SLR December 2021 edition

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 224

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THE NO.1 SCOTTISH GROCERY BRAND

BACK ON TV FROM 1ST DECEMBER Copyright © Snowman Enterprises Limited 2020 THE SNOWMAN (TM) Snowman Enterprises Limited

*Source: Kantar World Panel, Value Sales, Take Home Non-Alcohol Brands, MAT to 06.09.20, Total Scotland

Minimum Unit Pricing: Government under pressure – p7

A VERY SPECIAL VINTAGE

DRIVE NEW AND IMPROVED SALES

SUSAN NASH What’s in store for 2022 from Mondelez?

RUTH FORBES

JTI’s drive towards a sustainable future DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 224

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SLR AWARDS

LOCAL SOURCING

SGF’s Go Local Programme progresses

TOBACCO

Lower-priced products continue to dominate

CHRISTMAS DRINKS

Our winners receive their awards in the flesh, after October’s virtual Festival of Excellence.

Unlock profits with premium tipples Minimum Unit Pricing: Government under pressure – p7

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December 2021

Contents

Contents ISSUE 224

NEWS p6 p7 p10 p12 p14 p28 p32

Supermarkets Waitrose partners with Edinburgh-based convenience chain Margiotta.

Legislation Scottish Government comes under pressure to increase Minimum Unit Pricing.

Local Sourcing Cabinet Minister visits Scotmid store to mark progress of SGF’s Go Local Programme.

Food-to-go A new franchising partnership with EG Group helps Pizza Hut expand into the on-the-go market.

News Extra Sustainability The UK Government invests £11m in decarbonising the Scotch Whisky industry.

Product News J2O adds some festive sparkle and CocaCola launches its Christmas campaign.

Off-Trade News Tennent’s launches a sustainability can and Accolade Wines unveils a retailer POS platform.

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30

36

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49

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INSIDE BUSINESS p36 Newstrade News Scotland reveals a new home news delivery promotion and retailer competition. p36 2 Minutes Of Your Time Ruth Forbes JTI’s Sustainability Director discusses the tobacco manufacturer’s current environmental initiatives. p40 Vaping After a long spell in the doldrums, new data for 2020 suggests that vaping use hit a record high. p42 Scotland’s Speciality Food Show Retailers seeking to stock more local produce can find inspiration next month at Scotland’s only food and drink trade show for 2022. p46 Hotlines The latest new products and media campaigns. p66 Under The Counter This month, the Auld Yin is concerned mostly by drugs, dugs and Amy McDonald.

FEATURES p50 What’s in store for 2022? Mondelez International’s Susan Nash offers her view on what next year will bring. p52 Epos SLR takes a closer look at two of the options available to retailers looking to change their Epos system. p56 Christmas Drinks Premium drinks will help retailers unwrap sparkling profits this festive season. p58 Easter With Easter 2022 set to fall in the middle of April, local retailers have an extra tasty chance to profit. p60 Tobacco Products at the lower end of the pricing scale continue to dominate within the UK’s tobacco market.

ON THE COVER p18 Our SLR Award-winning retailers meet for a celebratory lunch at Glasgow’s Blythswood Hotel, where they are also presented with their trophies.

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DECEMBER 2021 | SLR

5

News SUPERMARKETS Edinburgh-based convenience chain stocks Waitrose products

GroceryAid day Industry charity GroceryAid has revealed that its next GroceryAid Day will take place on 26 April.

The theme will be ‘Let’s Talk GroceryAid’ and aims to raise awareness about the charity’s free welfare services to ensure those colleagues who need our support know how we can help.

One-O-One Convenience relaunches store Independent retailer One-O-One Convenience has relaunched its store on St Vincent Street, Glasgow, under a new banner.

The retailer said the One O One Provisions Co store features a “great range of fresh bread daily, perfect chilled and store cupboard provisions, and an extensive range of frozen foods to feed the family”.

PayPoint offers retailers flexible funding PayPoint is partnering with YouLend, a business finance company, to provide eligible retailers with flexible funding

Waitrose partners with Margiotta as part of Scottish expansion plans Edinburgh and East Lothian convenience store chain Margiotta is partnering with Waitrose to expand the supermarket’s presence in Scotland.

More than 600 Waitrose products are available in eight of Margiotta’s 10 shops now, with products arriving in the remaining two Margiotta shops early in the new year once refurbishment of those stores is complete.

Ready meals, free-from and vegan ranges, prepared fruit and vegetables, meat, snacks and store cupboard staples will all be available, as well as flowers and seasonal foods.

Waitrose plans to explore more potential partnerships in the UK, including Scotland, in the future, which will allow it to reach new

customers in those areas where there is demand.

Waitrose currently has six shops in Scotland and also supplies two Shell forecourt shops. Customers can also order Waitrose food and drink through Deliveroo from four of its Scottish stores.

Franco Margiotta, Managing Director of Margiotta Food & Wine, said: “We have always strived to bring the best food products for our customers to enjoy and I am sure that they will be equally delighted in our partnership with Waitrose.”

that allows them to pay it back as they earn from card sales.

Instead of paying a fixed monthly repayment, a small percentage of every card transaction is used to repay the funding.

Spar Scotland extends Scottish FA tie up Spar Scotland has extended its partnership with the SFA for two more years. The partnership saw the launch of the Spar Future Stars Cup, which encourages girls between the ages of 12-16 to participate in the sport, and its second year will begin at the start of 2022 with over 100 schools expected to take part.

Pandemic causes pet population boom A lockdown-driven boom in the pet population is creating huge opportunities for retailers, new research from Mars Petcare shows. The research reveals that pet numbers have risen by more than 1.5 million pets and total sales of pet food and litter have surged by 10.8%.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

ACCESS TO CASH Initiative means customers can withdraw sums between 1p and £50 at the till

Link extends ‘Cashback Without Purchase’ rollout Link, the UK’s largest cash machine network, is rolling out Cashback Without Purchase across the UK. This initiative means consumers will be able to withdraw cash or check balances in smaller shops without the need to buy an item instore or pay a fee. The government made changes to the law through the Financial Services Act 2021 earlier this year to facilitate ‘cashback without a purchase’ services.

PayPoint is the first of Link’s members to provide the service and will be offering it at more than 2,000 shops before the end of the year.

Consumers using the service can choose to withdraw any amount between 1p and £50 rather than being restricted to notes dispensed by ATMs. Retailers are

remunerated for providing this service by the cardholder’s bank via the Link member offering the service.

Tracey Graham, Chair of Link Consumer Council, said: “Protecting access to cash is absolutely vital for millions of people who depend on it. Cashback Without Purchase is a convenient new way for people to withdraw notes and coins at their local retailer.”

NEWSTRADE

Non-deliveries of news branded “unforgivable” The NFRN has called for publishers and wholesalers to reassess contingency plans, after retailers up and down the country suffered more late deliveries after Storm Arwen.

It said that despite early warnings of bad weather and a driver shortage, news publishers still printed at the same time, causing widespread delays to – or an absence of – deliveries.

The NFRN’s call centre was inundated with retailers who were unable to get through to wholesalers’ helplines.

National President, Narinder Randhawa, said everyone knew the adverse weather was coming. He asked: “Why couldn’t the publishers have earlier cut-offs?”

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News LEGISLATION Public health bodies call for hike in alcohol price

Scottish Government comes under pressure to increase MUP Alcohol Focus Scotland and Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems have called for an increase in minimum unit pricing.

In a letter to Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Health Humza Yousaf and Public Health Minister Maree Todd, the campaigners recommend an increase from the current price of 50p per unit to 65p.

The letter, which is signed by leading health and children’s charities and royal colleges, highlights that while the initial findings from the Public Health Scotland evaluation have been positive, the impact of a 50p MUP is likely to have been significantly eroded by inflation.

The original modelling of MUP calculated that setting a higher price will deliver greater benefits – a

price of 60p per unit was predicted to save twice as many lives and hospital admissions as 50p per unit, while 70p was expected to deliver three times the effect.

Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, Chair of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems, said: “The Scottish Government committed to review the price two years after the introduction of the policy. While this has understandably been delayed due to the pandemic, we cannot afford to wait any longer.”

MUP came into force in 2018 and the following two years saw a reduction in alcohol consumption and decreases in hospital admissions from alcohol-related liver conditions. Scotland also saw a 10% decrease in the number of alcohol-specific deaths in 2019.

Unfortunately, probably due to changing drinking patterns during the pandemic, alcohol-related deaths rose by a 17% in 2020.

Blantyre retailer and National Deputy Vice-President of the NFRN, Shahid Razzaq, said: “These figures are quite shocking.

While MUP proved to be very successful initially, it is clear that it needs to be reviewed and acted on by government to address this worrying trend and we fully support the proposed increase.”

Scotmid hits electronic shelf label milestone Scotmid has installed its 100,000th electronic shelf label, in its Drumnadrochit store this week. The investment comes at a time when Scotmid is looking to drive store change through technology and adopt sustainable practices that reduce the need for paper usage. The technology is manufactured by SoluM, a Samsung-invested company, with the supply and installation carried out by Cambridge-based technology integrator Herbert Retail.

Spar Mosstlodoch Service Station opens Retailer Suraj Thapa has opened a store and service station in Mosstlodoch, Moray. The store features a Post Office and a large food-to-go area, which offers a range of products including Costa Coffee, Rollover Hot Dogs, Tango Ice Blast, and Fwip Ice

HOME DELIVERY Daniall Nadeem reports a growing demand for home delivery

Nisa retailer delivers results in Glasgow

Retailer Daniall Nadeem, owner of a Nisa Local in the outskirts of Glasgow, says the store’s home delivery service continues to grow despite the relaxation of restrictions.

Nadeem’s Motherwell Road store has been working with Snappy Shopper since January 2020 and was one of the first convenience stores to launch the service. Over the past two years, sales have grown from a handful of online daily orders to around 50 a day.

Daniall said: “We launched before Covid really hit but when it did that had a big impact on demand with more than 100 deliveries coming in every day at one point. We have lost about 10% of those sales, but have managed to hold on to most of the new delivery customers since Covid and we’re still getting new customers all the time through the Snappy app.”

The increased demand for delivery has seen the need for a change in operations at the store with staff members now dedicated to managing and picking the orders coming in via Snappy Shopper, as well as decisions on range and pricing determined by the anticipated interest from online customers.

Daniall says walk-in customers remain the priority, but the delivery service available is an added extra.

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HEALTH

Report recognises local shops’ commitment to healthy eating The Food Foundation has highlighted the essential role that local shops play in providing healthy food.

Its Peas Please Report reveals that since the initiative was launched in 2017, 636 million additional portions of vegetables have been sold or served. In the past year over 403 million portions have been added.

ACS boss James Lowman said: “Convenience retailers have actively and positively engaged with a range of campaigns to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables in their local areas including Change4Life, Healthy Start, and Peas Please. We’re pleased to see this report recognises the important role that local shops play in contributing to healthier communities.”

Cream, as well as a hot food-togo counter. In addition, the JETbranded forecourt has six lanes and car parking for 20 cars.

Aldi hits the 100 store mark in Scotland Aldi has opened its 100th store in Scotland in Hermiston Gait Retail Park, Edinburgh.

The supermarket gave out prizes worth £6,000 across all its Scottish stores to thank customers for their support. Aldi is now working with 90 Scottish suppliers and stocking more than 450 Scottish products, with a target of reaching 500 within two years.

PayPoint secures deal with Tyne Tunnels operator PayPoint is working with Tyne Tunnels operator TT2 to offer drivers alternative pre-payment and pay later solutions. Toll payments can now be made up to midnight on the day after someone uses the tunnel, in cash or card, at one of the 28,000 PayPoint retailers nationwide.

DECEMBER 2021 | SLR

7

HELP YOUR SHOPPERS

FIND THE DRINK THEY WANT Adding new drinks to your chiller is important to create customer excitement. But over time, the shopability of your range can suffer if you don’t take a step back to plan what goes where. Chris Sophocleus from Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I (SBF GB&I) joined Mike Lakhani at his store in Southampton to find out how a fresh look can help improve your sales.

THE RETAILER

THE STORE

MIKE LAKHANI, ST MARY’S SUPERMARKET, SOUTHAMPTON

CHRIS SOPHOCLEUS, NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER, SBF GB&I

“Our customer base is vast and varied. We have students, local people, offices, we have a hospital nearby, and we're on a throughway to the city centre.

“Soft drinks account for more than 10% of my total sales. When I look back five years, our range is totally different now. For the last three to four years the biggest seller has been energy drinks. I think people are also becoming healthier as well.

“What’s been done to our chiller today has been fabulous, because it’s brought a different aspect to my thoughts of how a chiller should look.

Everything is sectored off separately.

"As soon as my customers reach the chiller, they can see the water if they want water, or energy if they want energy. I believe this change will lead to a sales increase because it makes it easier for me to shop, and looks more attractive.”

“Mike’s range is vast – there are two large chillers, and thus plenty of options and choice.

“The two large chillers ultimately mean that Mike’s range are brilliant, but over time more products have been added in and where they sit has not been planned as well as it could have been. This has made it a little complicated for customers to understand where to find the products they want.

“The biggest benefit we've given to Mike’s store today is around his shopper’s wait time. Customers now can go to one section of the chiller and find exactly what they're looking to purchase, which will save roughly 40% of the time in store.

“More importantly, we know there's roughly £8,500 worth of additional sales that can be made through soft drinks chillers. ”And the changes we’ve made will save time and help unlock that opportunity."

THE OPPORTUNITY

£8,5001

IS THE AMOUNT EACH STORE COULD MAKE OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS BY DELIVERING AGAINST KEY NEED STATES.

85.5%2

OF SALES COME FROM THE FIVE MUST-STOCK SEGMENTS – CARBONATES, ENERGY, WATER, JUICE AND SPORT.

1 SBF GB&I Category research, 2020 2 EXT IRI, MarketPlace, GB, latest 52 week data ending 21.02.21

THE RESULTS JUICES AND JUICE DRINK SALES GREW

20%

15%

TOTAL GROWTH IN WATER SALES3

ABOVE THE GROWTH RATE OF TOTAL SOFT DRINK SALES3

THE CHANGES WE MADE STEP ONE

PUT SIMILAR SEGMENTS TOGETHER AND FLOW THEM BY SIZE

BEFORE

AFTER

Most of the water products in Mike’s store were situated together. But larger bottles of water were situated further down the chiller. If someone were coming in to purchase water, they might not know where to go to pick it up from. We simply moved the larger format water drinks under the rest of his range to make it easier to shop.

