A Surrey retailer is celebrating after scooping an incredible £25,000 for his store – as well as £25,000 for a charity close to his heart – through Mondelēz International’s independent-only Win-Win campaign. Kandasamy Mugunthan, who runs Chart Downs News in Dorking, Surrey, found the winning ticket in a case of Curly Wurly that he bought from Booker Redhill in September.
Mr Mugunthan has owned Chart Downs News for just over a year and will put the prize money toward a full refurbishment of the shop he’s been planning since he took it over.
“It’s amazing to win this prize, and the timing couldn’t be any better,” said Mr Mugunthan.
“We’ve been planning a full refurbishment of the shop since March, but because of Covid-19 we haven’t been able to get it started. This prize will pay for most of that, which is great! We’re now planning to start the refurb in two weeks’ time.”
Mr Mugunthan said that his nephew initially opened the case as they were re-stocking their shelves, and excitedly urged him to call the number on the winning ticket – making the win a real moment of delight for the family business.
The Win-Win competition offered independent retailers the chance to win prizes totalling £140,000 by finding special golden tickets inside cases of participating Mondelēz products.
As part of the prize, Mr Mugunthan was able to donate £25,000 to a charity close to his heart. He selected Mannar Welfare Association UK, a charity that provides relief to people affected by the war in the Mannar region of Northern Sri Lanka.
A spokesperson for the Mannar Welfare Association, said: “We are very much humbled by this gift. We will be able to expand our projects thanks to this timely donation, helping so many more needy people in the Mannar district of Sri Lanka. We thank Mr. Kanadasamy Mugunthan for nominating our charity and we wish him success in his business.”
In addition to the overall £25,000 winner, four retailers also walked away with prizes of £2,500 for themselves and their stores, and £2,500 for charity.
Retailer Keval Patel, of Dillon’s Convenience Store in Southend, described the prize as “a total surprise – really great!”, and nominated a local charity that he’s been working with for many years.
Bay Bashir, of Go Local Fleet Stores Convenience in Middlesbrough, said: “It’s really exciting to win this. We’re delighted that we’ll be able to pass on the £2,500 to a local community charity that’s very close to our hearts at this store.”
The four retailers who won the prizes of £2,500 for themselves and their stores, and £2,500 for charity were:
- Srisarvendran Thedchanamoorthy, London Stores, Bognor Regis
- Bay Bashir, Go Local Fleet Stores Convenience, Middlesbrough
- Keval Patel, Dillon’s Convenience, Southend
- Dickson Warnakulasuriya Kurera, Huncote News, Leicester.
“It’s fantastic to see our amazing Win-Win competition won by a forward-looking independent retailer who will use the cash prize to improve his store for his customers,” said Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager for Mondelēz International.
“It’s also great that so many brilliant and worthy charities, close to the hearts of great local retailers, will benefit from their share of the prizes from all of our winners.
“Independent convenience retailers have always been incredibly important partners to our business. They work tirelessly to serve local communities, and that has never been more evident than during the crisis. Win-Win is just one of the many ways that we’ve supported the independent convenience channel throughout this difficult year”.
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