugro UK
Wholesale company Expo Foods
has joined Sugro UK, the mem-
ber-owned buying and marketing
group comprising over 90
independent wholesalers.
Based in Doncaster with an
additional depot in London, Expo
has been trading since 2008. The
cash & carry as well as delivered
wholesaler carries a wide range of
ethnic impulse, ambient grocery,
alcohol and dairy, as well as fruits,
vegetables, processed meat and
fish.
The recruitment of Expo Foods
(Midlands) by Sugro has added
£13 million to the group’s existing
buying power of over £2 billion.