STEP TWO

BEFORE

AFTER

GIVE YOUR BIGGEST SELLING CATEGORIES THE KEY SELLING SPACE Mike told us stimulation drinks are a key element of his sales. Although his Monster range was situated in one part of the chiller, Red Bull was situated further down. One of the key things we did was bring those drinks together into one stimulation category, and block vertically, so all the options in Stimulation are there.

STEP THREE

KEEP SEGMENTS TOGETHER – IN THE SAME CHILLER AT LEAST

BEFORE

AFTER

TO SEE MORE OF MIKE’S SHOP AND FOR ADVICE FOLLOW @SUNTORYBF_GBI ON TWITTER AND LINKEDIN 3 Based on data from the four weeks to 11.11.21; v. 2019 data

Mike’s juice drinks range was split into two different chillers which doesn't make it very easy for customers to know where products are. We brought everything into one section, put it in one part of the chiller vertically blocked, broken down by everyday juice drinks, then smaller cartons, then Ribena and Oasis, which are key juice drinks products, all in one section.

News LOCAL SOURCING Initiative’s second phase progresses with a further 21 retailers

Bestway unveils £250k Christmas campaign Bestway has launched a Christmas campaign, representing more than £250,000 of investment. Large Christmas houses have been constructed in around 35 depots with sleighs and reindeers, and theatre in smaller sites. Each house features festive products and offers. The campaign includes a competition giving retailers the chance to win a share of £56,000.

Airdrie welcomes new Spar store Independent retailer Jigneshkumar Chauhan has opened a new Spar store on Stirling Street, Airdrie. The store, which previously operated with the Day Today fascia, now features a Smokin’ Bean coffee offer, Tango Ice Blast, f’real shakes and smoothies, Fwip

SGF marks progress of Go Local Programme SGF welcomed Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Mairi Gougeon to Scotmid’s Broxburn store to mark the progress of the second phase of the SGF Go Local Programme, which helps convenience stores across Scotland provide dedicated, long-term display space for locallysourced Scottish products.

The original 10-store pilot, which launched on 1 December 2020 and ran until June 2021, saw the SGF chose 10 geographically and demographically diverse stores across a range of fascia groups to prove proof of concept. Each store received match-funding.

The trial resulted in a 34% increase in the number of local products stocked thanks to more space dedicated to them, and a

40% rise in sales of local produce at shops that took part.

The success of the pilot has led to the second phase of the programme, which is advancing with 21 retailers, and will continue to develop the 10 pilot stores.

Rural Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Mairi Gougeon, said: “The initiative has also shown that our diverse and successful convenience store sector is ideally placed to give customers the greater choice of healthy produce they are looking for, while at the same time helping to achieve our net zero targets by reducing food miles.”

SGF Chief Executive Pete Cheema added: “The SGF Go Local programme has been an outstanding success to date, and we

are delighted that in recognition of this that the Cabinet Secretary has come to visit Scotmid’s Broxburn store to see an excellent example of type of benefits the programme can bring to the local community.”

A virtual ‘Meet the Buyer’ event will provide retailers with the opportunity to meet new suppliers and enhance their Scottish range.

The virtual event will take place on 25 January 2022.

Ice Cream, Rollover Hot Dogs, Brownings Bakery, ATM, Lottery, and PayPoint.

Nisa looks to grow partnership with food waste app Nisa has launched a campaign to increase the number of its retailers signed up to food waste fighting app Too Good To Go to 1,000 stores. A video has been created to promote the partnership with Nisa partners, along with a flyer that is being shared with partners by Nisa’s retail development managers to raise awareness and get them involved.

RANGING Symbol group uses advanced data analysis to tailor ranges according to customer base

One Stop bases range on store demographics One Stop retailers have started offering products based on their store demographics, with new products being stocked, and with updated point of sale material.

The symbol group says it has recognised that not all its stores are the same and is using advanced data analysis to ensure products are better suited to the customer, which will reduce unnecessary waste.

One Stop has introduced new lines, including Alpro almond milk, Cravendale filtered milks, avocados, raspberries, and GU lemon cheesecake. It has also added a wider range of snacking options for children, such as Attack a Snack and Cheese Strings.

Retailers are showcasing the new products and strategy with updated POS, featuring grey shelf stripping throughout chilled and produce, a new design for the food-to-go meal deal, and new navigation.

Sam Watkins, Head of Product at One Stop, said: “This evolution follows extensive research into what our customers want, which signals a growth in these areas and a demand for products which are healthier and readily available. Growing these sections and targeting stores in the way we have become a key part in our long-term business plan and the launch of the new product range and POS modernisation is our first step on that journey.”

Aldi launches deposit return scheme trial in Bathgate

FOOD POVERTY

Aldi is trialling its first deposit

Post Office is supporting people facing poverty this winter by donating 1p to the Trussell Trust for every cash withdrawal made over the counter in any of its 11,500 branches.

The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of more than 1,300 food bank centres and campaigns for change to end the need for food banks in the UK. The donation will help to provide vital services such as food bank provisions and financial guidance to help families reduce the impact of increasing household bills and unexpected costs this winter.

Post Office will be donating to the Trussell Trust until 31 March 2022.

return scheme at its Bathgate store. Customers are being encouraged to return PET plastic or glass bottles, from 50ml up to three litres, and aluminium drinks cans. For each item deposited, customers will receive 10p in the form of a voucher, up to a maximum of £5, which

Post Office tackles hunger and poverty

can be redeemed against their shopping.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

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THEY WORK HARD Time for a proper break

.

7 5 £ 9 RRP

*

Our lowest price

you've

EARNED IT

** * *

*Based on ITUK RRPs as at October 2021.

RRP: For the avoidance of doubt, retailers are free at all times to determine the selling price of their products. **Based on ITUK estimates as at October 2021.

News FOOD-TO-GO Franchise deal will see eight new Pizza Hut forecourt stores open

South Queensferry welcomes new Spar store Independent retailer Mohammad Akhtar has opened a new Spar store in Scotstoun Grove, Edinburgh. The 1,000sq ft store, which was previously with Premier, opened after a small refurbishment. It now offers a range of licensed products, lotto, Payzone, Rollover Hot Dogs, Tango Ice Blast, coffee, F’real, and Porrelli ice cream.

P.O. cash deposits and withdrawals exceed £2.9bn for second month running Post Offices handled almost £3bn in cash deposits and withdrawals in October, according to the latest Post Office Cash Tracker. Business cash deposits exceeded £1bn for the fifth month in a row, although saw a 5% fall monthon-month, and personal cash deposits dipped 1.8% monthon-month. Post Offices saw the highest amount of personal cash withdrawals all year in October, with more than £692m taken out

EG Group helps Pizza Hut Delivery grab slice of on-the-go market EG Group and Pizza Hut have formed a new franchising partnership, which helps Pizza Hut expand into the on-the-go market.

The deal will see EG Group open eight new Pizza Hut stores in petrol stations by the end of 2021. The first EG Group-operated store is due to open in the Hartlepool area in the coming weeks.

As a franchisee, EG Group will keep Pizza Hut’s signature branding and menu, and will offer five classic flavours including Margherita, Pepperoni, Supreme, Meat Feast, and Veggie Supreme, as well as newer addition the Beyond Meat Supreme pizza.

Neil Manhas, General Manager at Pizza Hut Delivery in the UK, said: “EG Group has a wealth of experience in forecourt retail, in operating food service and their expertise as a global leader in this specific type of retail makes them the ideal partner to lead us into this new market.

“This partnership demonstrates our commitment to adapting to customer demand by expanding our offerings. This wouldn’t be possible without the incredible work of each of our franchisees and team members, who have helped us continue to grow following the pandemic. I appreciate their dedication to the Pizza Hut brand.”

Mohammed Tayab, Food and Beverage Director – Europe at EG Group, added: “We are proud

to be partnering with Pizza Hut to bring yet another global food service brand to our customers in convenient locations across the UK. We are excited to build on our existing relationship with Yum!, as we already work with KFC and operate a large number of restaurants across the EG Group estate.

“We look forward to trialling the pizza by the slice proposition and making it a resounding success.”

over the counter.

LOTTERY Draw-based games drive growth

Unitas Wholesale launches festive alcohol guidance Unitas Wholesale has launched new Christmas beers, wines and spirits guidance. The Focus On guidance, developed with Heineken, provides insights on the most important areas of focus for independent retailers.

Digital versions are available to view and download via the Plan for Profit website and app.

Making a meal of festive food-to-go Nisa has launched some Christmas-inspired food-to-go products to help retailer grow sales. As well as the traditional Co-op Turkey Feast Sandwich and a tasty Co-op no turkey vegan alternative from the Co-op Gro range, other festive flavours available include Co-op Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Scotch Eggs, Co-op Pork, Stuffing and Cranberry Sausage Roll, and Coop Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Pasta Salad.

12

SLR | DECEMBER 2021

Camelot unveils record first-half National Lottery sales Camelot has recorded its highest first-half National Lottery ticket sales of £3.96bn for the six months to 25 September – an increase of 3% on last year.

The majority of the first-half National Lottery sales increase was driven by Camelot growing sales of draw-based games to by 4% to £2.2bn.

In addition, Camelot said Set For Life continues to exceed sales expectations and sales of National Lottery Scratchcards grew by 2%, with in-store Scratchcard sales rising 7% yearon-year.

Camelot grow total in-store sales by 5% and, as a result, first-half retailer commission increased by 5% to £133m – the equivalent of around £3,000 per store.

Chief Executive Nigel Railton said: “This record first half shows that The National Lottery continues to be in its bestever shape as it delivers for good causes, players, retailers and Treasury.

“Following four years of sales growth, including record results last year, I am extremely grateful to my colleagues and the wider National Lottery family of Good Causes distributors and retailers for their role in this ongoing success story.”

NEW STORES

McColl’s extends Morrisons Daily roll out McColl’s Retail Group has agreed terms with Morrisons to extend the number of Morrisons Daily conversions from 350 to 450 stores.

The retailer expects to complete all 450 conversions by the end of November 2022, compared to its previous target of 350 in the same timeframe.

In addition, Morrisons is extending its support and increasing its contribution to the enlarged conversion programme.

McColl’s boss Jonathan Miller said the stores’ increased grocery mix and expanded range is great for customers and “great for the company too.”

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*SOURCE: A.C. NIELSEN SCOTLAND IMPULSE 25.01.20. BASED ON AVERAGE STORE SIZE. TENNENT’S AND THE RED T ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THE C&C GROUP

THE RIGHT RANGE FOR SCOTLAND

Introducing Tennent’s Rewards!

Don’t miss out, by signing up you could increase your sales by up to £270 a week!*

What is Tennent’s Rewards?

• A Beer & Cider focussed category plan designed specifically for the shopper in Scotland • A way to grow your sales delight your shoppers, and get rewarded for doing so • Encourage more people to make purchases in your shop.

Benefits For You Increased Sales and Support Grow your sales and earn rewards through support from the Tennent’s Rewards team.

Increased Visibility and POS Easier to shop and maintain availability on fixture, enhancing value, growing sales, and delighting shoppers.

Insight for growth Shoppers in Scotland proportionally spend 42% more on the top 3 Beer & Cider brands than in England & Wales.1 This means more space is required to stop you losing out on sales across the biggest brands in Scotland.

1:A.C. Nielsen 25.01.20

Meeting shopper requirements in a changing environment We are here to support and guide on Scottish legislation and evolving shopper trends.

Unlock the value in your chiller now!

Sign up today at www.tennentsrewards.com or email rewards@tennents.com for more information.

News Extra

Sustainability | Decarbonisation

NewsExtra MAKE THE MOST OF EPOS – P52 SUSTAINABILITY UK government invests £11m in four projects to decarbonise whisky making

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Convenience Matters with the SGF The recent SGF Mini Summit event focused on a very big question: what is the future of food in the convenience channel? There were excellent presentations from retailers, suppliers and from companies who are at the cutting edge of developing ‘on demand’ shopping from c-stores.

There were also important discussions on the public health policy agenda and its impact on food in convenience. The sector has recently had to implement ingredient and allergen labelling regulations, while mandatory calorie labelling could potentially be the next policy intervention tabled.

Not so long ago, regulations such as these would not have had a massive impact on the sector, but such has been the exponential growth in food-tgo that food-related policies now represent some of our biggest challenges.

One question which was on everyone’s mind was how far can c-stores go with food-to-go? Comparisons with the ‘Irish model’ have been frequently made and many retailers seem to have taken very useful learnings from it.

Overall, however, the question remains unanswered, which is understandable given how big and important the question is.

Perhaps the future will see stores becoming local ‘convenience hubs’ located within, and being a key part of, the 20 minute neighbourhood, where they retain a focus on brands and core range but are increasingly seen by customers as being the destination for quality, freshly prepared food-to-go.

Maximising the offer of locallysourced Scottish products will be a crucial factor in this.

This sounds like the ideal theme for another conference.

See you in 2022!

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

Government funding helps distilleries fuel a greener future Four decarbonisation projects in Scotland have secured phase two funding.

Hydrogen and biogas will power whisky and spirit producers across the country thanks to more than £11m from the UK government.

Four projects will receive a share of the funding to decarbonise their distilling processes for the UK’s iconic whiskies and spirits. In the first phase of Green Distilleries Competition funding, 17 projects across the UK received up to £75,000 each to help boost research and development for decarbonisation projects.

Phase 2 will enable four of those projects to progress schemes that use low-carbon hydrogen and biogas instead of fossil fuels in their production processes.

Energy Minister, Greg Hands, said: “From London to Livingston, the UK is home to some of the world’s best-loved drinks and the Green Distilleries Competition is supporting producers in this iconic industry to go further and faster in cutting carbon emissions as we build back greener.

“We have been at the forefront of the push to tackle climate change at the COP26 summit in Glasgow and [this funding] is a key part of that. UK industry continues to lead the world in its innovation and commitment to meeting the challenges of tackling climate change head on. That’s certainly something worth raising a toast to.”

Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, added: “Scotland’s whisky industry has a proud heritage and is taking massive steps to embrace innovative technologies that will make production greener and cleaner.

UK government investment like this will help secure the future of the sector and the highly-skilled jobs it supports.”

Projects that have received phase 2 funding include: Q Protium Green Solutions, which is developing a system that uses hydrogen as a fuel source rather than oil in whisky production at the Bruichladdich Distillery on the Isle of Islay.

Q Locogen, whose project will be based at the Arbikie Highland Estate Distillery in Inverkeilor near Arbroath, is developing and installing a green hydrogen energy system at the distillery, comprising a wind turbine, electrolyser, hydrogen storage and hydrogen boiler system.

Q Colorado Construction and Engineering, which is based in Livingston near Edinburgh, is developing a novel biofuel batchgasification system.

