Cheers to that

McHugh’s Off-Licence, Malahide Road, Artane in Dublin was awarded National Off-Licence of the Year at the 27th annual industry Awards. Fionnuala Carolan spoke to Cathal McHugh about the many innovations pioneered in this independent off-licence

The National Off-Licence of the Year Awards took place at the end of January in the Honourable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin. The Awards, which highlight those retailers that offer exceptional service to customers, included 46 finalists, with McHugh’s OffLicence, Malahide Road awarded ‘National Off-Licence of the Year 2023’, a coveted accolade

McHugh’s are no strangers to winning, having won it twice before in 2005 and 2006 and having won category awards many times especially in the craft beer section.

Cathal McHugh says they were really delighted with the overall win this year “It’s an honour to come out on top. The competition is an excellent barometer of where our business stands and the criteria that we are given beforehand gives us standards to work towards and areas to work on which is really valuable in an independent setting,” he explains.

Cathal and his brother Diarmuid run a multi-faceted business incorporating two offlicences, four Centra stores and two restaurants, McHugh’s of Raheny and McHugh’s of Portmarnock based in north county Dublin, close to where they grew up

“My father started off in the grocery business in the 1950s,” explains McHugh. “He would have come up from Donegal with his brothers and opened an offlicence in the 1970s.” McHugh joined the family business early in his career when they started off the independent off-licence arm of the business developing Kilbarrack Road and the Artane store and he has been instrumental is driving the business forward.

Artane store

The winning Artane store was refurbished in 2021 with a full internal and external revamp including new doors and windows and all new signage It had been 15 years since the previous upgrade and according to McHugh they were more than ready for an overhaul. “We created a really bright open plan space with more sleek shelving and less clutter in the store and our customers have responded really well to that and we feel it’s now offering a really good shopping experience for the customer,” he says

“In terms of our investment cycle we were overdue a refurbishment. We looked around and went to the Euroshops trade fair in Germany and visited other off-licences in Ireland to get inspiration and ideas and this is the direction we felt was appropriate We acquired new more modern branding for our business at the same time.”

The store is managed by Frank Haughton who has been there for over 20 years. At the time of the judging, James Carroll was the assistant manager but he has since moved to their Kilbarrack stores and Aidan O’Neill has taken over as assistant manager McHugh has great faith in his staff “We pride ourselves on having a very educated team whether that is cocktails, beers or wines. We would be pursuing knowledge and tasting products ourselves to keep abreast of everything,” he says

Reimagining

It’s no secret that off-licences fared well during Covid and McHugh describes the change in customer behaviour during this time as a “reimagining”, meaning that people were replacing the money that they would normally spend in restaurants and hotels on a visit to the off-licence.

“Some people were working their way up through the price levels in terms of wines, embracing liquors and cocktails more enthusiastically and even on the spirits side of things being more adventurous and spending a bit more to get more quality,” he explains.

Have people kept these habits up since, we wondered? “With the cost of living pressures, people are certainly searching for value now but once you take the genie out of the bottle and realise the extra quality that can be attained by paying a few euro extra it’s hard to go backwards so definitely we have attained the higher spend per bottle,” he says

Cocktails

Always on the lookout for new opportunities and using their expertise and knowledge to build the business, they came up with a new idea during Covid when they noticed the upswing and interest in cocktails and decided to utilise restaurant staff who were unable to work because of the lockdowns, to create readyto-drink cocktails and a new brand called Shake Me Cocktails was born.

“Our restaurant manager and mixologist in Portmarnock is called Tudor Hedes and he produces the cocktails,” explains McHugh. “We bottle high quality batches and sell them through our off-licences. Our core range includes a margarita, a pornstar martini, a cosmopolitan and an old fashioned and then some seasonal varieties. They are made with full strength high quality ingredients and are really good,” he admits.

Beer innovations

While cocktails are a newish element to the business, McHugh says they have always been pioneers in craft beer He says they were early adopters of craft beers like weiss beers from Germany and New England IPAs in the 1990s and then when small breweries started popping up in Ireland like the Dublin Brewing Company in Smithfield and O’Hara’s they were quick to support them.

“The craft beer market developed quite quickly and quite smoothly,” he remembers.

“Originally it was American and English beers that were regarded as the cutting edge of beer styles but the Irish breweries really upped their game in the last 10 years and now the majority focus would be on the Irish craft breweries,” he explains.

