based extension

As more and more consumers look for healthier snacking options, Irish free-from brand, Free’ist is leading the way with a range of decadent treats that offer consumers a better-for-you option to reduce sugar, without sacrificing taste

Passionate about helping people reduce their sugar intake, Free’ist was founded in 2013, and to mark its 10th birthday, the brand has relaunched its original milk and dark chocolate range with a new and improved recipe, while also introducing a new no-added-sugar plant-based extensiontapping into growing consumer demand for milk-based alternatives.

Using the Fino De Aroma cocoa bean from Columbia - the best the world’s plantations have to offer – and working with world renowned chocolatiers to perfectly roast, temper and refine the flavours – Free’ist has developed a variety of ethically sourced, indulgent snacks that are sweetened from plants and contain no added sugar, palm oil or artificial flavours.

While sugar levels are the biggest concern amongst consumers, they are also very wary of artificial sweeteners, and there is a growing and widespread demand for plant-based sweeteners. It was this insight, gathered from the brand’s comprehensive consumer research, that drove it to find a stevia-based solution which has now been formulated for all the products within the range

The ‘free from’ category is projected to grow by 41% over the next five years – driven by dairy alternatives - so the brand has also announced a range extension which includes a selection of no-added-sugar, plant-based bars, made from the finest oat m*lk to create a creamy, indulgent snack that melts in the mouth. The plant-based range launches with a fourstrong portfolio including Oat Chocolate and the indulgent flavour extensions of Oat with Raspberry, Oat with Coconut, and Oat with Almonds.

Listings for both brand lines have already been secured across major multiple Irish retailers including Tesco, Dunnes, SuperValu and Spar

The launch will be supported with a heavyweight trade and consumer media spend - targeted at female shoppers aged 18-44 - which will see the

Minister Heather Humphreys launches 2023 SuperValu TidyTowns Competition

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, in association with the managing director of SuperValu, Ian Allen, recently launched the 2023 SuperValu TidyTowns Competition

Since 1958, the competition, which is administered by the Department of Rural and Community Development and sponsored by SuperValu, has been a pivotal initiative in bringing communities together and addressing some of the environmental challenges we face in modern society

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the competition and is expected to attract one of its highest levels of entries to date

The official launch took place in Trim, County Meath – the winners of the 2022 Supervalu Tidy Towns Competition.

“The saying ‘ní neart go cur le chéile’, which means unity is our strength, really sums up what SuperValu TidyTowns is all about,” said Minister Humphreys.

“What makes SuperValu TidyTowns special is that it truly shows the power of community and how collective small actions can make a big difference toward ensuring our communities are more sustainable places to live, work and play for generations to come,” added managing director of SuperValu, Ian Allen.

The number of entries is steadily increasing and the Special Awards also continue to bring an added dimension to the competition, with some fantastic prizes.

Irish free-from brand Free’ist firmly believes that ‘great taste’ and ‘better-for-you’ belong together brand invest into sampling, digital advertising, social media, ambassadors, events and PR.

All Free’ist chocolate is bean-to-bar traced and ethically sourced, with single origin Columbian cacao beans, no added sugar, no palm oil, no artificial flavours, no soy, no gluten and non-GMO

Free’ist was created 10 years ago on the back of consumer demand for alternative healthier snacks, and, as the brand enters its second decade, it continues to put the consumer at the heart of the brand - firmly believing that ‘great taste’ and ‘better-for-you’ belong together

The closing date for receipt of entries is Wednesday, 10 May 2023. Entry forms are available at www.tidytowns.ie and will be emailed to all registered groups. Entries will only be accepted by email to the tidytowns@drcd.gov.ie address.

Full details of the competition are available on www.tidytowns.ie or www.supervalu.ie ■

PRESIDENT’S

Zero tolerance approach must be adopted against retail crime

Those of us in the grocery, fuel and newspaper retailing business were accorded an “essential service” status during the recent various lockdowns throughout the Covid-19 crisis.

Our staff were deemed to be essential workers, on a parallel with frontline staff such as those in the health and emergency sectors. It is high time that the State further acknowledges our vital role and ensures that any assaults, threats of violence and verbal abuse that are directed towards owners and workers in our sector are treated with the utmost seriousness by An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service.

Each and every matrix that retailers and the security industry use to monitor and report on instances of shoplifting, abusive and aggressive behaviour and violence against those working in our stores, shows a frightening increase across the entire sector.

There is a real need for the State to ensure that their citizens are at liberty to own, work and shop in our stores without fear from a small minority of thugs and criminals who seem to act without any regard for societal values. It’s time for zero tolerance.

CSNA wants known shoplifters named and shamed in nationwide wave of petty crime and harassment

Posting photos of known shoplifters and slapping ASBOs on youth terrorising retailers are needed to combat the current wave of abuse, criminality, and harassment that shopkeepers across the country are dealing with, according to CSNA CEO Vincent Jennings.

The CSNA would like to see a similar name and shame campaign to Northern Ireland’s, introduced here to expose shoplifters and other petty criminals, and combat the scourge of anti-social behaviour directed at retailers.

Speaking on RTE One’s Prime Time programme, Jennings said: “There is a very real problem. It is soul-destroying. We need zero tolerance.”

The current affairs programme highlighted the problem of out-ofcontrol youths and children who are shoplifting, hurling racist abuse and physically threatening and intimidating shop staff in supermarkets and corner shops around the country.

CSNA member Shane Gleeson, who runs five Spar shops in Limerick city, told RTE: “I’ve had a bottle of wine broken and been threatened with the broken glass. I’ve had guys with needles. My son was threatened with a knife.”

CCPC hears CSNA complaint against An Post/PostPoint regarding Leap cards

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has met with the CSNA which was accompanied by three affected retailers. The retailers were able to display to the investigators the various faults they found with the PostPoint proposal and agreed to provide substantial evidence of their projected losses if they are forced to do business on these new terms.

The CCPC agreed that it would discuss the matter with Payzone, PostPoint and the National Transport Authority (NTA).

The CSNA has made it very clear to the commission that in the association’s opinion, the tactics and approaches being made by representatives of PostPoint exercise all the hallmarks of a predator, insisting that retailers who currently sell Leap through Payzone needed to jump ship in advance of the end of their contract.

Without doubt, for the majority of current (via Payzone) Leap retailers, who get 2.5%-3.0% commission, the new An Post/ PostPoint Terms are significantly worse, with a flat rate commission of 24 cent for the (five-year) duration of the contract ensuring less than half the current earnings, but increased costs (€500 deposit, new line for terminal, pay for till rolls, limit of one terminal per site, etc).

The association believes there are no upsides for either the consumer or the retailer from this

The CSNA believes that the National Transport Authority (NTA) should have ensured that retailers’ commissions for Leap Cards were ringfenced change of distribution contract, given to a state body which is already regularly in receipt of very substantial State Aid.

In the CSNA’s view, it is wrong that the NTA did not ensure that retailers’ commissions were ringfenced against any attempt to reduce their margins by a company that has form in using a product (postage stamps) to gain penetration for its 100% owned subsidiary.

This is not over, not by a long shot.

IF YOU WISH TO JOIN THE CSNA, PLEASE CONTACT THE ASSOCIATION ON 045 535050 13 CSNA NEWS