Q Supercritical Solutions, a cleantech start-up business that is developing the world’s first high-pressure ultra-efficient electrolyser to generate green hydrogen as a feedstock for the distilling process. It is working with Beam Suntory at its Glen Garioch distillery in Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire.

Matt Bird, Chief Executive at Supercritical, said: “Our collaboration with Beam Suntory and the Manufacturing Technology Centre will help advance the world’s first high-pressure, ultraefficient electrolyser technology for the production of zero emission hydrogen, helping to decarbonise the whisky industry whilst setting an example for other hard-todecarbonise sectors.”

Recent data tracking the Scotch Whisky industry’s Sustainability Strategy reveals the sector has

already cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% since 2008. Almost 40% of all energy used by producers is obtained from non-fossil fuel sources, compared to 28% in 2018.

Scotch Whisky producers are aiming to achieve Net Zero emissions in operations by 2040.

Scotch Whisky Association Chief Executive, Karen Betts, said: “This funding is a welcome boost for the industry at a time when Scotch Whisky companies are already working hard to reduce their emissions. As a result, nearly 40% of the industry’s energy is now coming from renewable sources.

But we know we need to go further and faster, and that’s where the Green Distilleries Competition is so critical since it supports companies in testing new technologies.

“The results of the work undertaken through the competition are then shared across the sector, which helps everyone to map further our path to Net Zero.

This is exactly the sort of industrygovernment partnership that will help us to secure a sustainable future for Scotch Whisky and for the communities across Scotland within which we work.” www.slrmag.co.uk

Comment

A DAY OF CELEBRATION Having had to postpone all live events over the last 18 months or so, or move them to virtual platforms, it was a rare and thoroughly enjoyable treat to be able to catch up with the many winners of this year’s SLR Awards at our recent Awards Winners Lunch. It’s hard to describe how pleasant it was to see retailers in the flesh, rather than watching them buffering on Zoom calls and reminding them that they are on mute.

A small, but select gathering of around 50 people gathered to enjoy a relaxed lunch, a glass of wine and a highly entertaining presentation by Craig Mathieson, the ‘Explorer-in-Residence’ with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Over the course of an absolutely enthralling hour, Craig inspired us all with tales of his trips to the North and South Poles and his epic voyages where he plucked challenged and under-privileged young Scottish teenagers with no hopes and dreams and turned them into legitimate polar explorers as part of his ‘Polar Academy’.

And we’re not messing about here. His first ever Polar Academy trip saw him take a 16 year boy called Chris who had more or less given up on life, trained him relentlessly – and I do mean relentlessly – for many months then, upon landing in the sublime beauty of the Arctic, announced to Chris that he was to lead the expedition himself. It was a gruelling trip over many months with temperatures of -70 degrees centigrade (so cold that they had to literally scrape the ice from their eyeballs) with the team skiing for eight hours (pulling a sled laden with everything they needed) then sleeping for eight hours over and over and over. Needless to say, Chris came up trumps and, in the process, became the youngest human being ever to lead an expedition to the North Pole. The trip changed Chris for ever and he subsequently earned a degree he never thought he was capable of and has gone on to achievements he would never have dreamed of.

Since then Craig has taken countless youngsters who had lost their way in life and gave them a new view of the world and a new view of themselves, one where they are capable of anything they put their mind to.

What’s all this got to do with SLR Awards winners? More than you’d think, actually. The qualities that Chris found in himself are the same qualities that the retailers who filled the room have demonstrated in their own ways: total commitment, the ability to endure challenge after challenge, a will to succeed, refusal to accept defeat and a belief in themselves that allows them to achieve what many others can’t.

We work in truly remarkable industry and never has that been more obvious, nor more widely recognised, than during the challenges of the last couple of years. Every community in Scotland salutes you. It was a privilege to share a few hours with this inspirational group of friends and industry colleagues.

EDITORIAL Publishing Director & Editor Antony Begley 0141 222 5380 | abegley@55north.com Editorial Manager David Rees drees@55north.com Web Editor Findlay Stein 0141 222 5389 | fstein@55north.com Editorial Contributor Karen Peattie

ADVERTISING Sales & Marketing Director Helen Lyons 07575 959 915 | hlyons@55north.com Advertising Manager Robert Aitken 0141 222 5302 | raitken@55north.com

DESIGN Design & Digital Manager Richard Chaudhry 0141 222 5388 | rchaudhry@55north.com

EVENTS Events & Operations Manager Kirsty McDowall 0141 222 5383 | kmcdowall@55north.com

CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS Circulation Manager Cara Begley 0141 222 5381 | cbegley@55north.com Scottish Local Retailer is distributed free to qualifying readers. For a registration card, call 0141 222 5381. Other readers can obtain copies by annual subscription at £50 (UK), £62 (Europe airmail), £99 (Worldwide airmail).

55 North Ltd, Waterloo Chambers, 19 Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 6AY Tel: 0141 22 22 100 Fax: 0141 22 22 177 Website: www.55north.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/slrmag DISCLAIMER The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of 55 North Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher.

All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endevoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change.

This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

Scottish Local Retailer is produced monthly by 55 North Ltd.

ANTONY BEGLEY, PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

© 55 North Ltd. 2021 ISSN 1740-2409.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

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Cover Story

SLR Awards

IT’S TROPHY TIME

Following the virtual Festival of Excellence that was the SLR Awards 2021, our winning retailers met-up for a celebratory lunch at Glasgow’s Blythswood Hotel, where they were also presented with their trophies.

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Scottish Grocers’ Federation

W INNER

Asiyeh & Jawad Javed (Day Today Stenhousemuir)

WI NNER

Helen Lyons (SLR), AMAN JOHAL & Jorshan Johal (Premier Birnam Stores)

CONFECTIONERY RETAILER OF THE YEAR

FOOD-TO-GO RETAILER OF THE YEAR

DAY TODAY STENHOUSEMUIR

PREMIER BIRNAM STORES

Having started out in life as a traditional ‘sweetie shop’, Day Today Stenhousemuir has continued to prioritise the confectionery category with a unique range of products.

When coronavirus caused a downturn in the food-to-go market, the Johal family redoubled their efforts and created a next-generation takeaway food and drink offer.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

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Congratulations to all the winners

from everyone at #holidaysarecoming

To find out more email connect@ccep.com, call 0808 1 000 000 or visit my.ccep.com © 2021 The Coca-Cola Company. All rights reserved. COCA-COLA and COCA-COLA ZERO are registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company.

Cover Story

SLR Awards

W INNER

Helen Lyons (SLR), Chris McCallum (Spar Coylton)

WI NNER

Helen Lyons (SLR), Lauren Farwell & David Candy (Scotmid Barnton)

FRESH & CHILLED RETAILER OF THE YEAR

FRESH & CHILLED RETAILER OF THE YEAR (CONVENIENCE MULTIPLE)

SPAR COYLTON A recent refit by Ayrshire Spar retailer Chris McCallum proved the perfect opportunity to take his fresh and chilled offer to the next level.

SCOTMID BARNTON Scotmid Barnton offers a view into the future of convenience retailing with its fresh and chilled offer.

W INNER

Helen Lyons (SLR), Shona & Ian Smith (Premier Turriff)

WI NNER

Euan Bain (Cold Town Beer), Harris Aslam (Nisa Greens of Ellon)

NEWSTRADE RETAILER OF THE YEAR

OFF-TRADE RETAILER OF THE YEAR

PREMIER TURRIFF

NISA GREENS OF ELLON

With three consecutive SLR Newstrade Retailer of the Year Awards, Turriff-based retailer Ian Smith’s store shows just what is possible when you fully commit to a category.

In a standout year for alcohol sales, Nisa Greens of Ellon stood out more than most by creating a fantastic shopping experience and offering an outstanding range.

W INNER

Keith Sutherland (AG Barr), Harris Aslam (Nisa Greens of Ellon)

WI NNER

Waseem Sadiq, Lee Amato (Spar Renfrew), Robert Miller (CCEP), Angie Gibson & Saleem Sadiq (Spar Renfrew)

SCOTTISH BRANDS RETAILER OF THE YEAR

SOFT DRINKS RETAILER OF THE YEAR

NISA GREENS OF ELLON

SPAR RENFREW

It’s never been more important to support local, regional and national producers to help build more robust local economies, something Nisa Greens of Ellon has understood better than most.

Soft drinks is one of the biggest volume categories of all, making it a critical factor in the success of every store – something that Saleem Sadiq has long known in his Spar Renfrew store.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

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Everything a modern convenience store needs

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Cover Story

SLR Awards

W INNER

WI NNER

Helen Walker (Nisa Retail), Asiyeh & Jawad Javed (Day Today Stenhousemuir), Neil Potter (Nisa Retail)

Helen Lyons (SLR), Rits, Guna, Vikas, Shamly Sud (Premier RaceTrack Autoport)

VAPING & NICOTINE REPLACEMENT RETAILER OF THE YEAR

COMMUNITY RETAILER OF THE YEAR

DAY TODAY STENHOUSEMUIR

PREMIER RACETRACK AUTOPORT Sales continue to grow and develop in Shamly Sud’s store.

Asiyah and Jawad Javed’s monumental efforts during the pandemic have been an inspiration to all, not just in the Stenhousemuir area but throughout Scotland and across the globe.

W INNER

WI NNER

Neil Potter (Nisa Retail), Graham Watson (Premier Watson’s Grocer), Helen Walker (Nisa Retail)

Faraz Iqbal (Premier Linktown Local)

COMMUNITY RETAILER OF THE YEAR

COMMUNITY RETAILER OF THE YEAR

PREMIER LINKTOWN LOCAL

PREMIER WATSON’S GROCER

Faraz Iqbal’s store has long been a hub of community activity and during lockdown he also introduced a home delivery service for vulnerable and elderly customers as well as those shielding and self-isolating.

As the only store serving Moniaive, Graham Watson’s shop has always been a vital resource for the local community, but during the pandemic the residents of the village in Dumfries and Galloway came to rely on it more than ever.

W INNER

Antony Begley (SLR), Vikas, Guna, Rits, Shamly Sud (Premier RaceTrack Autoport)

WI NNER

Umayr Asif (Premier News Food & Wine Nethergate), David Thomson (Snappy Shopper)

FORECOURT RETAILER OF THE YEAR

HOME DELIVERY RETAILER OF THE YEAR

PREMIER RACETRACK AUTOPORT

PREMIER NEWS FOOD & WINE NETHERGATE

An already awe-inspiring store becomes even more impressive to retain its crown.

Nobody delivered the goods during the pandemic quite like our category winner, Dundee retailer Umayr Asif.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

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Cover Story

SLR Awards

W INNER

Helen Lyons (SLR), Rits, Vikas, Guna, Shamly Sud (Premier RaceTrack Autoport)

WI NNER

Antony Begley (SLR), Anand Cheema (Spar Falkirk)

NEW STORE OF THE YEAR

REFIT OF THE YEAR

PREMIER RACETRACK CROWWOOD

SPAR FALKIRK

One of Shamly Sud’s latest ventures, Premier RaceTrack Crowwood takes Shamly’s vision in a new but recognisable direction.

Anand Cheema’s first venture into owning his own store was always likely to be high pressure but he responded in style with an intelligently-designed store that is perfect for today’s shoppers.

W INNER

WI NNER

Antony Begley (SLR), Vikas, Shamly, Rits, Guna Sud (Premier RaceTrack Autoport)

Mark Brill (Tomra), Chris McCallum (Spar Coylton)

SUSTAINABILITY RETAILER OF THE YEAR

#THINKSMART INNOVATION AWARD

SPAR COYLTON

PREMIER RACETRACK AUTOPORT

Retailers who ignore sustainability do so at their peril and, as Chris McCallum’s Spar Coylton store shows, doing good really is good for business.

Premier Racetrack is an example of what happens when innovation is built into the very fabric of a business.

W INNER

Waseem Sadiq, Angie Gibson (Spar Renfrew), Pete Cheema (SGF), Lee Amato & Saleem Sadiq (Spar Renfrew)

Neil Potter, Helen Walker (Nisa Retail), Nick Preater

TEAM OF THE YEAR

SPAR RENFREW

SYMBOL GROUP – COMMUNITY INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Having a team that you can absolutely and entirely trust and rely on in the most challenging of circumstances is invaluable, as Saleem Sadiq discovered in March last year.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

WI NNER

NISA RETAIL – MAKING A DIFFERENCE LOCALLY Long a fundraising star, Making A Difference Locally shone brighter than ever during the dark days of 2020.

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Helping you to make an extra 3% Gross Profit Ease of use

Simple to use touch screen till software

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Cigarette Gantry integration

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Touch screen handheld device to control the shop from the shopfloor

Supplier Data links with all major Wholesalers

Credit Card integration

Weekly health check reports to guide you to improve your sales and margin.

Access to background database with over 100,000 products

Benefits of MPos ✓ Built around a retailer, not a computer user ✓ Simple to use till, powerful admin tools ✓ Built from retailers perspective ✓ Reduces labour by downloading products, price changes, invoices and promotions

✓ Reduces labour by allowing one click order generation and one click invoice downloads - easily shave off 10 hours of work per store

✓ Increased control on stock; all stock deliveries downloaded and all stock adjustments emailed to the owner; NO stock is unaccounted for

✓ Emails store performance to the user with real actionable data once a week rather than stats heavy reports that overwhelm the user

✓ Based in Scotland with excellent support and training program

✓ Easy to use Hand Held terminal to control the store from shop floor ✓ Integration with Credit Card terminals, Zapper, Cigarette Gantry, Loyalty Schemes and more ✓ Developed and supported by people that know the retail trade

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Even a Single Lane system can more than pay for itself in the first 4 months!

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Tel: 0800 242 5360 email sales@mhousesolutions.com

Cover Story

SLR Awards

W INNER

WI NNER

Antony Begley (SLR), Paula Middleton, Colin McLean (Spar Scotland), Nick Preater (RVM Systems)

Jason Macleod, Fiona Nisbett (UWS), Nick Preater (RVM Systems)

SYMBOL GROUP – INNOVATION OF THE YEAR

SYMBOL GROUP OF THE YEAR

SPAR SCOTLAND

UNITED WHOLESALE SCOTLAND

Chief Executive Colin McLean and his management team have transformed Spar Scotland into a world-class business – one that has performed remarkably over the last 12 months.

Technology can make life easier for retailers, but United Wholesale Scotland’s efforts during the pandemic also made life a whole lot safer for them too.

