Propel Newsletter Archive Page

Premium Club subscribers to receive new searchable and segmented New Openings Database on Friday: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club subscribers on Friday (2 May). The database will show the details of 154 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. The database will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published on a monthly basis and Premium Club subscribers will also receive a 9,493-word report on the 154 new additions to the database. The database is segmented into seven categories – cafe bakery, casual dining, experiential leisure, fine dining, hotels, pubs and bars, and quick service restaurants – making it even easier for users to search. The database includes new openings in the casual dining sector such as Thai Express, Gordon Ramsay’s Street Pizza, and all-day dining concept, Heydays. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the Multi-Site Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025) and discounts on specialist sector reports such as the International Brands report. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club subscribers will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club subscribers also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Chair candidates battle to check in at Whitbread: Two chairs of FTSE-100 companies are vying to succeed Adam Crozier at the top of Whitbread, the London-listed group behind the Premier Inn hotel chain. Sky News reports that Christine Hodgson, who chairs water company Severn Trent, and Andrew Martin, chair of the testing and inspection group Intertek, are the leading contenders for the Whitbread job. Crozier, who has chaired the leisure group since 2018, is expected to step down later this year. The search, which has been taking place for several months, is expected to conclude in the coming weeks, according to one City source. Hodgson has some experience of the leisure industry, having served on the board of Ladbrokes Coral Group until 2017, while Martin was a senior executive at the contract caterer Compass Group and finance chief at the travel agent First Choice Holidays. Under Crozier’s stewardship, Whitbread has been radically reshaped, selling its Costa Coffee subsidiary to The Coca-Cola Company in 2019 for nearly £4bn.

Scale of Britain’s junk food crisis laid bare: Junk food is behind almost 20,000 premature deaths in the UK each year, a study has suggested. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) – such as ice cream, processed meats such as ham, mass-produced bread, breakfast cereals, ready meals, biscuits, and fizzy drinks – are being increasingly linked to bad health. UPFs have previously been linked to increasing rates of obesity, heart disease and cancer, and now experts believe they may be behind thousands of early deaths each year. They often contain high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar, and typically include additives, preservatives and other ingredients not used in home cooking – such as emulsifiers and artificial colours and flavours – which are added by manufacturers. Researchers from Brazil’s scientific institution, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, analysed the impact of UPFs on the rates of premature deaths in eight separate countries. The Telegraph reported that a study, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, found UPFs made up 53% of people’s food energy consumption in the UK. This was the second highest behind only the US at 55%. Using mathematical modelling, the authors found the proportion of premature deaths attributable to UPFs ranged from 4%in Colombia, where consumption is lower and regulations are stricter, up to 14% of premature deaths in the UK and US. The researchers said that in 2018-19, some 17,781 premature deaths in the UK could have been linked to UPFs, according to their model. Eduardo Nilson, lead investigator of the study from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, said the impact of UPFs on health went “beyond the individual impact” of high levels of salt, fat and sugar. He suggested this was “because of the changes in the foods during industrial processing and the use of artificial ingredients, including colourants, artificial flavours and sweeteners, emulsifiers, and many other additives and processing aids”. Dr Nilson added that the study found “each 10% increase in the participation of UPFs in the diet increases the risk of death from all causes by 3%”.

Coffee firms fight to match Gen Z’s thirst for matcha: Businesses and consumers around the world have become used to navigating shortages of everything from coffee beans to cocoa to eggs and rice. Now, some are bracing for a shortage of a less well-known commodity: matcha, the bright green powder made of green tea leaves and used in Japanese tea ceremonies. It is a favourite of Gen Z, has gripped social media and is a “wellness” staple among influencers for its purported health benefits. In 2023, Japanese matcha production was 4,176 tonnes, up from 1,471 tonnes in 2010. More than half is exported. The overwhelming demand for matcha, which is thought to provide a more sustained, slower energy boost than coffee, is not only outpacing supply but also having ripple effects on the wider coffee market. Claudia Boyer, who co-owns Jenki, a chain of matcha shops in London, with her husband, Otto, told The Times that some people were drinking matcha as a replacement for coffee but that it had also attracted a broader customer base. Ellie Marfleet, a retail researcher at Savills, said: “While the market for cafés specifically dedicated to matcha is in its relative infancy, those who are diversifying their menus to include matcha and various matcha iterations, such as Blank Street Coffee and Black Sheep Coffee, are seeing heightened demand.” Founded almost five years ago, New York-based Blank Street has grown to 45 shops in the United States and has expanded to more than 40 sites in the UK since 2022. Social media platforms showcasing its iced matcha beverages helped to drive a 517% rise in Blank Street UK’s turnover to £11.4n in 2023. Jenki, which operates matcha bars in Spitalfields, Covent Garden, Borough Market in London as well as in Selfridges, is looking to open more sites as it views matcha as more than a trend, instead “a shift in how people think about our energy, focus and their daily rituals”. In February, Jenki recorded its biggest month to date in terms of year-on-year growth. Boyer said: “It’s a clear sign that the interest in matcha is not just growing, it’s accelerating,” Boyer said. Jenki sources its matcha directly from Japan, she added, working with a family-run producer, but has not been affected by recent shortages.

Dinner and no booze – the ideal first date for young romantics: More than two thirds of younger daters prefer a restaurant for a first date, according to Premierline, a business insurance company. Meanwhile, a survey by Tinder found that younger people were increasingly opting for sober dates. The dating app found that the trend was motivated by wanting genuine connection – cited by 42% of respondents – and quality conversation (39%). Natalie, 24, an executive search consultant from Bristol, told The Times that authentic conversation over dinner made someone more attractive. “It’s fun to have a few drinks on a first date, but if you don’t eat, getting super smashed means you don’t know the next day if you just had fun or actually liked the person,” she said. “Having dinner is more intense, but I’ve been on dates that start with a sober dinner before drinks and that was still really fun and good for getting to know the person.” According to Dr Limor Gottlieb, a relationship psychologist, sober conversation over dinner could be a form of emotional “foreplay” for a generation that craved connection above anything else. “Where millennials [born between 1980 and 1996] chased chemistry, Gen Z [born from 1997 to 2012] is prioritising compatibility – and that takes actual conversation,” she said. “They’ve seen the burnout of swipe fatigue, the loneliness of casual flings, and the instability of ‘situationships’. What they’re really looking for is connection, and dinner creates space for conversation, empathy and the subtle cues we use to assess long-term compatibility. Dinner is a vetting tool.” Dinner dates do carry risks for those with less-than-stellar table manners. A survey by the restaurant chain Giggling Squid found that someone talking with their mouth full was the biggest turn-off for 46% of daters, while loudly chewing put off 45%. Gargling with water turned off 33% and spilling food repelled 28%.