When the second wave of craft beer hit in recent years, their customers took to the category quite quickly “I think because we had a reputation for being at the forefront for any new trends in beers we were seen as a go-to when craft beers did take off,” he says

So much so that in 2016, they created their own brand of beer called Road Trip to mark the 20th anniversary of McHugh’s Kilbarrack Road off-licence by partnering with one of their favourite breweries, Kinnegar Brewery in Rathmullen, Co Donegal. “The first beer we made was Road Trip One with Kinnegar Brewery We worked with them to come up with a recipe for an American pale ale We got involved in all stages of the brewing process. We’ve done a few different beers in that range since. We did a barrel aged stout with an independent brewery in Connemara and a hazy pale ale with Hope Brewery, which is situated very close to us. It’s a matter of coming up with the right concept and partnering with the right brewery It’s good for us to flex our imagination and get involved with the whole process,” he says

Their craft beer is clearly branded as McHugh’s beers with the brewery’s branding. “It’s attaching our expertise to a brand and getting it out there on social media and to our regular customers who would have a certain amount of trust in us.”

In recent times they have created an offshoot of that called the Explorer Series with Hope Brewery in smaller batch sizes so they get to be creative producing beers like a raspberry and basil gueuze - a blend of several different barrel-aged Belgian beers and a few other interesting styles.

“We have acquired a lot of knowledge over the years so it’s just putting that into practice in the hands on element and then obviously working with the brewers who have a keener knowledge of the ins and outs of creating the flavour profiles that we want to achieve,” and it’s obvious that this element has become a real passion project for McHugh and the team.

Minimum unit pricing

Winning the NOffLA award proves that they are doing things right and it has given the team in McHugh’s Artane a great boost of confidence but the regular day-to-day issues affecting the licenced trade remain. The most pertinent of these in recent times are minimum unit pricing and the rate of excise duty on alcoholic drinks. According to NOffLA’s Gary O’Donovan, rising costs have been significantly impacting the wider hospitality sector He suggests that government can implement an immediate lifeline to these businesses through a reduction in alcohol excise rates, which remain the highest in Europe McHugh is sceptical that this will happen in the short term.

“I’d love to think so but in my lifetime I haven’t seen too many instances of those types of taxes coming down. It’s just not a level playing field across Europe and you are in the unusual position in that wine is unfairly treated because we are not a producer Our suppliers from France, Italy and Spain can’t get over the taxes and the price differential between the EU countries,” he says McHugh can’t say for certain whether Minimum Unit Pricing has made a real difference to the sector yet. “It’s got rid of the very irresponsible sales techniques and deep discounts but there have been a lot of different pack sizes introduced by the beer companies so at the moment we are going through a cycle of the price increases from all suppliers so there is huge confusion around what is the price of a particular product. It’s hard to gauge what the impact is,” he admits.

Being an independent business means that they are keenly aware of these issues but they are happy to have NOffLA campaigning on their behalf while they keep innovating and creating exciting new products for their customers. With their Off-Licence of the Year credentials, you can be sure everyone is watching with interest what they do next!

Hunky Dorys launches exciting new Prawn Cocktail flavour

Hunky Dorys, the number one crinkle cut crisp brand in Ireland, is delighted to reveal its newest flavour, Hunky Dorys Prawn Cocktail

Hunky Dorys’ newest addition proudly boasts all the brand’s best qualities. Thick and satisfying, they can easily squash any tummy rumbles with massive ridges of flavour and obscene crunchiness. This new flavour is packing some serious zingy punch.

Hunky Dorys new Prawn Cocktail flavour is available nationwide in both sharing (135g: RRP €2.99*) and impulse on-the-go (45g: RRP €1.25*) formats.

Hunky Dorys fans can pick up Ireland’s most beloved crinkle cut crisps, in six flavours; Cheddar Cheese & Spring Onion, Salt & Malt Vinegar Sour Cream & Onion, Buffalo, Flame Grilled Steak and now Prawn Cocktail. Join the conversation at Instagram: @hunky_dorys and Tik Tok: @hunkydorysireland.

*(Packs can be subject to special offer in different retail outlets)

‘For Goodness Sake’: Rudd’s looking good at 50!