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

W INNER

WI NNER Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Antony Begley (SLR, Angie Lindsay, Kashif Nadeem (Premier Blackadder Mini Market and Deli)

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Daniel Johnson MSP Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

UNSUNG HERO OF THE YEAR

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

ANGELA LINDSAY

DANIEL JOHNSON MSP

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

PREMIER BLACKADDER MINI MARKET & DELI

Retailers in Scotland can look forward to safer, more respectful working environments in the future thanks to the outstanding efforts of Daniel Johnson MSP in getting his Protection of Shopworkers Act through the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

Every local retailer has been a hero during the pandemic, but Angie Lindsay’s quick thinking and prompt actions saved a customer’s life when he suffered a stroke while doing his shopping.

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Scottish Grocers’ Federation

29/11/2021 15:07:28

W INNER

Anand Cheema (Spar Falkirk), Antony Begley (SLR)

WI NNER

Helen Lyons (SLR), Shamly Sud (Premier Racetrack), Antony Begley (SLR)

YOUNG SCOTTISH LOCAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR

SCOTTISH LOCAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR

ANAND CHEEMA, SPAR FALKIRK

SHAMLY SUD, PREMIER RACETRACK

It may be only his first year as a local retailer but what a year it’s been for Anand Cheema, who has done himself and his mother and father proud in his little corner of Falkirk.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

Shamly Sud has created an award-winning chain of stores that is unique in the UK.

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News

Products

IB Group rebrands IB Group, the parent company of Hancocks and Bonds of London, has rebranded as World of Sweets. The rebrand seeks to unify World of Sweets’ breadth of company-owned brands, partner brands and business units under one name. Helen Bradshaw, Sales and Marketing Director, said: “Our rebrand is an exciting chance to really showcase our expertise as a total business.”

Sustainable Saputo Saputo Dairy UK, brand owner of Cathedral City, Clover, Country Life and Frylight, has teamed-up with flexible packaging supplier Wipak UK in a new project which sees 33% of virgin plastic replaced with post-consumer recycled material across a range of block cheese packaging.

Saputo says all its packaging will be either recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

Product News UNWRAP SPARKLING CHRISTMAS PROFITS WITH PREMIUM DRINKS – P56 SOFT DRINKS Britvic brand gets Christmas makeover and marketing campaign

J2O adds some festive sparkle Adult soft drink J2O is spreading some festive cheer this Christmas with a sparkling pack redesign and on-pack promotion, available now.

A new marketing campaign in support of the refresh also aims to tap into the nation’s desire for festive social events, especially as so many occasions were missed last year due to lockdown restrictions.

The new shimmering, 100% recyclable J2O multipacks run across the brand’s Orange & Passion Fruit and Apple & Watermelon flavours, as well as the returning Glitterberry variant, to

help drive standout on shelf as customers seek drinks to enjoy over the festive season.

The on-pack promotion seeks to engage shoppers even further, with every J2O bottle giving them the chance to win instant cash prizes and add some glitz to their wintry get-togethers through the brand’s Spin to Sparkle app.

J2O’s Christmas activity will also be supported by a £1m national

CEREAL BARS

SNACKS

Crunch time for Nature Valley

New-look Hula Hoops packs roll out KP Snacks is refreshing its Hula Hoops brand with the roll-out of new, modernised packaging across the entire range.

Available from this month, the new Hula Hoops packaging features vibrant colours, sharp graphics and bold patterns, enhancing the brand’s appeal to a wider audience.

The eye-catching design and colours look to engage and disrupt shoppers, “hinting at bold and tasty flavours that can be found within each pack”.

The packaging refresh will bring the entire range under a master-brand design, clearly communicating its sub-ranges and making it easier for consumers to navigate in store.

John McDougall, Brand Manager at KP Snacks, said: “Hula Hoops is an iconic brand and continues to be a dominant player in the CSN category, having recently surpassed the £150m RSV milestone. We are delighted to be reinvigorating the brand with an exciting packaging update across the entire range to continue driving its strong position.”

The Hula Hoops brand is growing at 9.1% YTD.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

out-of-home advertising campaign which is expected to reach over 67% of all UK adults during key weeks of the season. Headturning, festive-themed point of sale materials such as baubles and Christmas tree displays will also be available to help bring the occasion to life in stores.

Phil Sanders, Out-of-Home Commercial Director at Britvic, said: “J2O is perfectly placed to help retailers attract new shoppers to the category, especially during the festive period when the brand brings in 38% of Christmas shoppers.”

IRN-BRU IS BACK ON TV WITH SNOWMAN ADVERT IRN-BRU is back on TV screens on 1st December with the IRN-BRU Snowman, Scotland’s best-loved Christmas TV advert.

Ensuring you have the right ranges for broad appeal and offering value will be even more crucial this year with bigger take home packs meeting the needs of shoppers in-home.

Prominently display all three variants of IRN-BRU to drive incremental category sales.

Cereal bar brand Nature Valley has announced a new price-marked pack offer for its Crunchy range, designed to help convenience retailers boost their better-foryou snack sales.

Available now, the new offer means shoppers will be able to purchase two Nature Valley Crunchy singles for £1, previously 59p each.

Two SKUs, aimed at the onthe-go morning occasion, are included in the deal – Nature Valley Crunchy Oats & Honey, and Nature Valley Crunchy Canadian Maple Syrup.

The new price-marked singles are available now in SHS, Booker and Co-op, and follow year-on-year growth for Nature Valley in the convenience channel.

The overall Nature Valley Crunchy platform is worth £31.3m and is a significant driver of growth for the brand.

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*All featured GB Pepsi and Britvic single serve plastic bottles (500ml and 600ml), excluding caps/labels, are made from 100% recycled plastic. Larger bottles (over 1L) planned to change to 100% recycled plastic by the end of 2022. ** Cap and bottle only

News

Products

Product News CRACK THE EASTER OPPORTUNITY – P58 SNACKS

Butterkist pairs up with Spider-Man

KP Snacks has launched a new on-pack promotion for its Butterkist popcorn brand, celebrating the release of the new Spider-Man: No Way Home film.

Eye-catching promotional packs give shoppers the opportunity to win one of five Sony tech bundles, which each include a Sony Bravia 65” smart TV, a Sony AllOne Sound Bar, and Sony headphones.

Running until mid-February 2022, the new promotional packs are available across sharing bags of Tasty Sweet (100g), Deliciously Sweet & Salty (100g), Simply Salted (80g), and Crunchy Toffee popcorn (170g). The campaign also runs across these flavours in £1 PMP format.

Kevin McNair, Marketing Director at KP Snacks, says: “The new Butterkist promotion aims to capitalise on the growth of popcorn sharing occasions (+21%).

The promotion is perfectly positioned to disrupt shoppers, broaden Butterkist’s appeal and bring new shoppers to the category. Driving category penetration by focusing on the fun and excitement of a big theatrical release, a well-loved character and the opportunity to win big prizes, the campaign creates a valuable opportunity for retailers to drive growth in popcorn.”

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

SOFT DRINKS New activity celebrates the magic of community and togetherness

Coca-Cola launches Christmas campaign Coca-Cola has launched a new campaign, Real Magic at Christmas, that spotlights and celebrates the real magic of community and togetherness. The multi-faceted campaign carries at its heart a simple message of festive joy and inclusion, reminding us that real magic happens in the moments of connection we share with others.

Real Magic at Christmas is anchored by a short film supported by a series of activations across various channels, including influencer partnerships, consumerled activity and charity initiatives.

The new film celebrates human kindness with a renewed relevance to the world we live in today.

The film tells the story of a boy whose imagination and efforts gather a community’s goodwill at Christmas, creating a shared moment of magic around a festive meal and a Coca-Cola.

Beyond the film, the Real Magic at Christmas campaign features wider elements including a partnership with FareShare.

This sees an on-pack ‘Win a meal, give a meal’ promotion across Coca-Cola Original Taste and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar future consumption packs giving consumers the chance to win food related vouchers, while donating meals to Coca-Cola’s long-term charity partner, FareShare – a

charity set up to fight hunger and food waste by redistributing surplus food to frontline charities.

Other activity includes Hero The Driver, a campaign that celebrates designated drivers as the unsung heroes of seasonal celebrations.

CONFECTIONERY

Can Celebrations get a whoop whoop?

Celebrations is encouraging the world to celebrate all year round and come together, not just at Christmas, with its new ‘Bring The Whoop Whoop’ campaign.

Kicking off the brand activity, a new ad features two identical twins opening two identical presents. The pair reveal two boxes of Celebrations resulting in them celebrating by whoop whooping at each other. As the excitement builds, the rest of the family join in.

The advert will run until the end of 2021 across TV, video-on-demand, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, and is further supported by in-store activation.

While the new strategy maintains and celebrates Celebrations festive heritage, it sees the brand move beyond its traditional Christmas association by evolving the classic Celebrations box into a gift for any time of the year.

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News

Off-Trade

Well kent face The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has announced that Mark Kent, former British Ambassador to Argentina, will succeed Karen Betts as Chief Executive. Betts leaves the SWA in December 2021 to take over as Chief Executive at the Food and Drink Federation. Kent, who will take up the position in January 2022, said: “After a challenging period,

Off-TradeNews TAP INTO THE VALUE TOBACCO TREND – P60 SUSTAINABILITY New can features a ‘drink sustainably’ message

Tennent’s launches sustainability can

I’m looking forward to helping the industry to unleash its full potential.”

Whiskey takeover Amber Beverage Group (ABG) has bought the Irish Whiskey company, Walsh Whiskey, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition took effect on 11 November, with the existing management and staff remaining in place. The move is ABG’s first entry into the Irish whiskey sector, which has seen sales growth of 140% over the past decade. Walsh Whiskey produces The Irishman and Writers’ Tears brands.

Troy’s the Maestro Bacardi has named Astrophel

Tennent’s Lager has unveiled a new can featuring a new ‘drink sustainably’ message.

The company is committing to add a ‘Please Enjoy Sustainably’ message initially across all its canned packaging in a bid to encourage recycling ahead of the introduction of Scotland’s deposit return scheme. It hopes the more direct call-to-action on the 120 million cans the brewery fills on average every year will encourage drinkers to think twice about their recycling habits.

Cameron Matthews, Tennent’s Senior Brand Manager, said: “As Scotland’s favourite lager, we take recycling and sustainability very seriously, and recognise the

responsibility we have to encourage consumers to consider their own environmental impacts. We need to make this as easy as possible for everyone and adding something as simple as a sustainability prompt on our packaging can keep our planet’s best interest front of mind.

“When recycled, aluminium can be back on shelf within 60days, which is a fantastic example of the circular economy in action – with impact on litter and CO2 emissions. It may seem like such a simple action, but by recycling cans, everyone can make a big difference.”

The new eco-conscious can could be rolled out as early as January 2022.

Earlier in the year, the brand unveiled a £7m investment in packaging equipment at Wellpark Brewery to help eradicate singleuse plastic from its consumer packaging. The investment will remove 150 tonnes of plastic from Tennent’s Lager can packs by 2022, including more than 100 million plastic rings.

“Troy” Arquiza as the new Global Master Blender for Bacardi

RESPONSIBLE DRINKING

Diageo knows when to stop

rum (the “Maestro de Ron”).

Arquiza, who is originally from

Diageo has launched a new responsible drinking campaign ‘Know When to Stop’, designed to make people stop and think about overindulgence during the festive period.

Through digital animations, the campaign shows what happens when common holiday pleasures like eating sweets or binge-watching TV can get out of control.

Launched across Diageo’s social channels, Know When to Stop is part of the company’s commitment to reaching one billion people with dedicated responsible drinking messaging by 2030.

the Philippines, has spent more than two decades with Bacardi, honing his craft as a rum blender and training for many years under industry-legend, José “Joe” Gomez, who is retiring after 41-years with Bacardi. Arquiza commented: “I have the world’s best job!”

Blossom Hill back on box Treasury Wine Estates’ wine brand Blossom Hill is back on TV screens for the first time in four years with a ticket competition advert that is expected to reach more than five million consumers. Viewers have a chance to win tickets to Comedy Central’s FriendsFestive event.

Attendees will be able to enjoy a glass of Blossom Hill at The Comedy Central Bar, as the brand is the event’s exclusive Wine partner and Bar sponsor.

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RTDs Gingerbread flavour lands for festive season

VK sleighs Christmas Ready-to-drink brand VK is looking to sleigh Christmas with a new limitededition Gingerbread flavour landing in its 10 x 275ml mixed pack.

Available to Nisa and McColl’s retailers, the festive pack replaces the standard mixed pack, while stocks last.

The packs, which RSP at £10, also give consumers the chance to win an exclusive festive jumper – if they find a winning ticket hidden inside.

For more information call 01246 216000, email info@globalbrands.co.uk or visit globalbrands.co.uk.

KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST NEWS AS IT HAPPENS – FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SLRMAG

www.slrmag.co.uk

Fresh thinkers wanted Find out more about Nisa opportunities at nisalocally.co.uk/retailers or call

0800 542 7490

Scan the QR code to see Sunny’s story.

Nisa’s fresh thinking has helped Sunny grow his business and double basket spend.

Through the latest retail expertise, innovative format design, a best in fresh range and access to Co-op own-brand range we’ve helped Sunny add value to his business.

He also has the chance to earn up to 5.5% rebate as part of our Fresh Rewards scheme.

News

Off-Trade

Stirling Distillery hails the Gin Blue Line Stirling Distillery has launched Gin Blue Line gin. a special bottling to raise money for police officers, both past and present, who suffer with PTSD. Cofounder of the distillery Cameron McCann is a retired Met police officer, who served in the force for 21 years. Gin Blue Line is bottled at 43% and is the first to be created by Stirling Distillery’s new head distiller Lisa Matthews.

Black eye for Side Eyes The Portman Group has upheld a recent complaint against Mikkeller’s Side Eyes Pale Ale that its packaging would appeal to under-18s. The Group’s Independent Complaints Panel considered the artwork on the can to be cartoon-like and reminiscent of the popular computer game Minecraft. The design “used bold lines with

Off-TradeNews WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2022 – P50 WINE New initiative helps retailers make the most of impulse wine purchases

Accolade Wines launches retailer POS platform Accolade Wines has launched Accolade Advantage, a POS platform designed specifically to help independent retailers capitalise on impulse wine purchases, as well as provide category insights and updates on new lines.

The new site, a first of its kind for the brand, offers free POS to retailers, initially highlighting best-selling hero SKUs across Hardys VR, Jam Shed and Echo Falls. Wine is a highly impulsive buying decision, with only 13% of shoppers decide exactly what wine to buy before entering the store,

whilst 28% never intended to buy wine.

POS kits for Jam Shed, Echo Falls and Hardys VR will be available to order free of charge upon sign-up.

Shipped within 30 days of ordering, the packs will include wobblers, posters and shelf tags, and the Accolade Wines sales team are on hand to speak with retailers to help them use the kits effectively.

