Galway oysters A fixture on any Valentine’s Day menu: oysters. Savoured in Britain since Roman times. Protein & mineral-rich, oysters were plentiful until 1800s over-fishing & polluted waters depleted stocks. Since 1954, the world’s longest-running Oyster Festival in Galway, Ireland is on the last weekend in Sep. From “poor man’s food” to luxury prices –…
Naughty “Naughty, but nice” – 1970s National Dairy Council slogan for cream cakes. One of the most popular British classics with tourists (& locals), the Cream Tea – collective name for warm scone, clotted cream, strawberry jam & tea – dates back to the 11th c in SW England. National Cream Tea Day on the…
Irish stew The epitome of comfort food: Irish stew. Few ingredients – mutton, onions, potatoes, maybe carrots, parsley or thyme. Dates back to at least 1800s, when it was made slowly over an open fire. Still heartily enjoyed today. The economic importance of sheep for wool/milk meant only old animals ended up in the cooking…
Welsh rarebit Posh cheese on toast, Welsh rarebit dates back to 1500s when poor families couldn’t afford meat like rabbit. Cheese sauce, enriched with milk, ale or egg, spiked with mustard/ Worcester sauce & nutritious seaweed laverbread (‘Welshman’s caviar’). 3 Sep is Welsh Rarebit Day. Products can hop a long way from humble beginnings Guessed the…
Spread The great English spread: Marmite. Invented in 1902 from spent brewer’s yeast & still made today. Nutritious black savoury paste enjoyed on toast. Most-confiscated item at British airports, so comes in 70g travel size since 2015, & in limited-edition versions – new sales for traditional product! Included in soldiers’ rations in both World Wars &…
Guess the Word and Contact Us for Prizes! Series 54 starts soon….. 1st letter of each Post Title (in a Series) spells a business word – spelt correctly or jumbled up. Previous answers: Series 53 spelt LO-O-K-O-U-T (OUTLOOK) Series 52 spelt R-O-B-B-I-N (RIBBON) Series 51 spelt P-A-W-W-I-S-H (WHIPSAW) Series 50 spelt L-I-O-N-S-M-E-E-T (MILESTONE) Series 49 spelt C-G-U-R-N-E-Y…
Trains coming Transport outlook 2020: a train renaissance. 3 drivers – flight shame, climate change concern, EU railways opening to competition. Expect smart trains, easy online booking, frequent services to city centres, perks (free coffee, newspapers). Passenger numbers, esp. tourists, business & night travellers, will rise & fares will fall. Midnight train to Georgia &…
Unravel Outlook 2020: global supply chains will unravel. Trade wars, tariffs, Brexit & new populist governments will unwind world manufacturing & service links. Those connections had increased cooperation & lowered costs through economies of scale. Breaking up is hard to do, will slow innovation & raise costs for consumers. Unhappy bunny Guessed the Word? …
Outbreak Outbreak outlook 2020: the bugs will spread. Now that a keyboard can do more damage than a gunship, we overlook the most devastating enemy – contagious disease. During World War 1, flu killed more people than warfare. Firms need to put up their own defences against disruption & loss, as governments can’t do much. …
Key clues 2020 Where to find 2020 key clues for business? In the biggest warehouse of information – the internet. Data from wifi-enabled devices, location-tracking mobile phones, public data scraped from the web, sentiments on social media, credit card transactions & jobs statistics – much intelligence can be gleaned from these about what will appear…