A new Holland & Barrett has opened near me and it basically looks like a big huel shop when you walk past! They have huel on display in 4 different places, I thought the table set up was cute 
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Holland & Barrett 
Huel
If only they were in the fridge eh? Thanks for sharing! Love to see Huel out on the highstreet, so cool we’re in so many stores now in the UK!
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Probably one of the only healthy things in the store.
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Holland & Barrett is still owned by the company that’s owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch isn’t it?
I mentioned that here back in March and as far as I am aware it hasn’t changed.
Sorry to hear that. I wonder if it was ever a concern for Huel in dealing with H&B.
it changed - Mikhail Fridman and his business partner left the Letter One group following the sanctions and his EU blacklisting. Neither of them seem to appear anywhere on the parent groups website anymore.
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My local H&B had a few complete food brands with bottles and bags of powder, now they only stock RTD’s. Still handy but I did like being able to get big bags so easily.
Phil, I understand the owner has ‘stepped back’ from the company, ie presumably from executive activity - in order to avoid the company itself being sanctioned - but still owns it. I think if he’d sold up we’d probably have heard.
Holland and Barrett seems to be moving in the wrong direction. They have cut back on loads of useful products and their offering is now quite poor in many stores. My local still sells powdered meal replacements and it’s a small branch. I only know that cos I had a look on Sunday but didn’t go in to buy anything.
well as the statement says - they no longer have any control of or financial gain from the group or constituent companies - and their assets are frozen - but, as they cannot be forced to sell shares (and indeed cannot sell them while sanctioned) I guess they will remain frozen - until such time as his sanctions may be lifted, he technically owns nothing of value.
So the company’s value is limited while selling is forbidden, but it still has great potential value for such time as sanctions may be lifted.
Question is, should we be boycotting companies owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs? & for that matter should ethical brands be selling to them?
I would have thought the real question is, in a scenario such as this, who would such a boycott actually punish?
How far would you take it? As well as the direct or part ownership portfolio they have, LetterOne also invest heavily in many thousands of businesses - such as Uber for example, investment and pension funds etc. Do you boycott any business or pension fund they invest in and again – to what end?
How sure are you that any retail money you spend isn’t finding its way into the hands of investors you’d rather it didn’t? – given the myriad layers of investment and ownerships that exist?
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I guess everyone has their own sense of proportion, whether towards convenience or principle.
In terms of boycotting certain companies, it’s obviously just a drop in the ocean but as the saying goes ‘Every Little Helps’.
My only dislike of Holland and Barret is their continued sale of homeopathy stuff, something that makes me not take the brand seriously at all, homeopathy is nonesense, everyone knows it is nonsense, but it is still being sold, and ripping people off, it really gets my blood boiling.
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Well, it’s a billon dollar Global market with a decent CAGR so expected to be double that by the end of the decade – and something people have relied on for centuries, so you can’t really blame them for cashing in on it. I don’t really see it as any more objectionable to anywhere else selling supplements, fad diet products etc.
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Hearing this just makes me more angry about the entire industry, they are selling water to people marketed at medicine, maybe I should write a letter to the government or something calling for their banning?
Each to his (her or their) own, eh?
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I disagree, if they are taking advantage of people who don’t know any better, it’s wrong, if you have the ability to do somethinggood, you should.
Largely agreed, but for me it comes down to this:
If somewhere is willing to focus a large proportion of their business on selling products that they know are proven by science to do absolutely nothing, then how can I trust that any of their products do the things they claim?
It really calls into question the efficacy of every last thing on their shelves.
Working example: In 2019 some of their multivitamins tested as having 40% less vitamin content than was stated on the labels. With that in mind, how do I know the Huel on their shelves doesn’t have the same discrepancy?
Obviously we know/hope that the Huel labels are accurate, but for someone that doesn’t, seeing Huel in certain stores could really devalue it as a purchase.
(Bought a banana RTD from H&B yesterday.)