Those that opt to sign up will also get email updates on new product releases and current wine trends.

Still wine is worth £1.4 billion within the traditional convenience

channel, with Hardys the number one brand and Echo Falls a top ten performer. Jam Shed is the fastestgrowing brand in the impulse channel, growing 76% year on year.

Interested retailers should visit accoladeadvantage.co.uk/signup to request their free POS kits.

Tom Smith, Marketing Director for Europe, at Accolade Wines, said: “There is a big opportunity for independent retailers to increase the chances of purchase in-store with eye-catching POS, which calls out big brands and adds excitement and theatre to their wine offering.”

bright primary contrast colours and added to the impression that the artwork appeared immature”.

Dunnet Bay hits screens for Christmas

GIN New-look bottle is more sustainable

Gordon’s gets makeover

Dunnet Bay Distillers, maker of Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka, is launching a Christmas TV advertising campaign. The 30-second ad will air on Sky TV in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London from 12 November until 15 December.

It is anticipated to reach an audience of 29,000 households.

It shows the company owners, the distillery, and the gardener foraging for the botanicals used to create Dunnet Bay’s spirits.

Sloe Boat launches Just in time for Christmas, Boatyard Distillery has released Boatyard Sloe Boat Gin (70cl, 29.8% ABV, RSP £29.50), a brand new sloe gin available via Speciality Brands. Developed and distilled in Co. Fermanagh, Ireland, the new release will be a permanent addition to Boatyard’s range beyond the festive period.

A whopping 420 grams of sloe berries are used in each bottle, more than any other sloe gin.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

Gordon’s Gin has unveiled a new-look bottle, which is made from up to 85% recycled glass.

The updated pack design pays homage to the history of Gordon’s, from its initial conception in Southwark, London, almost 250 years ago. It features a Royal Warrant, granted to Tanqueray Gordon & Co as suppliers to the Royal Household, the same scripted Gordon’s font on a green glass bottle since the inception of the brand in 1769, and the boar’s head.

Mark Jarman, Global Head of Gordon’s Gin, said: “We are incredibly proud to launch the latest fresh and stylish design for Gordon’s gin, which builds on our rich history and familiarity whilst highlighting the taste cues and making the bottle even more attractive.

“On top of the eye-catching aesthetics, this bottle is also part of our journey towards our wider sustainability targets, ensuring all packaging is widely recyclable by 2030. So, we are incredibly proud of this latest development.”

The new bottle design has already started to be rolled out globally across all Gordon’s variants worldwide.

RUM

Dead Man’s Fingers spices up festivities Spiced rum brand Dead Man’s Fingers has announced the launch of a brand new limited edition Super Spiced Rum variant. The brand has also ramped up its marketing activity in the run up to Christmas with its first ever radio advertising slots.

The latest addition to the Dead Man’s Fingers portfolio, Super Spiced, has been aged for six years to deliver intense flavour and silky smoothness and is packed with exotic, warming spices.

It is available now in both 70cl and 1.75l formats, ABV 43%, RSP £26/£60 respectively.

In addition to the launch, Dead Man’s Fingers is also now live on radio for the first time, with slots on Absolute Radio and Planet Rock running throughout November and December complementing wider media channels and building brand awareness in the runup to Christmas.

KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST NEWS AS IT HAPPENS – FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SLRMAG

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Let’s create a great recycling experience.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees of the SLR Awards 2021.

The global leader in reverse vending technology tomra.com/uk | Get in touch to find out more: tcs.uk@tomra.com

Inside Business

Newstrade

NEWS SCOTLAND LAUNCHES HND PROMOTION

N Retailers that generate a new customer order through the Deliver My Newspaper site will be entered into a prize draw.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

ews Scotland is running an exclusive home news delivery promotion offering new customers £25 off their delivery when they sign up to having either The Scottish Sun or Times Scotland delivered.

The promotion, which will run to 31 December, is available in stores across Scotland that offer a home delivery service. The offer is being advertised in paper, digital, radio, and on POS. To redeem this promotion, customers will need to visit www. delivermynewspaper.co.uk enter their postcode, select The Sun or The Times, select their preferred delivery agent and fill in their details, after this all they will need to do is bring their £25 off delivery vouchers into store and have their new delivery service set up.

News Scotland said: “One million newspapers per day are already delivered to homes around the

UK with 300,000 new customers signing up to home news delivery through Deliver My Newspaper during the pandemic.

“As restrictions have eased, home news delivery has continued to grow as a means for readers to access their news, so it is an ideal time for retailers to start building on and marketing their services to customers. It’s certainly not too late to start an HND service from scratch to meet changing demands.”

In addition, retailers that generate a new customer order through the Deliver My Newspaper site, up until 31 December, will be entered into a draw to win a home news delivery package for their store. This includes two mountain bikes, five news delivery bags, and a bespoke promotion to advertise the retailer’s home news delivery service to nearby homes. Winners will be selected on 3 January 2022 and notified by 10 January 2022. www.slrmag.co.uk

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Inside Business

2 Minutes | Ruth Forbes, Sustainability Director

RUTH FORBES With COP 26 fresh in the memory, SLR catches up with JTI’s Ruth Forbes to learn more about the company’s sustainability initiatives.

HOW IMPORTANT IS SUSTAINABILITY RIGHT NOW? “It has never been more important and not just for the good of the industry, but for society. It’s not only retailers, manufacturers and those in the retail industry: all businesses need to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by the government’s 2050 deadline. While this is still some time away, the issue demands attention now and at JTI UK we are committed to leading the way in helping the industry become more sustainable.

FACTFILE Ruth Forbes has been at JTI for over a decade, working in a number of roles within their community division, before being appointed Head of Responsible Business Projects.

Ruth recently assumed her current role as Sustainability Director, JTI UK, devising and implementing JTI UK’s sustainability initiatives.

38

HOW HAVE JTI HELPED SUPPORT RETAILERS SO FAR? We can make the most significant positive difference if we all work together. Recently, JTI has been working on a new Partner to Trade sustainability project with the UK’s leading Responsible Business Network, Business in the Community.

The project involves working with retailers and wholesalers to spread the word on practical steps towards becoming more sustainable.

WHAT ARE THE KEY AREAS OF CONCERN FOR RETAILERS IN SCOTLAND?

WHAT ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES ARE JTI UNDERTAKING?

Even in the grip of hard lockdowns, retailers were thinking about how sustainability impacts their business. Earlier this year, JTI carried out the largest ever sustainability-focused survey in the independent convenience sector and the results showed that over two-thirds of independent retailers recognised they need to do more. The survey also revealed the top three types of help retailers want from suppliers: more sustainably packaged products, reusable PoS and advice sustainability during in-store visits.

Twelve months ago, we launched our UK Environmental Plan 2030 and next year we will continue to work towards several ambitious sustainability targets across five key focus areas: emissions, energy, waste, water and stakeholder engagement.

This includes pledging to become Net Zero by 2030 – 20 years ahead of the Government’s deadline. We are also committed to increasing recycling rates of general waste to 75% and reducing general waste by 20% – helping save 22.8 tonnes of waste being generated and recycling an additional 21.2 tonnes each year by 2030.

By the end of this decade, we will also have transitioned our sales fleet to electric vehicles – helping to save 776 tonnes of CO2e emissions – the equivalent to 155 hot air balloons per year.

WHAT PRACTICAL STEPS CAN RETAILERS TAKE TO IMPROVE THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINTS? Each store will be different, but we’d suggest retailers review energy efficiency levels overall in their store and install energy efficient refrigeration and LED lighting. In addition, they could look to introduce light sensors or a ‘switch off ’ policy in areas that aren’t in constant use, such as a stock room.

Reducing plastic bags and opting for refillable solutions where possible can really make a difference. Converting to digital paperwork is a great solution. JTI recently moved to digital invoicing in the independent channel, so retailers can now choose to sign up to receive their paperwork digitally rather than on a till roll.

SLR | DECEMBER 2021

HOW IMPORTANT IS SUSTAINABILITY LIKELY TO BECOME IN FUTURE FOR RETAILERS? We know shoppers are becoming more environmentally conscious. Being a more sustainable retailer will be important in standing out from the crowd and attracting environmentally conscious customers to their stores, as well as reducing monthly outgoings. www.slrmag.co.uk

Inside Business

Vaping

VAPING USE ‘HITS RECORD HIGH’ AS SMOKING RATE FELL BELOW 14%

After a sustained period of apparently little or now growth, new data for 2020 suggests that vaping use hit a record high – and smoking rates fell to the lowest level since 2015.

6.4% of population vaped in 2020

13.8% of adult population who smoked in 2020

I

t’s been a tough few years for the vaping category as sales apparently flatlined. However, new Government data shows that the number of people who vape in the UK has risen to its highest level since records began.

Additionally, the number of UK adults who smoke has fallen below 14% for the first time in years, according to just-released figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its annual report into smoking prevalence in the UK which includes figures on the number of adults who vape, just one month after the Department of Health’s announcement that vaping devices could soon be prescribed to smokers on the NHS. In 2014, when data on the number of UK vapers started being collected, 3.7% of the population reported using e-cigarettes. In 2020 that had risen to 6.4%, equivalent to around 3.3m people.

The report also reveals that the number of adult smokers in the UK currently stands at 13.8% of the population – its lowest percentage since at least 2015.

However, according to the ONS monthly data, smoking rates rose sharply during the pandemic and national lockdown to a peak of 16.3% in August, before slowly decreasing to 13.8% by the end of 2020.

“While this rise in smoking prevalence during lockdown could be attributed to increased anxiety because of the pandemic, I would also point towards the fact that speciality vape shops were not granted ‘essential retail’ status and therefore had to close their doors as another significant contributing factor,” said John Dunne, Director General of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA).

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

The UKVIA led a national campaign to keep speciality vape shops open throughout the pandemic, arguing that not only would vapers turn back to smoking, but smokers looking to switch to vaping would miss out on the expert advice delivered in-store if these businesses were forced to close.

Turning to the ONS data showing the highest number of UK vapers since data collection on e-cigarette use started in 2014, John Dunne continued: “This is a hugely welcome announcement as everyone on the side of harm reduction knows that vaping is far less harmful than smoking – by as much as 95% according to the former health protection watchdog Public Health England (now part of the UK Health Security Agency) – so more people vaping and less smoking can only be cause for celebration.”

The ONS Smoking Prevalence Report highlighted that the number of ex-smokers who now vape had risen from 11.7% in 2019 to 12.3%, while the number of smokers who also vape – thereby reducing their exposure to the harm caused by combustible tobacco – increased from 15.5% in 2019 to 17.8% in 2020.

Dunne said: “What these figures tell me is that the powerful anti-vaping lobby’s best attempts to smear e-cigarettes’ effectiveness at helping people to quit smoking are simply not working.

“Vaping advocates, on the other hand, have the science, political will and, increasingly, the healthcare sector’s support for increased use of vaping to help smokers to give up their habits for good.

“This momentum is at long last cutting through the nonsense and misinformation about vaping to give consumers the confidence they need to take that crucial step towards transitioning away from smoking combustible tobacco.” www.slrmag.co.uk

RECHARGE YOUR SALES BRING IT ON

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ROCKSTAR NO.3 STIMULANT ENERGY BRAND*

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Inside Business

Scotland’s Speciality Food Show

SCOTTISH FOOD IN THE SPOTLIGHT IN JANUARY As consumer demand for Scottish food and drink continues to grow, retailers can find fresh inspiration next month at Scotland’s only food and drink trade show for 2022.

120 EXHIBITORS

SCOTTISH RETAIL FOOD & DRINK AWARDS SLR’s sister project, the Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards (SRFDA) will be strongly represented at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show with a number of representatives present and a special SRFDA stand.

SRFDA Director Antony Begley will also host a Nessie’s Den session where

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

emerging small producers will showcase their products to the ‘Nessies’ who include James Lamont, a Tesco buyer.

The Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards aims to get more of Scotland’s fantastic quality food and drink products onto more retail shelves.

www.slrmag.co.uk

Scotland’s Speciality Food Show

O

ne of the many consequences of the pandemic has been a growth in interest in Scottish food and drink among both consumers and retailers. More shoppers than ever see the value in buying local and supporting small local producers and retailers to help build more robust local economies. Scotland is also world renowned for the quality of its food and drink products so stocking locally, regionally and nationally sourced products is a real winwin.

If Scottish food and drink is of interest to you, it might be worth finding time to visit Scotland’s Speciality Food Show in Glasgow next month. Held at the SEC from 23 to 25 January, the event is set to be Scotland’s only dedicated food and drink trade show for 2022. Around 120 exhibitors will be showcasing their products.

Mark Saunders, Show Director, said: “The aim of this Food Show is to ensure we are a one-stop show for all independent retailers, both food and gifts, in Scotland and northern England. Here they can be inspired, place orders and ensure they are ahead of the game for the coming season.

“We have been encouraged by the number of new starts during the pandemic, especially where producers are maximising the natural resources from their region.”

NEW FOR 22 At the centre of the show is the Launch Gallery for new, young companies which includes Nuisance Drinks, Ellon Spirit Company, Woodmill Game, Isle of Mull Seaweed and Cairngorm Gin. In the main show the new exhibitors to check out include Beet This Food Sauce, Upper Dysart Larder, Howden Fleming, Dark Sky Spirits, Valentian Vermouth, Highland Boundary, Ecobean Coffee Roasters, The Bottled Baking Co, Ramsay of Carluke, Ochil Fudge and Slainte Sauces.

REGIONAL SPECIALITIES A particular feature for this show is the regional stands. Orkney, a show stalwart, has taken more space than ever before, housing about seven small companies such as Deerness Distilling, Orkney Creamery, Stockans Oatcakes and many more. New for this year is Lanarkshire Larder incorporating Biggar Gin, Bella Chocolate and Scottish Tea House, among others. Around 12 Fife companies will showcase products from this rich

www.slrmag.co.uk

Inside Business

agricultural area, such as Rumburra, East Neuk Salt Company, Bplasticfree and Almaz Foods.

As well as new exhibitors, the show will also welcome back long-standing producers such as Scotia Spice, Stewart Tower Dairy, Summerhouse Drinks, Summer Harvest Oils and Sarah Gray preserves.

BEYOND BUYING The show’s Talking Shop zone will provide visitors with insight into a range of current topics such as targeting influencers, gaining a retail listing, customer buying habits, and attracting tourists back. There will be a range of informal talks, panel discussions and workshops.

A Dragon’s Den style ‘Nessie’s Den’ is also returning with hosts including SLR Publisher and Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards Director Antony Begley and is where emerging producers will showcase their products to the ‘Nessies’. These include James Lamont, a Tesco buyer, Andrew Firth from Herbies deli and Catriona Farquharson from Finzean Farm Shop in an entertaining and exciting session.

