Le Pain Quotidien reports increase in profits in 2013: Belgian bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien has reported UK pre-tax profit rose to £802,887 in the year to 29 December 2013 compared to £585,108 the year before. Sales rose 3.9% to £30,833,303 from £29,660,195 the year prior. The company opened two sites to grow the estate to 24 with “established stores maintaining sales performance”. Gross profit margin was 17.46% compared to 16.05% the year before. Operating profit was £1,015,386 compared to £854,344 the year before. The company paid its Belgian parent a final dividend of £562,633. In the previous year, when Le Pain Quotidien grew turnover by 12.3% to £29,660,195, it expanded its UK store network from 18 to 22 sites. Profit before tax was £585,108 in 2012 compared to £3,120,796 in 2011 when a loan from its Belgian parent company was waived. 

Wetherspoon to serve canned beers at 900 pubs: Wetherspoon has teamed up with Sixpoint Brewery in Brooklyn, New York, to exclusively serve three of its canned beers across its 900 plus pubs. The award-winning craft beers will be available in all Wetherspoon pubs from 5 March. The beers; Sweet Action, The Crisp and Bengali Tiger will be available in 355ml cans and will be served in a world beer glass. Sweet Action (5.4% ABV) is described as “part pale ale, part wheat, part cream ale”, The Crisp (5.2% ABV) as “a pilsner style lager brewed with noble hops for an indelible sehr crisp flavour” (sehr means ‘very’ in German) and Bengali Tiger (6.4% ABV) as “blaze-orange in colour with an abundance of citrus hop bitterness and a full pine and grapefruit bouquet in the aroma.” Wetherspoon chief executive John Hutson said: “We are thrilled that the beers from Sixpoint Brewery will be served exclusively in our pubs. We pride ourselves on offering the widest selection of drinks and looking for new drink styles for our customers to enjoy. Cans are the biggest growth area in the US craft industry and the three beers from Sixpoint taste and look fantastic. Wetherspoon strives to bring the best drinks from around the world to its pubs and this is highlighted with the introduction of Sweet Action, The Crisp and Bengali Tiger.”

Fyne Ales begins work on £2m expansion: Argyll-based craft brewery Fyne Ales has begun work on a £2 million expansion plan, which will treble turnover and meet growing demand for the company’s range of award-winning craft beers. The development is co-funded with grant support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, a Food processing, Marketing & Co-operation Scheme (FPMC) grant from the Scottish Government and a £1 million loan from Bank of Scotland supported by the Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme as well as Asset Finance. Fyne Ales’ current turnover is £1.6m. The expansion is expected to see this figure increase to over £5m in four years. The development is expected to create ten construction jobs and 12 new permanent jobs in the company itself. Fyne Ales currently produce 90 barrels of beer per week – the equivalent of 27,000 pints. The first expansion phase will see production increase to 180 barrels a week with space available to boost production to 120 barrels per day – the equivalent of 36,000 pints – in five years’ time.