This month, Rudd’s will mark 50 years since the company made its first sausages in Ireland. From humble beginnings on the Rudd family pig farm in Offaly in 1973, the brand has not stood still and has continued to innovate to meet the changing dietary needs of Irish consumers. Rudd’s has recently expanded its range to not only offer quality Irish breakfast meats but also a range of tasty meat-alternatives and innovative functional products for consumers.

The brand, which was acquired by Loughnane’s of Galway in 2017, has recently welcomed one of the youngest members of the Rudd family, Simon Rudd, back to continue to grow the business in Ireland. Following a recent brand refresh, the company has launched a new marketing campaign with the tagline, ‘Rudd’s, For Goodness Sake’.

Rudd’s product range can now be found in four categories:

• Favourites features the products Rudd’s is traditionally known for: dry cured bacon, sausages, and the best-selling black and white puddings.

• Chef’s Table is a more exclusive offering which allows the Rudd’s team to innovate and be creative.

• Plantiful is Rudd’s plant-based range featuring a range of plant-based breakfast and dinner meats.

• Eat Well which focuses on functional foods containing high iron, high protein, and lean meat options.

As part of the ‘For Goodness Sake’ campaign, Rudd’s is giving away five €500 shopping vouchers on the @ruddsfood Instagram page

Have a break, have a bowl of KitKat Cereal!

Nestlé Cereals has announced the launch of KitKat Cereal, a new breakfast option which brings the taste of the popular chocolate bar straight to consumers’ cereal bowls.

Created in partnership with the chocolate development team, the cereal maintains the essence of the much-loved original chocolate bar The crispy cereal squares provide the delicious taste of chocolate and wafer, which is sure to delight loyal KitKat fans.

The newest addition to the Nestlé Cereals’ portfolio is made with a milk chocolate flavoured coating and is a source of five vitamins, calcium and iron.

“This exciting new cereal delivers a delicious taste of KitKat and has been developed to cater to consumers who are looking for an occasional, indulgent breakfast option, that can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet,” said Jennifer Walsh, country category manager, Nestlé Cereals.

KitKat Cereal will be stocked by major retailers from mid-May onwards.

Tanqueray and Amy Huberman team up to launch Tanqueray 0.0% In Ireland

Tanqueray 0.0%, an alcohol-free spirit alternative to Tanqueray London Dry gin was officially launched earlier this month by Amy Huberman. The alcohol-free alternative drink option for those not willing to compromise on taste is now available to buy in Ireland.

Ireland is the number one fastest growing alcohol-free market globally (Source: KAM Media June 2022). The alcohol-free sector is expected to more than double in size over the next three years, growing faster than beer and cider combined.

Tanqueray 0.0% has been crafted and perfectly balanced using the same distinct blend of four quality botanicals used in the making of Tanqueray London Dry gin, resulting in a citrus style and juniper led profile, with a delicate botanical complexity behind it.

Tanqueray’s four quality botanicals (piney juniper peppery coriander aromatic angelica and sweet liquorice) are individually immersed in water, heated, and then distilled to give a complex, delicious flavour, yet zeroalcohol.

Tanqueray 0.0% is now available in retailers nationwide, as well as in selected on trade locations nationwide

For more information, visit www.tanqueray.com ■

More than 94,000 people signed up to a waiting list for an anti-ageing range from Boots No 7

Demand soars for Boots’ new anti-ageing cream hailed as ‘Botox in a jar’

Boots scored a major win in the NPD stakes this month, with crowds queuing up for its latest anti-ageing cream. More than 94,000 people signed up to a waiting list for an anti-ageing range from No 7, and many queued outside Boots stores for up to two hours on its launch day on Wednesday, 12 April.

The Daily Mail reports that demand soared for skincare range No 7 Future Renew Damage Reversal after impressive results of its ability to repair sun damage were presented last month at a meeting of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology The cream, developed over 15 years in collaboration with the University of Manchester, has been found to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and improve skin firmness in clinical trials The buzz surrounding this so-called ‘Botox in a jar’ is reminiscent of the company’s Protect & Perfect serum, which was highlighted on the BBC’s Horizon programme in 2007

Following the Twitterati

■ Teresa O’Reilly @TeresaO09898358

@SuperValuIRL Danielle works in SuperValu Cootehill. She is a star She is friendly and helpful. Her cheerful demeanour is noted & appreciated by many.