Best Product Awards will be judged on the opening day with the resulting winners’ products on display in the centre of the Show.

The Show is pleased to announce that EcoBags are the official supplier of carrier bags to Scotland’s Trade Fair and are providing bags made from recycled plastic bottles, which are themselves recyclable.

WHY ATTEND? Scotland’s Speciality Food Show is run in conjunction with Scotland’s Trade Fair, which has evolved over the decades to become a ‘must attend’ event in the calendar of all retailers, farm shops, tourist destinations and department stores. Although online has supplemented the buying process over the last 18 months, suppliers are keen to actually reconnect with retailers. Many of the exhibitors only exhibit at this show so it is key to come and see and taste their products and place orders ahead of the competition.

Andrew Firth from Herbie of Edinburgh said: “The range and mix of products from established to embryonic producers blew us away and it is so encouraging to see the quality of the products and the great way they are presented. It is heartening to see the amount of innovation and resilience in such a tough market.”

DECEMBER 2021 | SLR

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Inside Business

Scotland Loves Local

CONVENIENCE CHAINS BACK SCOTLAND LOVES LOCAL Scotmid, Spar Scotland and One O One Retail sign up to accept local cards in community shops across the country.

Phil Prentice

S

ome of Scotland’s biggest convenience store chains are throwing their weight behind the Scotland Loves Local initiative to boost local economies.

Scotmid, Spar Scotland and One O One Retail have signed up to have their stores accept the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card as they are launched in the regions in which they operate.

The agreements mean that shoppers will be able to spend gift cards in stores operated in their communities – helping to boost their area’s economy and protect jobs.

The Scottish Government is funding the rollout of gift cards across each of the country’s 32 local authority areas. Work is being led by Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) as part of the Scotland Loves Local campaign. It is the first time that a local gift card programme has been delivered on this scale.

STP Chief Officer Phil Prentice said: “We are delighted to get the support of Scotmid, Spar Scotland and One O One Retail, opening up hundreds of stores across the country to shoppers using the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card.

“Convenience stores and their staff have been among those who have been on the frontline supporting their communities throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Shopping with them using a Scotland Loves Local Gift Card is another 44

SLR | DECEMBER 2021

way in which you can express your thanks and show your loyalty for all that they have done and show your support and confidence in them – rebuilding local economies and laying the foundations for a stronger future.”

Shirley MacGillivray, Head of Communities and Membership at Scotmid, said: “At Scotmid, communities are the very reason we exist. For over 160 years, Scotmid has worked hand in hand with the communities we serve, helping them prosper and improving everyday lives.

That’s why we’re supporting the Scotland Loves Local campaign. Knowing that we can all help bring about positive change with the choices we make is embedded in our values.

“We are sponsoring the drive for people to support the businesses around them as they recover and rebuild. As a community retailer, we have witnessed first-hand the importance of being there and supporting others, particularly during the most challenging times.”

Brian Straiton, Company Owned Stores Operations Director at Spar Scotland, said: “As a scheme which supports local businesses and communities it was a no-brainer for us to get behind the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card. It aligns completely with our values.

“We are incredibly proud of the part that staff in our stores have played in helping their customers respond to challenges caused by Covid-19, reminding everyone of the valuable

and vital part that local shops play in our communities. Anything that encourages people to shop locally, support businesses and build a better future is welcome to us.”

Paul Stirling, Group Retail Director at One O One Convenience Stores, said: “Our network of stores play an important part in our communities – never more so than since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. We are delighted to accept the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card in our stores. It’s another way in which customers can show their support for businesses in their region. We are sure it can play a part in helping both the recovery from the pandemic and help be part of the foundations for a stronger economic future.”

Local authorities across the country are currently signing up to spearhead the rollout of the gift cards for their areas, with launch costs being met by the Scottish Government.

Each card can only be spent in the region for which it is branded, meaning it is effectively a new form of local currency.

Registering to accept the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card is free, with payments processed through the Mastercard network. STP is working with Perth-based fintech Miconex, which already operates gift card programmes in the UK, Ireland and North America, to deliver the scheme. Visit www.lovelocal.scot/giftcard for more information. www.slrmag.co.uk

Hotlines

Product News & Media Watch

Bassetts Adult Vitamins Mondelez Bassetts Vitamins has launched a new line-up of adult vitamins including: Pregnancy, Woman, Man, Woman 50+, and Man 50+.

The full range consists of a tailored and comprehensive formulation of vitamins and minerals with no added sugar, natural flavours and natural colours. Each pack contains 30 pastilles. All are available at £12 RSP, except for the the Pregnancy product, which RSPs at £14.

Cadbury hops into Easter early with Hot Cross Bun Bar

Wall’s Vegan Slices Addo Food Group Wall’s Pastry has added two new vegan flavours to its range of microwavable slices. Red Thai Curry Slice is made with roasted sweet potatoes, red peppers and creamy coconut in a curry sauce.

It has 9.3g of protein. The Hearty Chilli Bean Slice is filled with kidney beans, red peppers and sweetcorn in a spicy chilli sauce and contains 8.5g of protein. Both are 180g and RSP at £1.50.

Super Good Black Pepper & Fennel Beetroot Baxters Baxters has added a new Super Good flavour to its jarred beetroot offering, Sliced Black Pepper & Fennel. The first flavoured option within the range has an RSP of £1.60 for a 340g jar. The new product is pickled in Apple Cider Vinegar and flavoured with black peppercorns and fennel seed. All Baxters beets are sustainably sourced from UK farmers.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

Joining the Cadbury family for Easter 2022 is the Cadbury Dairy Milk Hot Cross Bun Bar. The new cinnamon crunch flavoured bar is set to become a staple flavour of Easter, tapping into a much-loved Easter ritual of sharing hot cross buns. Tablets are the heartland for the Cadbury brand, so this addition to the novelties range looks poised to perform well in stores. The new 110g bar will be available in cases of 18 at an RSP of £1.40.

Timing is particularly important this year with Easter falling two weeks later in 2022, meaning there is a real opportunity to grow sales over the longer season. However, over half of Easter

Ritter Sport Winter Edition Alfred Ritter The Ritter Sport Winter Edition line-up includes Caramelized Almonds, milk chocolate over chopped, caramelised sugar glazed almonds; Spiced Biscuit, smooth milk chocolate and cocoa crème wrapped around a winter spice biscuit; and Coconut Macaroon, creamy milk chocolate and coconut crème smothered around tasty pieces of coconut macaroons. All are 100g, have an RSP of £1, and are available via Bestway.

confectionery is consumed before Easter, showing just how important it is to capture consumers right at the beginning of the season to drive spend and impulsivity.

To make the most of the season, retailers should split Easter into three phases: getting off to a quick start, building momentum, and then gearing up for a ‘gifting finish’ as the festive period reaches its finale. The first of these phases, ‘fast start’, runs from January until Valentine’s Day. To find further confectionery and seasonal advice from Cadbury, retailers should visit the brand’s deliciousdisplay.co.uk trade website.

Santa Maria Vegetarian Seasoning Mixes Paulig Group Santa Maria’s new Tex Mex range of seasoning mixes caters for vegetarians and flexitarians and includes three variants: Chili & Lime Taco; Enchilada Chili Bean & Cheese; and Bean & Corn Taco.

Packs feature easy-to-prepare vegetarian recipes. The UK’s Mexican market has undergone steady growth over past few years and is now worth £204.9m.

Seabrook Loaded Bites Calbee Calbee has expanded its Loaded range, following the success of restaurant-inspired Loaded Fries.

The new crispy bite-sized range, Loaded Bites, brings a modern, on-trend twist to everyday snacks.

Loaded Bites is available in two flavours, BBQ Beef and Sour Cream & Onion in a 6x16g multipack, 55g £1PMP and 90g sharing bag.

It is available from Bestway.

www.slrmag.co.uk

Scotland’s got the bottle!

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Product News & Media Watch HEETS Mauve Philip Morris



Vimto Winter Warmer Nichols

Available now from most cash & carry and wholesale channels, this new variant of HEETS tobacco sticks for the IQOS heated tobacco system offers a crisp menthol tobacco blend with a taste of dark forest fruits. Retailers interested in stocking IQOS and HEETS should contact their local PML representative.

Vimto has brought back seasonal limited-edition squash flavour ‘Winter Warmer,’ to give consumers a new hot drink option for the winter months. It is available now in a 725ml bottle format and offers vitamin C & D fortification, alongside Vimto’s secret recipe, made from a blend of fruits, herbs and spices, infused with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

Fruittella Summer Fruits Perfetti Van Melle

Bloo Brilliant Gel Henckel

Fruittella’s relaunched Summer Fruits sticks and sharing bags lines now include the ever-popular Blackberry flavour, alongside Strawberry, Orange and Lemon.

Like all Fruittella chews, Summer Fruits are made from real fruit juice, include natural colourings and flavours, and are made from coconut oil instead of palm oil.

They are also individually wrapped, helping to promote hygiene and giving parents and carers more control over portions.

Bloo Brilliant Gel offers a powerful self-cleaning foaming action to keep toilets hygienically clean and residue-free from grime. It lasts for up to 300 flushes and comes in two fragrances, Arctic Ocean – inspired

by Dior’s Dolce Vita perfume, and Spring Rain – inspired by Chloe’s Eau de Parfum.

The gels are 100 per cent recyclable, reflecting Bloo’s focus on a sustainable future.

Hotlines

Five-star tatties Albert Bartlett’s has launched a new national advertising campaign, ‘Make It Extraordinary’.

The campaign is spearheaded by a TV ad that includes a fantastical representation of the potato picking line and features worldclass acrobats to demonstrate the five-star treatment that every one of Albert Bartlett’s potatoes receives.

The joy of parenting Heinz for Baby’s new ad campaign, Pure Joy, celebrates the joy of parenting. The campaign portrays the authentic side of parenting and pays homage to the real, chaotic joy being a parent brings by showcasing user-generated footage of parents experiencing moments of pure joy with their children. It initially launches across digital video and social media.

Thorntons returns The Thorntons brand is back on TV for the first time in four years, as part of a £3.6m campaign. The advert aims to reignite shoppers’ emotional connection with the brand and drive awareness in the lead up to Christmas. The ad shows a group of friends getting together, with one couple bringing a box of Thorntons Classic as a gift.

Clover spreads more love Disposable vapes Geek bar

Oat Made Morning Foods

Geek Bar’s flavour range is now available in a 10mg/ml nicotine strength. As with the current 20mg range, the new disposable vapes include 575 puffs, a 500mAh battery and 2ml capacity.

Flavours currently available include Pink Lemonade, Sweet Strawberry, Mango ice, Passion Fruit, Banana Ice, Sour Apple, Watermelon Ice, Blueberry Ice, Strawberry Ice Cream and Grape.

This range of oat-based convenience meals is available in a meal pot or pouch format. The vegan-friendly products can be prepared in a microwave in just 90 seconds. The range in pouches (all 250g) comprises three flavours – Golden Vegetable, Savoury Original and Mexican Style. The pots (also 250g) come in Mexican Style, Katsu Curry and Sweet Chilli Oats flavours.

Pouches have an RSP of £1.75 and pots RSP at £2.25.

Clover has continued its ‘Spread the Real Love’ marketing campaign with a second burst of media activity. This latest push continues the message that ‘there is no such thing as perfect parents, only real ones’ and spans organic and paid social on Facebook and Instagram, bumper ads on YouTube and influencer partnership activity.

Spirited return The latest instalment of the ‘Schweppes, We’ve Got The Tonic, You’ve Got The Spirit’ marketing campaign hits screens this month.

The multi-million-pound Christmas campaign includes a light-hearted TV advert centred around family and friends enjoying longawaited festivities together, supported by outof-home, digital and social media advertising.

For all the latest product news, head to www.slrmag.co.uk/category/product-news www.slrmag.co.uk

DECEMBER 2021 | SLR

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Feature

What’s in Store 2022? | Mondelez International

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2022, MONDELEZ? Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager at Mondelez International, peers into a Creme Egg-shaped crystal ball and offers her view on what next year will bring.

H

ealth and wellness have never been as important after almost two years of facing the challenges of the pandemic. Many consumers are placing an even higher focus on their wellbeing – physical, mental, or both – than ever before. In fact, 25% [IGD, Feb 2021] of shoppers are more influenced by health when grocery shopping than pre-pandemic.

Wellbeing means different things to different people but through our observation of consumer trends and behaviours, we have identified four key drivers of growth within the health and wellness sector. Consumers are looking for permissible options: things that are “better for me”, functional nutrition offerings or snacks that are more authentic, natural and simple. If retailers can hit these key areas through different products in their snacking range, they can help healthconscious shoppers make better choices and grow category sales.

The new Cadbury Nuttier range offers shoppers a more permissible treat alongside authenticity through its whole fruit and nut content – all with a hint of indulgence with its Cadbury milk chocolate coating.

CONSUMER CONSCIOUS Consumers are also now more conscious of where things come from. 90% of consumers are equally or more concerned about environmental issues since the pandemic [bcg.com]. In August, we announced a move to recyclable packaging for our Philadelphia and Dairylea brands. This is part of our ‘Pack Light and Pack Right’ strategy which supports our 2025 global goals to reduce virgin plastic in our rigid plastic packaging by 25%,

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

achieving 100% recyclable packaging and labelling with recycling information.

Most recently, we’ve announced that Cadbury Dairy Milk made in Bournville and sold in the UK and Ireland is to be made with packaging containing up to 30% recycled plastic. This will be rolled out on more than 28 million sharing bars in 2022.

SHOPPER DYNAMICS In the past 18 months, we saw a significant shift in shopper dynamics, impacting the buying habits of certain formats. Impulsive on-thego snacking purchases dropped as shoppers stocked up on bigger packs they could enjoy at home. More recently, as restrictions have eased, we have seen the on-the-go occasion begin to recover which is driving more sales in snacks like bars and on-the-go biscuits.

With shopper habits constantly evolving, it’s important retailers carry a strong range of both on-the-go and single serve products to suit more impulsive shoppers out and about, as well as larger formats and multipacks for sharing or in-home occasions.

BIG LAUNCH Our biggest launch this year brought shoppers a new taste from Cadbury: Cadbury Caramilk. The great-tasting new bars are made with a beautifully crafted golden blend of white chocolate with a smooth texture, sourced from 100% sustainable cocoa.

Available in multiple formats – including a single bar – Cadbury Caramilk is helping retailers recruit new shoppers with its unique taste from a trusted, recognisable brand, tapping into a much-loved Australian chocolate classic.

