Ann: EG Deal Finalised, page-9

It sounds good, but the devil is in the (missing) detail. OLI needs to release the details if they expect a substantial buy in from the market.

Just because there might be 100-ish Oliver's branded fridges in EG stores does not mean that they will be filled to the gunnels with OLI branded product, and I'd be prepared to bet that OLI only gets paid for actual product SOLD in the EG stores. I don't imagine that EG would be wearing the risk of waste or over-stocking. Would also be interesting to see if EG has required a "non-compete" clause that prevents OLI from selling the same goods via their own channels.

IMHO, for EG this is cheap, low-hanging fruit, but OLI appears to be pinning their salvation on it. EG could still sweep in if-and-when the OLI business falls into administration, and they are probably just biding their time.

I wonder how the true-believers will feel if the bricks-and-mortar OLI stores continue to haemorrhage cash and end up closing, leaving EG service stations as being the only place to buy a pre-made and pre-packaged pseudo-healthy meal. I guess we'll find out for sure in the next couple of months.