News

Two recommended places. Main Cities of Europe 2008 has recently been published by Michelin, with 41 cities in 20 countries. Náncsi Néni and Segal are the two Budapest restaurants included in the BIB Gourmand selection.

In the name of renaissance. The National Association of Rural and Agricultural Tourism has launched a series of gastronomical events for 2008, to revive rural flavours from the age of renaissance.

Open cellar days again. Open Cellar Days are to be held again between 10 – 12. May this year. The objective is to promote the 22 Hungarian wine producing regions and their assortment of fine wines. 3 different wines will be available for tasting free of charge in the wine cellars. www.nyitottpince.hu

More loans applied for. According to a GfK Hungária survey of financial services cunducted in 2007, applicants increasingly prefer currency based loans, rather than commodity credit.

M3 Outlet Center to open in mid-May in Polgár. The HUF 4 billion, 13,000 square metre project will create 400 new jobs in its first stage. A further 400 jobs will be created by the second stage plannedfor the spring of 2009.

Applications welcome for export subsidy programs. Export subsidies will be available for 14 purposes this year. Implementation of a complex marketing project for a specific product category or target market is a new element among these.

Delhaize purchasing 14 supermarkets in Romania. The local subsidiary of the Belgian retail chain paid EUR 18,6 million for the La Fourmi chain. They already had a supermarket chain in Romania under the name Mega-Image. The total number of units under this name has risen to 37.

Tesco slowing down expansion in the US. Tesco has opened 59 stores in the US since last November, but no new stores will be opened in the next three months. This period will be used for reviewing and analysing results.

Pernod Ricard paying EUR 5.63 billion for Absolut vodka. The French brand has succeeded in acquiring the state owned Swedish company in intense competition. Production will remain in Sweden.

Green light for selling Extra stores in Germany. The German Market Competition Bureau has unconditionally approved the sale of the Extra chain by the Metro group to Rewe.

New stores and on-line sales behind growth by H&M. After tax profits of the Swedish Hennes & Mauritz AB are SWK 2.94 billion for the first quarter of 2008, which is 28 per cent higher than it was in the same period of 2007.