When it comes to seasonal occasions, timing will be particularly important with Easter falling two weeks later in 2022, a real opportunity to grow sales. However, over half of Easter confectionery is consumed before Easter, showing how important it is to capture consumers right at the beginning of the season to drive spend and impulsivity.

Retailers should split Easter into three phases: a quick start, building momentum, and then gearing up for a ‘gifting finish’. The first of these phases runs from January until Valentine’s Day. This phase focuses on shoppers looking for small treats for themselves, such as Cadbury Crème Egg and Cadbury Mini Eggs. With around three quarters of shoppers who purchase Easter confectionery early intending to buy again [Nielsen, Apr 2021], it’s important to have the products they’re looking for.

NEW FOR ’22 Joining the Cadbury family for 2022 is the Cadbury Dairy Milk Hot Cross Bun Bar. The new cinnamon crunch-flavoured bar taps into the ritual of sharing hot cross buns. Tablets are the heartland for the Cadbury brand, so this addition to the novelties range is sure to be a hit in-store. The new 110g bar will be available in cases of 18 at an RSP of £1.40.

Cadbury Creme Egg will appear in an new promotion, with the egg half-covered in white chocolate. The strapline ‘How do you NOT eat yours?’ will span across POS to highlight the promotion, which includes a consumer competition. But it doesn’t stop there: when a shopper wins, so does the store; retailers can win Amazon vouchers up to £1,000. Stay tuned for more details in the New Year!

www.slrmag.co.uk

Feature

Epos platforms

MPOS: THE SOLUTION THAT DELIVERS EXTRA PROFIT

As one of the UK’s leading Epos suppliers, Motherwellbased Mhouse Solutions is focused exclusively on saving cost, driving efficiency and adding profit for local retailers.

E

pos systems have been nothing short of a revolution in the retail space. Businesses like grocery and convenience stores are equipping themselves with a technology that reduces their dependence on labour while simultaneously saving cost and boosting efficiency.

With the rapid pace of technological advancement, a plethora of opportunities have introduced themselves and appeared in the realms of retail. With integrated credit card systems, loyalty apps, cloud technology, delivery partners, and even CCTVs playing a part in optimizing your stores, it can become a daunting task to individually maneuver through the vast sea of potential feasibility. As a solution that merits its value, and Epos system can help you with just that.

A system that manages the operations of your store should have the capacity to allow other tools to operate as additional limbs. This would create a singular system where you have the ability to control all the additional features and technological integrations you might wish to introduce to your premises,

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

and your Epos system is the key to the kingdom as it is a technology that complements all else.

We as a dynamic company aim to work with the most pragmatic, efficient, and value-driven technologies that are out on offer. With feedback from our customers in mind, we are always developing and creating room for more integrations. After all, our mantra is to make your life easier and help you make that extra profit.

As a retailer, the bank account will always remain as the bottom line. Regardless of how efficient a new method or gimmick may be. The relevance is established through the impact it has on the numbers. MPOS was created while keeping that model in mind, as a bespoke system created ‘For retailers, by retailers’. With our personal experience in the retail space that aggregates beyond 30 years, we established the formula and perfected the recipe. Now, we have eliminated the redundancies and added features to help you optimise your stores. After all, we’re all for making you comfortable, and with a heavier wallet.

www.slrmag.co.uk

Helping you to make an extra 3% Gross Profit Ease of use

Simple to use touch screen till software

Backoffice admin software

Cigarette Gantry integration

Indepth reporting and analysis

Touch screen handheld device to control the shop from the shopfloor

Supplier Data links with all major Wholesalers

Credit Card integration

Weekly health check reports to guide you to improve your sales and margin.

Access to background database with over 100,000 products

Benefits of MPos ✓ Built around a retailer, not a computer user ✓ Simple to use till, powerful admin tools ✓ Built from retailers perspective ✓ Reduces labour by downloading products, price changes, invoices and promotions

✓ Reduces labour by allowing one click order generation and one click invoice downloads - easily shave off 10 hours of work per store

✓ Increased control on stock; all stock deliveries downloaded and all stock adjustments emailed to the owner; NO stock is unaccounted for

✓ Emails store performance to the user with real actionable data once a week rather than stats heavy reports that overwhelm the user

✓ Based in Scotland with excellent support and training program

✓ Easy to use Hand Held terminal to control the store from shop floor ✓ Integration with Credit Card terminals, Zapper, Cigarette Gantry, Loyalty Schemes and more ✓ Developed and supported by people that know the retail trade

So How much Could our System make for you?

We can demonstrate a 3% uplift in Gross Profit in using our system.

£5,000 £10,000 £15,000 £20,000 £25,000

£7,800 Current Weekly Turnover Extra profit per annum

£15,600 £23,400 £31,200 £39,000

Even a Single Lane system can more than pay for itself in the first 4 months!

MHouse, 349 Shields Road, Motherwell, ML1 2LD

Tel: 0800 242 5360 email sales@mhousesolutions.com

A D V E R T O R I A L

CATEGORY MANANAGEMENT SUPPLEMENT 2021

EDGEPoS is the future of retail technology EDGEPoS was installed in Maxol’s largest site in Northern Ireland, A26 Tannaghmore Services, in November 2020, and the award winning store has not looked back since.

EDGEPoS integrates all aspects of the retail, convenience and fuel business, ensuring full control and security across areas such as self-populating price look-ups (PLUs), scheduled reports, advanced age-check, fuel, PayPoint and electronic funds transfer (EFT) integration, audit trails, instore coupons and upselling trigger messages.

Fuel integration, advanced age checking, suggested ordering and sales-based ordering, cash control, intelligent basket analysis, fuel bunkering, prepay options, no means to pay and drive-offs reported at till, and OPT integration are amongst its features. forecourttrader.co.uk

EDGEPoS Paul Rogan, General Manager of Maxol A26 Tannaghmore Services says: “EDGEPoS is much easier to use than our old system. Before I had to constantly fix price changes and correct invoices from our monthly stocktakes which played havoc with our stock figures. I used to spend a full day doing promotion changeovers. Now this is done within one hour saving me one day a week!

“If I need to make a change or add a deal, it’s stress-free

and instantly applied to the till. We are planning to move to sales based suggested ordering as the next step in store operational efficiency.

“There are also a fantastic variety of reports available on EDGEPoS. The 13 weeks comparison report is invaluable – if we try something new, we are able to see how this has performed and review if this is a product we need to keep on our shelves.

“The ‘No Means to Pay’ reporting on the till is an uncomplicated process. On

the old system when we needed to layaway a sale, it threw the figures out and our wet stock management was never accurate. Now when a customer returns to pay for their fuel, we simply scan the receipt generated and the customer pays – it is absolutely brilliant.”

Paul concludes: “EDGEPoS is a superior system and is key to us growing our business. It gives us the functionality and control to save time and frees up staff for other operations.

The training provided is first class and the on-going support we receive is one of the best features.”

Grow your forecourt business with Henderson Technology Henderson Technology is one of the largest EPOS suppliers in UK with 721 sites installed globally. EDGEPoS is an awardwinning EPOS system, designed by retailers, specifically for the convenience and fuel forecourt market.

Category Management Supplement 2021

Feature

Christmas Drinks

Merry

MAKERS

Premium drinks will help retailers unwrap sparkling profits this festive season.

BY GAELLE WALKER

C

oncerns over the new omicron variant may well be on the up, but with no word (yet) on a return to lockdown, Christmas 2021 is promising to serve up a slice of much-needed merriment with friends and family.

That optimism has already led to a rise in smaller in-home gatherings and celebrations ahead of the festive season – with seven in 10 consumers having entertained friends at home last month and or planning to do so this month according to TWC. TWC Director of Communications Sarah Coleman said: “With high future intent to entertain at home, retailers have an opportunity to target home entertaining occasions, to meet the needs of those that don’t want to go out, or indeed those who have enjoyed entertaining at home through the pandemic and wish to continue.”

Premiumisation will remain a key area of focus for those consumers. Accolade Wines Europe Marketing Director Tom Smith elaborates: “This year looks to be more promising and bigger than ever, as hopefully we can have the celebratory family Christmas that wasn’t possible in 2020.

“With many feeling like they ‘missed out’ last year, we expect there to be an increase in smaller, everyday celebrations in the run-up to the big day, with wine and sparkling playing a key role.

On Christmas Day itself Accolade expects to see more emphasis on celebrating and treating that will manifest itself via a rise in sales of premium drinks as shoppers trade up, but also in higher volumes of everyday options as shoppers treat themselves to more of their usual tipples.

As a result, “it’s important to remember tiering and pushing big brands alongside premium options,” Smith says.

For party-planning consumers bent on purchasing larger volumes in easy to serve formats, bag in box/wine on tap formats also look set to do well this year, Accolade adds.

Drinks for gifting will of course also help to drive sales, with premium spirits, including malts likely to drive sale here, Diageo says.

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

“Every Christmas, malts and whiskies prove popular as they make great gifts for family and friends – during Christmas 2020, malts had a strong presence in the scotch whisky category making up 17.2% in total value share,” Diageo’s Head of Category Development Hannah Dawson explains.

Craft beers and especially mixed cases, also looked set to serve up “great gifting potential,” BrewDog adds. The brewer recently unveiled a new Eight Beers of Christmas mixed case to tap in to the gifting and also trial opportunity.

According to BrewDog, mid-pack craft beer cans sales saw a growth of +113% last year, while small pack cans were up 57.8% year on year and total craft beer up 43.5%.

MODERATION IN MIND While the festive season has traditionally been a time of over-indulgence, the growing consumer trend towards moderation also looks set to play a key role this festive season in particular. And, thanks to the glut of premium quality low to no alcohol products launched this year alone, keeping a clear head certainly doesn’t mean compromising on taste or quality.

Accolade Wines expects no/low alcohol products to increase in importance at Christmas and expects to see sales rise 31% by 2024.

Helping it to cash in on this trend will be its dedicated seltzer line, Nine Yards which Accolade says was created to engage with younger drinkers and respond “to the changing alcohol landscape.”

Diageo is also hoping to tap in to the trend with its recent launch of new Gordon’s 0.0% and Tanqueray 0.0%. “Within the premium spirits category, alcohol-free variants a key consideration,” Diageo says.

“We wanted both innovations to show that you don’t have to compromise on taste or experience if you choose not to consume alcohol. Retailers can also take the opportunity to educate customers on no and low options by inspiring ‘at-home’ simple serves and aperitifs over the festive period,” Diageo’s Dawson adds.

FESTIVE STATS

Christmas is key to recruiting new shoppers, with shopper numbers 2.7 times higher in December than the rest of the year and 61% of these new to the category says BrewDog. 6-12 can multipacks over-index in the two weeks before Christmas, with share jumping from 17% at the end of November, to 23% at the end of December according to Brewdog.

Last year, premium drinks were up 27.4% in value year on year in the Off-Trade according to Diageo.

PMPs can help to unwrap plump profits at Christmas according to Jaegermeister UK, with PMP formats of its 20cl bottles currently growing at 52% year on year PMP formats of its 50cl bottles up 46%.

GREEN THINKING Pernod Ricard UK’s Spanish wine brand Campo Viejo recently unveiled a new more contemporary look and raft of sustainabilityled packaging upgrades across its range of red, white, rosé and cava varieties.

The changes include a new-look logo and crest also include a number of environmentally-focused changes such as the removal of the netting around the Campo Viejo Gran Reserva bottles – a move which Pernod Ricard UK estimates will save 6,330 CO2eq/kg in CO2 emissions.

Across the range, bottle labels have also changed from adhesive labels to recyclable FSC-certified PET paper, and a reduction in the label size and redesign of the graphic elements will use less inks and paper.

All Campo Viejo bottles are also made using 68% recycled glass.

Carbon negative brewer Brewdog will also be promoting its newly launched Planet Pale (4.3% ABV) sustainable craft beer across grocery and convenience this festive season.

www.slrmag.co.uk

Feature

Easter

CHOCTASTIC

CRACKING THE EASTER 2022 OPPORTUNITY CREAM OF THE CROP Q Three Cadbury Creme Eggs are sold every second during the Easter Season Q Two out of three people buy Cadbury Creme Eggs for non-Easter related consumption.

TOP TIPS FOR A FAST START TO THE SEASON Q Order enough stock of the most-loved brands, focusing on Self Eat and Sharing Q Signpost the season early and make customers aware through social media, creating a ‘seasonal space’, along with a strong Easter-focused aisle or fixture Q Use POS from Easter favourites to highlight products and optimise sales (Source: Mondeléz International)

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

Easter sales grew 11% last year in Independent and Symbol stores, with more consumers shopping locally according to Mondeléz International.

With Easter 2022 set to fall in the middle of April, local retailers have an extra tasty chance to profit.

BY GAELLE WALKER

L

amb and mint, salt and caramel, chocolate and orange: Life is full of perfect pairings and Easter 2022 is already looking set to deliver even more cracking combos as manufacturers strive to set the holiday hopping.

Leading the charge for 2022 is Mondelēz International and its latest innovation for Cadbury, a Dairy Milk Hot Cross Bun Bar. With a unique cinnamon spiced crunch, the new chocolate bar is designed to unite two of Easter’s favourite flavours in one bite.

And, thanks to the later timing of Easter this year (with Easter Sunday falling two weeks later than in 2021, on 17 April 2022) Mondelēz says there is a real opportunity to grow sales over the longer season.

With over half of Easter confectionery actually consumed before Easter, the 2022 Easter opportunity looks set to be particularly sweet for those stores who capture spend from the start.

In-fact, to make the most of the season, Mondelēz recommends that retailers split Easter into three phases: getting off to a quick start, building momentum, and then gearing up for a ‘gifting finish’ as the festive period reaches its finale.

The first of these phases, ‘fast start’, runs from January until Valentine’s Day on 14 Febuary and focuses on shoppers looking for small treats for themselves, such as Cadbury Crème Egg and Cadbury Mini Eggs.

“With around three quarters of shoppers who purchase Easter confectionery early intending

to buy again, it’s important to have the products they’re looking for to meet these consumers’ shopping expectations,” Mondelēz International trade communications manager Susan Nash says.

Sharing bags and tablet formats, such as Cadbury Mini Eggs and the new for last year Cadbury Mini Eggs Tablet, will then help stores to build up Easter momentum through March, while in the third phase from early April until Easter Sunday, larger gifting Easter eggs and hunt mixes will do their bit to sweeten sales for retailers.

And while indulgent flavour fusions, eggcellent promotions and gifting formats will hopefully help to deliver a cracking season of sales; sustainability also looks set to remain high on the Easter agenda for both manufacturers and consumers as a growing proportion of the latter hunt out products that are as sweet to the planet as they are to eat.