■ Jack Witts @jackfwitts

Big fan of @Aldi_Ireland’s can art. Lager is decent, too. Cheers, all. Hope everyone has a cracking Friday. #irishbeer #aldibeer

■ Claire Cross @ClaireC34622403

@dunnesstores Big thank you to Catherine in your @dunnesstores branch in @BridgeShopping @Tullamore. She went out of her way to help a very special lady #Coat

■ Cllr Lorraine Hall @LorraineHallFG

Dreadful to see Dunnes Stores sitting on vacant properties in Macroom, Co Cork for almost 20 years. This is especially worse during a housing crisis. #DerelictIreland #VacantIreland

#HousingCrisis

Grocery across the globe

USA

Walmart closes four Chicago stores

Walmart has made the “difficult decision” to close four stores in Chicago According to the retailer, “collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years”.

Walmart added that the remaining four Chicago stores face “the same difficulties” but it hopes to keep them open to serve the community

France

Carrefour Énergies now has 100 electric vehicle charging stations in France

Carrefour recently reached the milestone of 100 electric vehicle charging stations. That makes it the first network of terminals in France with more than 850 charging points – half of which are highpower ones (up to 300 kW) – across the whole country Carrefour Énergies was launched in April 2022 and has equipped over a hundred hypermarkets with electric charging terminals. It wants to add another 200 stores to this tally before the end of this year

Ambiano Dual Basket Air Fryer is only €99.99 (Image: Aldi)

Aldi’s

Aldi air fryer dupe expected to fly off the shelves

An air fryer dupe which goes on sale in Aldi from 23 April onwards, is €200 cheaper than the more expensive Ninja air fryer The dual basket air fryer from Aldi lets people cook two foods at the same time and is similar to the top-of-the-range Ninja dual air fryer that costs €299. The Aldi version - the Ambiano Dual Basket Air Fryer - which sells for just €99.99, can be used for cooking all types of foods, including meat and veg, in a healthier way

Expected to be hugely popular, Aldi Ireland’s website advises that the product is restricted to two orders per customer.

Butter is best says celeb chef

Celebrity chef James Martin has some harsh words for what he regards as a “horrendous” household ingredient. The former Saturday Kitchen chef compared margarine to “plastic” in a blistering attack on the butter alternative.

Speaking to The Sunday Post, the professional chef, who wrote a book about butter in 2021, explained how he grew up always having “full-fat milk, butter and cream” at home.

In his view, margarine is not an acceptable substitute for a slab of butter and he argued that supermarkets should stop selling it altogether. “Margarine should be banned,” he said. “It’s dreadful, dreadful stuff, it’s two elements away from plastic, it’s horrendous stuff.” While butter is made from cream or milk, margarine uses a blend of oils without any saturated fats.

While margarine fans would surely disagree with this forthright verdict – one thing’s for certain – we won’t expect to find it listed in a James Martin recipe any time soon!

Brussels

Docks Bruxsel: Europe’s first large shopping centre achieves Carbon Net Zero

‘Docks Bruxsel’ has become the first large shopping centre in Europe to receive the ‘CO2 neutral - gold company’ certificate from CO2logic/ South Pole A natural ventilation system has replaced air conditioning and a 580m3 rainwater recovery basin is used for many applications. A rainwater filtering method waters the green walls. The centre also has 4,500 m2 of solar panels and the heat from the nearby incinerator is used as an energy source On the roof, two beehives house around 80,000 bees.

Uk

Tesco profits fall after ‘unprecedented’ inflation

Tesco saw profits fall in the year to 25 February as it faced “unprecedented levels of inflation” in the prices paid to suppliers across the year While Tesco’s revenues increased across the year, profit before tax plummeted by 50% to £1bn (€1.14bn). Total adjusted operating profit fell by 7.1% on a constant currency basis, Tesco said. This figure stood at £2.6bn (€3bn), down from £2.8bn (€3.18bn) reported the previous financial year ■

Line up with MACE brand ambassador Johnny Sexton and the rest of our winning team.

AtMACE, we’re looking for retailers who bring a smile to work every day to join our amazing team.

Our new stores are designed to be both bright and welcoming, to place you at the heart of the community in which you serve. Speaking of service, our quality fresh foods and innovations meet the ever-changing needs of people and have been proven to drive profitable sales increases for MACE Retailers.

You will have the support of our experienced team around Ireland, along with award winning marketing to grow your business.