Latest news with #spread
The Sun
25-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Tesco fans are racing to snap up new pistachio spread which costs £4 a jar & it makes toast taste like Dubai chocolate
FOODIES are going wild for Tesco's new pistachio spread which is said to have a 'decadent nutty flavour.' Their Pistachio Creme spread is part of the Tesco Finest range and could well be a hit with fans of the popular ' Dubai chocolate.' 4 4 While the chocolate bars have been a sell out success in multiple supermarkets, Tesco has now launched the spread. The tasty treat is said to be 'rich and creamy' and combines the flavours of the insanely popular Dubai chocolate but in spreadable form. That means you can slather it on toast, pile it onto pancakes, dip fruit in it or even spoon it from the jar. The Tesco Pistachio Creme spread is said to cost £4 for a 300g jar. Dubai chocolate lovers took the Facebook group Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK to share their delight at the launch. One said: 'Oh I need this.' Another added: 'Will be going there.' This follows Tesco selling a Ritter Sport Pistachio chocolate bar which cost £2.20 for 100g. The supermarket is following in the footsteps of Lidl, who has also launched a pistachio spread. You asked, we delivered' says Irish supermarket as viral chocolate lands in stores but 'they won't last' The Sun can exclusively reveal the new Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream spread will hit shelves in just a week's time on May 29. The tasty treat contains a blend of smooth chocolate, sweet cream, salty pistachio and crisp Kadayfi pastry for an added crunch. You'll be able to get it in Lidl stores across the country. It will cost £3.99 for Lidl Plus members or £4.99 for non-members. Lidl has said it will be available "while stocks last" - so you may want to get in quick. The supermarket is expecting the spread to be extremely popular so it's limiting purchases to three per customer. When Lidl launched its Dubai-style chocolate bar back in March, shoppers were queuing outside shops to get a taste. The Sun spotted a queue outside the Gosport, Hampshire, store at 8am with shoppers eagerly waiting for the doors to open. Dubai chocolate craze Chocolate fans have been going crazy for supermarket dupes of the expensive Dubai chocolate bars and they've been going viral on social media. Lidl's version was the cheapest when it was brought out at £3.99. Before it arrived in stores, the chocolate bar had been available on Lidl's TikTok Shop. It wasn't around for long though as it sold out in a mere 84 minutes. Numerous supermarkets and bargain stores have been jumping on the Dubai-style chocolate trend. One of the most-anticipated was the M&S version, which it turned out was a new take on the viral Big Daddy chocolate bar. The Big Daddy Pistachio is on the pricier end, costing £8.50 for a big 280g bar. Similarly posh supermarket Waitrose also released a version for £10. How to save money on chocolate We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar. Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs... Go own brand - if you're not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you'll save by going for the supermarket's own brand bars. Shop around - if you've spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it's cheaper elsewhere. Websites like let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you're getting the best deal. Look out for yellow stickers - supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they've been reduced. They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged. Buy bigger bars - most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar. So if you've got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
The Sun
22-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Lidl reveals new viral Dubai chocolate product that shoppers will go mad for
LIDL shoppers will be delighted as a new Dubai-style chocolate product will be hitting stores in days. The bargain supermarket's Dubai-style chocolate bars were a sell-out hit that had shoppers queuing to get a taste - and now Lidl is launching a tasty chocolate pistachio spread. The Sun can exclusively reveal the new Della Sante Dubai-Style Chocolate Cream spread will be landing on shelves in a week's time on May 29. The tasty treat is a blend of smooth chocolate, sweet cream, salty pistachio and crisp Kadayfi pastry for an added crunch. It combines the flavours of the insanely popular Dubai chocolate but in spreadable form. That means you can slather it on toast, pile it onto pancakes, dip fruit in it or even spoon it from the jar. You'll be able to get it in Lidl stores across the country. It will cost £3.99 for Lidl Plus members or £4.99 for non-members. Lidl has said it will be available "while stocks last" - so you may want to get in quick. The supermarket is expecting the spread to be extremely popular so it's limiting purchases to three per customer. When Lidl launched its Dubai-style chocolate bar back in March, shoppers were queuing outside shops to get a taste. The Sun spotted a queue outside the Gosport, Hampshire, store at 8am with shoppers eagerly waiting for the doors to open. Chocolate fans have been going crazy for supermarket dupes of the expensive Dubai chocolate bars and they've been going viral on social media. Lidl's version was the cheapest when it was brought out at £3.99. Before it arrived in stores, the chocolate bar had been available on Lidl's TikTok Shop. It wasn't around for long though as it sold out in a mere 84 minutes. Which other shops have released Dubai-style chocs? Numerous supermarkets and bargain stores have been jumping on the Dubai-style chocolate trend. One of the most-anticipated was the M&S version, which it turned out was a new take on the viral Big Daddy chocolate bar. The Big Daddy Pistachio is on the pricier end, costing £8.50 for a big 280g bar. Similarly posh supermarket Waitrose also released a version for £10. Despite the price, it was so popular the retailer had to impose a two-bar limit on shoppers. Iceland is selling two different bars: the Nelino Dubai-Style Chocolate (£2 for 62g) and Bolci Dubai Chocolate (£5 for 100g). Bolci's Turkish-made treat is also available at Morrisons. Meanwhile Home Bargains is selling Dubai Chocolate Cookies for the bargain price of £1.25. How to save money on chocolate We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar. Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs... Go own brand - if you're not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you'll save by going for the supermarket's own brand bars. Shop around - if you've spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it's cheaper elsewhere. Websites like let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you're getting the best deal. Look out for yellow stickers - supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they've been reduced. They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged. Buy bigger bars - most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar. So if you've got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
Reuters
21-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italians and 'lo spread', an obsession whose time has passed
ROME, May 21 (Reuters) - A previously unused English word crept into the Italian language during the euro zone debt crisis of 2011 as the country's borrowing costs soared to unsustainable levels. Ever since then "lo spread", or the gap between the yield on Italian benchmark bonds and their German equivalents, has been brandished by politicians and the media alike as a symbol of national pride or shame, much like a sporting victory or defeat. After the BTP-Bund gap took a rare dip below one percentage point, or 100 basis points (bps), Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told parliament last week "this means Italy's government bonds are considered safer than German ones." Her economy minister, aware the narrower spread in fact meant merely that Italian bonds were considered comparatively less unsafe than before, smiled and shook his head beside her. Fourteen years ago the attention on the spread was justified. Germany's economy was the European powerhouse and the surge in Italian yields meant Rome had to pay huge sums to service its debt and risked losing market access altogether. Times have changed, however, and many economists say that with German benchmark bond yields rising due to a planned spending splurge on defence and infrastructure, Italians' fixation with the BTP-Bund spread now makes far less sense. "What matters for us is the level of interest rates, not the spread with Germany," said economist Tito Boeri, a former head of Italy's state pensions agency. "If German yields rise that doesn't help Italy's public accounts." Rome spends some 90 billion euros ($101 billion) per year, or 4% of gross domestic product to service its 3 trillion euro public debt. With the yield on 10-year BTPs still above 3.5%, that implies a heavy burden on state coffers regardless of the narrow spread with Germany. At around 135% of GDP, Italy's debt is proportionally the second-largest in the euro zone after Greece's, and it is forecast by the government to rise through 2026. Analysts say Meloni's unambitious but relatively prudent economic policies have reassured markets, but the recent narrowing of the spread is mainly down to developments in Germany and the United States. Economist Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, a former European Central Bank board member, said investors' waning appetite for U.S. Treasuries had benefited European bonds and particularly high-yielding paper such as Italy's. "If I consider Europe as a safer bet, partly because I expect the dollar to fall, I'm going to invest in European bonds, especially those that offer higher returns," he said. Italian bond yields are still the highest of any euro zone country, reflecting the risk-premium demanded by investors, and Boeri warned that market volatility linked to U.S. economic policy meant Rome had no reason for complacency. Italy's 10-year yield of around 3.6% compares with 3.2% on equivalent Spanish bonds and 3.4% on Greek ones. "We need to be very, very careful because what is happening on international government bond markets shows us the slightest mistake (in economic policy) can be costly," he said. Italy could come unstuck even without a mistake. Spread fluctuations very often reflect "risk-on" or "risk-off" market sentiment driven by international events, not Italian ones. The BTP-Bund gap widened briefly but sharply, for example, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced swingeing trade tariffs on April 2, only to suspend many of them a week later. "The spread widens when we see a flight to safety because Italy is not considered 'safety'," said Roberto Perotti, economics professor at Milan's Bocconi university. A glance at the past shows the BTP-Bund spread has dipped below 100 bps under several Italian governments, sometimes surging shortly afterwards due to factors outside their control. For much of 2009 the spread hovered between 80 and 100 bps under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, before widening out to a peak of more than 570 bps in 2011 during the euro zone debt crisis, despite Rome following a broadly stable fiscal policy. In 2021, under former ECB President Mario Draghi, it again narrowed to less than 100 bps only to widen to 250 the following year amid surging global inflation after the COVID-19 pandemic. Perotti said it was understandable that Meloni should point to the narrow spread as a political success. But with Germany no longer seen as a pillar of fiscal restraint and stability, its value as an indicator had diminished. "At the moment it doesn't have much meaning," he said. ($1 = 0.8890 euros)
