OUT & ABOUT
17 OCTOBER 2025 ASIAN TRADER 25
Hooda Thunkit’s Factoid Korner
Hooda Thunkit has become fascinated by the peanut butter wars being played out
on the shelves of grocery stores across the country – the quality has gone
through the roof, and these days it’s much more than a spread. Brands such as
Wholefoods, Manilife and Meridian (among others) have elevated it to the
status of haute cuisine artisan ingredient. Sun-pat has serious competition!
But did you know that it was invented by none other than John Harvey
Kellogg, the health fanatic Seventh Day Adventist Cornflakes genius, in
1895 – he marketed it as a protein-packed veggie alternative to meat – an ad
in 1908 made the claim that that “just 10 cents’ worth of peanuts contains
six times the energy of a porterhouse steak”.
Once scientists figured out how to stop the oil and nuts from separating,
(hydrogenation), it meant peanut butter could be stored long-term and travel
worldwide. It merely awaited the invention of sliced white bread (and perhaps
jelly) for peanut butter to take over the world.
In World War Two the US Army marched on peanut butter, and even today, if you
want to find some, the place to look is in the Post Exchange (store) at any US military
base.
Got any gossip,
rumours, scandals,
the low-down on
the latest moves, or
just an interesting
story? Then email
ago, never mind now. “Timber!” as they say
in lumberjack circles – although it should be
stressed that the company says it has handed
over stewardship to an ecological outfit called
Oxygen Conservation: the original aim was
to use the craft beer croft to offset carbon
used in its fermentation process. It looks as if
another leg of the rustic Net Zero 2030 milk
ing stool has just broken off – somebody tell
Miliband! More evidence that the woke tide
has turned? Anyway, the beer’s great, so good
luck to carrying on with that, and as they say
in Scotland: stick to ya knittin’.
Good employers, part #433
Asda again (ask the GMB!). We cannot
believe this is true; mults are famous for
being socially responsible employers, so we
are putting this down to scurrilous rumour –
but we think our readers deserve the chance
to decide for themselves.
However, it has been reported (in The
Guardian and The Grocer, among others) that
Asda has been – and we quote – “squeezing
staff” – by denying wage claims while encour
aging its workers who can’t make ends meet
to take out pay-day loans.
OK, it’s a poor show that a big corpora
tion (allegedly!) cannot pay its staff a proper
wage. However, the story starts to get really
interesting when it emerges that the payday
loan company Asda is recommending to its
cash-strapped workers – is ultimately owned
by Asda, because the supermarket’s owner,
TDR Capital, has invested in loan company
Wagestream, with loan repayments coming
straight out of staff pay-packets at a tasty
13.9% interest rate. It also offers staff savings
schemes – at a less stratospheric 4.33%.
Nice and Cosy
Last month Newtrade media announced
that following NewstrAid CEO Neil Jagger
stepping down from the Chairmanship of
Newtrade Media after five years in the posi
tion, retailer Vince Malone, ex-Chair of the
News Committee at The Fed (NFRN) would
be taking over the role.
It transpires that Vince’s other half, Fiona,
is a member of PR firm Cirkle’s “Retailer
Inner Cirkle” – very cosy and good news for
Better Retailing, so many congratulations!
Remembering the “IT
Scandal”
Apparently, the Post Office prefers the term
“IT scandal” to “greatest miscarriage of justice
this century”, but the Postal Museum in
London, doing what a museum does best, is
collaborating with a group of subpostmasters
on the “Legacy Project” memorialising the
impact of the scandal which, as the Horizon
inquiry states, “will mark the Horizon scandal
in history and ensure its effects cannot be
forgotten”.
It follows a series of workshops with a
group of 12 current and former sub-post
masters or family members, who discussed
what they wanted from the Project – to not
le the Post Office push the scandal down the
memory-hole.
Laura Wright, CEO of The Postal Museum,
said: “We are proud to be working with the
Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and the focus
group participants on the upcoming Legacy
Project.
“As an independent museum created to
share the history of the postal network in
Britain, stories of postal workers have always
been essential to us. It is crucial that those
affected by the Horizon scandal can tell their
stories, in their own words, and that we help
them reach as wide an audience as possible.
Further details will be announced in due
course.”
With luck this will mean the Post office
will not easily be able to forget what it has
done. We live in hope.
Many referenced a desire to work with The
Postal Museum to create a lasting legacy for
the scandal. Other ideas were shared as part
of the focus group and further information
about these will be provided in due course.