Last year saw Mondelēz International remove over 6.4 million plastic windows from its chocolate eggs, taking 5.4 tonnes of plastic out of the environment and making them easier for consumers to recycle.

The change covered Cadbury, Bournville, Fry’s, Green & Black’s, Maynard’s Bassets and Oreo eggs.

The company also reviewed the cardboard cartons for its shell egg range and was able to remove a further 108 tonnes of cardboard using 100% sustainably sourced cardboard as part of its ‘Pack Light and Pack Right’ strategy. www.slrmag.co.uk

*Independent convenience and Booker/BRP retailers within the UK, 18+. Display the 2021/22 season Cadbury Creme Egg POS for the chance of a winning egg to be placed within your store between 26/12/2021 and 17/04/2022. If a winning egg is distributed in your store and is registered by the winning customer with the Promoter, you win. Independent convenience retailers: Prizes:1 x £1,000, 1 x £500 & 18 x £100 Amazon vouchers. Booker/BRP retailer prizes: 1x £1000, 2x £500 & 3x £100 Amazon vouchers. See https://www.deliciousdisplay.co.uk for full T&Cs. Promoter: Mondelez Europe Services GmbH – UK Branch, Sanderson Road, Uxbridge, UB8 1DH.

Feature

Tobacco

THE LOWDOWN

Products at the lower end of the pricing scale continue to dominate demand within the UK’s tobacco market.

BY GAELLE WALKER

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SLR | DECEMBER 2021

I

n a year of continued economic uncertainty and muted consumer confidence, it will come as little surprise to learn that value priced tobacco products continued to win the vast majority of category spend in 2021.

In fact, according to Imperial Tobacco, the sub-economy segment now holds a 63% share of the total Factory Made Cigarette (FMC) market and a 51% of Roll Your Own (RYO) tobacco with both value segments growing at 4% year on year.

And, given the government’s latest round of tobacco tax hikes, the value trend certainly looks set to stay in play for the foreseeable future.

As announced in the Autumn Budget, the duty rate on all tobacco products rose by 2% above RPI inflation on 27 October, while the duty rate for RYO climbed by an additional 4%, to 6% above RPI inflation – a move which added 88p to the price of 20 of the cheapest cigarettes and 89p to a 30g pouch of RYO. However, far from sitting back, recent months have seen the UK’s tobacco industry respond to

DARK DEALINGS Despite travel bans and various other Covid-19 restrictions, illicit trade continued to dog the UK’s tobacco market in 2020 - diverting crucial funds away from responsible local retailers in the process.

Counterfeit and contraband cigarettes as a share of total consumption increased by 0.5ppt to 17.1% in 2020, with counterfeit cigarette consumption specifically, having risen by 9%, to hit a new five-year high, latest figures compiled by KPMG and commissioned by PMI show.

The development led to an estimated loss of £2.2 bn in tax revenue up £35.6m from 2019, with the highest levels of counterfeit and contraband cigarettes found in North East England, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber.

The figures prompted PMI to invite new applications for PMI Impact, its $100m global initiative to support projects dedicated to fighting illegal trade in all forms.

www.slrmag.co.uk

STERLING

R O L L I N G TO B ACCO

ESSENTIAL NOW AVAILABLE IN 50G

WHAT IS IT? • Following the success of Sterling Essential 30g, JTI is now offering a 50g format, with the same fantastic RYO quality and a competitive RRP of just £21.20*. The 30g variant also offers a great value RRP of just £12.95*.

• Providing everyday value with a whole leaf blend, without the papers or filters, means existing adult smokers now have the freedom to purchase their preferred tobacco accessories.

NEW BLEND – WHOLE LEAF WITH LOWER MOISTURE

WHY STOCK IT?

12.95 £ 21.20

£

RRP* 30G

RRP* 50G

• Sterling Rolling is the UK’s fastest growing RYO brandi.

• Within the RYO category, Value RYO is the leading sector with a 52.3% shareii.

• The Value RYO category is growing 14.3% year on yeariii, generating sales of £3.9 billion a yeariv.

Mark McGuinness, Head of Marketing at JTI UK, says: “The new Sterling Rolling Tobacco Essential 50g format meets the growing demand for Value RYO, and provides retailers with even more choice to offer their customers. We would recommend retailers stock both the 30g and 50g formats to make the most of the profit opportunity available.”

*Retailers are of course free to sell JTI products at whatever price they choose. i. IRi Market Place, Volume Share, Total RYO/MYO, Total UK, over the last 12 months to Sep 2021 (based on slope calculation) ii. IRi Market Place, Volume Share, Total RYO/MYO, Total UK, Sep 2021 iii. IRi Market Place, Value Sales, Total RYO/MYO, Total UK, MAT To 10/10/21 vs.

MAT To 11/10/20 (Increase in Sales Value). iv. IRi Market Place, Value Sales, Total RYO/MYO, Total UK, MAT To 10/10/21

Feature

Tobacco

THE HEAT IS ON

Valuable customers Tobacco shoppers have an average basket spend worth £19.60 vs. non-tobacco at £11.40 and they also visit more frequency, averaging 2.9 visits a week in comparison to 2.5 for other shoppers.

(Source Imperial Tobacco)

62

the pricing predicament with an array of new products, formats and innovations in a bid to better meet the value needs of the UK’s almost seven million adult smokers who continue to choose to tobacco.

Just last month and following the success of its 30g pouch format, JTI revealed some ‘sterling’ RYO price-led innovation with the launch of a new 50g format for Sterling Essential (rrp £21.20).

With no filters and papers included, JTI’s new Sterling Essential Rolling Tobacco 50g format was designed to offer adult smokers a “less for less alternative,” and appeal to those smokers bent on value for money and happy to source their own accessories.

The manufacturer also vowed to keep the RRP low on Sterling Essential Rolling Tobacco 30g.

Commenting on the development which was revealed just a few days after the Budget, JTI UK marketing vice president Mark McGuinness said: “With more and more existing adult smokers purchasing value RYO brands over the past year, there has never been a better time to expand the Sterling Essential Rolling Tobacco range into a new format.

“With the demand for value RYO products a key trend in the market, we want to support our retailers and wholesalers so that they can meet this demand by offering a quality brand with competitive RRPs. And JTI has certainly not been alone in driving value-led developments this year, with Imperial Tobacco having also launched JPS Players Easy Rolling Tobacco in 30g and 50g formats (including papers).

SLR | DECEMBER 2021

Buoyed by the value for money trend and the growing consumer desire for reduced risk tobacco products, the heated tobacco market has also enjoyed a positive year with demand for smoke free devices and heated tobacco sticks (such as PMI’s Iqos and Heets and JTI’s Ploom and Evo on the up.

PMI’s Heets have increased their market share by 75% in the past year and since 2018 the number of stores selling Heets in the UK has increased sixfold, with the brand now available in 18 new cities and regions.

And while Ploom is currently only available in accredited retailers in London and the EVO tobacco sticks for retailers within the M25, JTI says it has its “sights set high” with ambition to see Ploom become “the number one heated tobacco device in the UK.” Tapping into the growing consumer trend for fruity and berry flavours seen in other key FMCG categories (soft drinks, spirits and vape to name just a few) PMI launched its tenth Heets variant last month as it sought to offer adult customers even more choice.

With an rrp of £5 for a pack of 20, new Mauve Wave Heets offer a “crisp menthol tobacco blend with a taste of dark forest fruits.”

TOBACCO MERCHANDISING ADVICE:

BACK TO BASICS

(SOURCE: IMPERIAL TOBACCO)

To truly take advantage of the sales on offer within the Tobacco category, Imperial recommends that retailers “take it back to basics” and focus on fundamental elements.

Q Imperial advises retailers to make sure that range links into the key trends at play, such as the rising demand for value for money.

Q However, with no two stores the same, retailers shouldn’t lose sight of the needs of their unique customer base.

Q For example, stores with a really strong RYO customer base may want to consider offering a bigger range of filters, papers, flavour cards and lighters.

Q While those with more cigarette shoppers than RYO, may want to offer a smaller range and focus this mostly on lighters and flavour cards.

Q Retailers should also ensure that they maintain stock levels both on the gantry and in the stock room at all times. Tobacco smokers are very brand loyal meaning that out of stocks can be a costly error to make.

www.slrmag.co.uk

Stock up now & join the club

£9

KEEPING RRP’S

.75 RRP *

LOW

ND FOR YOU A MERS YOUR CUSTO

*RRP correct as of 28/10/21. You remain free at all times to price as you choose.

Feature

Tobacco

With a fine cut tobacco blend and lower levels of moisture, the RYO brand has been designed to offer an “easier rolling experience,” that appealed to existing RYO smokers and the growing number of dualists alike.

Meanwhile, keen to inject more growth into the value-priced FMC market, Imperial also made a number of key changes to its Richmond cigarette portfolio over the course of 2021 including a price reduction just ahead of the Budget.

Commenting on the price cut, Imperial Tobacco Trade Marketing Manager Tom Gully said: “Following a shift in the market with a rising number of smokers moving to more affordable price points, we have reduced the MRRP on several of our key brands to support retailers and their sales.

“Demand for value tobacco continues to play a major role in shopper purchasing decisions. By adapting the pricing on these leading brands, we

The sub-economy segment now holds a 63% share of the FMC market and a 51% of RYO tobacco.

can help retailers ensure they continue to offer customers great quality brands at great value price points.

The price cut also followed a revamp of Richmond’s outer packaging a few weeks earlier with a bold look and “more coherent design” introduced across the range.

The Richmond portfolio was also adjusted to offer a simplified range, all positioned within the new ‘value’ tier.

And while demand for value-priced tobacco products will undoubtably remain strong as we approach the key festive season, it is of course important that retailers don’t lose sight of more premium-priced options which are likely to grow in popularity as adult smokers trade up to treat themselves – a trend which tends to be particularly prevalent within the cigar category.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group UK Country Director Alastair Williams said: “Typically at Christmas time adult smokers will treat themselves and ‘trade up’, but of course this doesn’t mean that retailers need to start stocking expensive Cuban cigars! It may be as simple as a Miniature cigar smoker opting to jump to a Panatella, for example, when they are in celebratory mood and typically have more time to enjoy it.”

Cigarillos, which continue to drive growth in the total cigar market, are also expected to shine brightly this festive season and beyond, especially thanks to the launch of innovative new products such as JTI’s Sterling Dual Capsule Leaf Wrapped 20s earlier this year and Imperial’s JPS Crushball Cigarillo variant prior to that.

JTI’s new 20 pack (one of the tobacco products to have made the shortlist for SLR’s Product Of The Year, New Product Awards) features a capsule filter that releases a peppermint flavour when crushed – an innovation that appeals to the many adult smokers still hankering for menthol flavours via more traditional tobacco formats following the ban on menthol cigarettes last year.

In the UK, the cigarillo segment now accounts for just over 41% of all cigars sold in volume terms according to STG, while in Scotland specifically, cigarillos account for just over 65% of all cigar volume sold in independent and symbol stores.

Cigarillos account for just over 65% of all cigar volume sold in Scottish independent and symbol stores

64

SLR | DECEMBER 2021

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UTC

100 THINGS UTC HATES ABOUT LISTS

BARKING MAD The off-trade has done brisk business during the pandemic, with UTC’s local shop in particular selling more Tennent’s and Famous Grouse than it would in less troubled times.

Flavoured spirits have also proved popular with stayat-home drinkers, leading to an explosion of NPD. UTC freely admits to sampling Smirnoff Mango & Passionfruit Twist and Gordon’s Sicilian Lemon – all in the name of research, of course.

However, he sprayed the office with Jameson Orange when he heard that independent, London-based Doghouse Distillery has added a Chilli Bacon Vodka to its growing portfolio of “unique spirits”.

Doghouse says its new product innovation is set to disrupt the category with “a first-of-its-kind chilli and bacon combination”.

“There’s a reason nobody has thought to imbue perfectly fine alcohol with the taste of dead pig before,” gagged UTC. “It’s a disgusting notion.”

It didn’t help matters when a well-meaning colleague shared the Chilli Bacon Bloody Mary recipe with him.

This, Doghouse advises, should be garnished with a stick of celery and a crispy bacon rasher.

All the Tennent’s and Grouse in the world couldn’t stop UTC’s jitters after that, given his pathological fear of vegetables.

66

SLR | DECEMBER 2021

When Aldi opened its 100th store north of Hadrian’s Wall last month, it published a list of ‘100 things we love about Scotland’. Now, UTC hates lists almost as much as vegetables and there was plenty in this one to get his anaemic blood boiling.

The usual suspects were all present (kilts, whisky, bagpipes, square sausage, the Proclaimers) topped up with a generous helping of filler material (men in kilts, women in kilts, buskers, Amy McDonald). At least, as the Auld Yin ranted, there was no mention of deep-fried Mars bars. Or Amy McDonald busking, in a kilt.

Predictably, the list sparked a barrage of comments from Scots quick to take the clickbait and point out things Aldi had missed.

With tablet, macaroon bars, macaroni pies, Tunnock’s tea cakes and Irn-Bru all demanded, the old boy wondered why the Scottish government was dragging its heels over junk food legislation so much.

Not that he’s in a rush, given his fondness for tablet, macaroon bars, macaroni pies, Tunnock’s tea cakes and Irn-Bru. He was then shocked to his string vest to discover Aldi had published a follow-up list, which featured – of all things – dogs in kilts. He was so enraged when he found out that deep-fried Mars bars topped the list that he hurled his Proclaimers CD across the room in protest.

REEFER MADNESS Given his lack of enthusiasm for any sort of physical exertion, it’s no surprise that Under The Counter is a big fan of home delivery. But even he was shocked to discover Uber Eats has signed a deal with Canadian “lifestyle brand” Tokyo Smoke that will let its customers in Ontario order cannabis. Or ‘wacky baccy’ as the odl boy inexplicably insists on calling it.

Recreational reefer use has been legal in Canada since 2018, however getting it delivered to your door by third parties like Uber Eats is not. This means customers still have to nip out to their nearest Tokyo Smoke branch to collect their order which, impressively, will be ready for collection inside an hour.

That little caveat shocked UTC even more. “You’d need to be high in the first place to pay a delivery company to not bring something to your house,” he scoffed.

However, the more his rapidly-deteriorating grey matter pondered the news, the more he could see what’s in it for Uber Eats.

“Think about it,” he mused, fondly remembering the time he shared a doobie with a long-haired chum on a night bus back in 1973. “Customer orders wacky baccy. Customer collects wacky baccy (in under an hour). An hour after that customer is back on Uber Eats ordering 17 Mars bars, five share packs of Doritos and a 14-inch pepperoni pizza.”

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