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NEWSGRID

The top news stories in FMCG and retail from across Ireland

Tesco raises €170,000 for Temple Street

Tesco Ireland announced that in just one-week, customers and colleagues nationwide raised €170,000 for CHI at Temple Street during a week-long fundraiser in stores. The money raised will go towards a new upgraded CT Scanner costing €1.2 million for the children’s hospital. “While there is still an amount to be raised to reach the €1.2 million goal, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank all our customers who donated over the course of the week-long fundraiser,” said Kari Daniels, chief executive, Tesco Ireland.

Aldi to become first retailer to fully remove black plastic

Aldi Ireland will become the first retailer in Ireland to fully remove all black plastic from its core food range next month. Aldi has cut 30 million difficultto-recycle black plastic trays from its products and stores, saving 410 tonnes of non-recyclable plastic waste and replacing it with 100% recyclable alternatives. As part of its pledge, Aldi is swapping the remainder of its black plastic trays for 100% recyclable packaging across its entire ready meal, sides and biscuit ranges.

Londis and KitKat support Pieta

Bonnie Ryan joined Londis and Nestlé Ireland to announce that all proceeds from KitKat four finger chocolate bars sold in Londis stores nationwide from Thursday 3rd –Sunday 6th September would be donated to Pieta. Pieta works to support people and communities in crisis by providing free counselling and assistance to those who are at risk of suicide, engaging in self-harm and those bereaved by suicide. Pieta operates a network of 19 centres across the country.

Research predicts high costs for workers return

Laya Healthcare has undertaken research on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on Irish workers’ physical and mental wellbeing. The survey found four in 10 Irish workers (39%) are struggling to cope with everyday life during Covid-19 and 91% have reported some level of anxiety. The research further reveals companies predict an average expense of €37,138 on returning employees to the workplace, such as putting in place new infrastructure, PPE provision and running wellness programmes.

Retailers and FoodCloud unite to launch first national food appeal

Four of Ireland’s leading retailers –Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and Eurospar –have come together to support a new food initiative by FoodCloud called ‘Food For Ireland’, to help communities affected by Covid-19. Participating retailers will host a national food appeal in over 400 stores across Ireland from 17–20 September in a bid to meet the target of 280,000 meals. Shoppers can donate much needed non-perishable food which will then be redistributed directly to charities across Ireland. For more information log onto www.foodcloud.ie.

Tesco Ireland completes €1 million refit ofDundrum Town Centre store

Tesco Ireland has completed the refit of its Dundrum Town Centre store adding new services including F&F clothing, Smokin’ Bean coffee station and enhanced Tesco Mobile area for customers in the South Dublin area. The new services and complete refit are a result of €1 million investment in the store. Tesco customers in Dundrum will also have access to the Scan as You Shop facility in-store.

Government advisor predicts green recovery post Covid-19

The Taoiseach’s special economics adviser, profes Alan Ahearne, sor of Professor Alan Ahearne NUI Galway, has said he remains “cautiously optimistic” about a rapid economic recovery occurring post pandemic. He added that climate change is going to have an “even bigger” impact on global economies than Covid-19 and that government policy is likely to focus on a “green recovery”. The economics expert made his comments in an online presentation broadcast by the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change at NUIG this month.

Retail Excellence calls for support to pay rents

Retail Excellence has written to the government to request support for retailers struggling to pay commercial rents. Duncan Graham, managing director of Retail Excellence said that sales across the retail sector in the first half of this year were down 30%. “City centres and shopping centres have been particularly badly affected. We are calling on the government to issue a code of practice and introduce an arbitration service to help with a speedy resolution of disputes between retailers and landlords,” said Graham.

Lidl Ireland signs new €1 million contract with Enerpower of P

Lidl Ireland has appointed Waterfordbased energy solutions provider, Enerpower to install more than €1 million worth of Dr John Carty and Owen Power from Enerpower solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on with Alan Barry, Lidl 10 store projects across Ireland over the next 12 months. This builds on an existing long-term partnership with the Irish energy solutions provider, who previously worked to install Ireland’s largest array of PV solar panels at Lidl’s 58,000m 2 Newbridge regional distribution centre in 2019. ■

Q: How has Covid-19 affected your business?

A: Covid-19 has had a significant effect on our business as I’m sure it has on all businesses throughout the country. When the gravity of the situation became apparent back in March, we moved quickly to create a safe working environment for our team and a safe shopping environment for our customers. We installed sanitisation stations, erected perspex screens at the counter and limited entry to five customers at a time. We split our team into two ‘pods’ that worked on alternate days and we reduced our opening hours to reduce everybody’s exposure.

McHugh’s annual craft beer project Roadtrip has this year been christened ‘No Roadtrip - born under lockdown

With the pubs and restaurants closed, our footfall increased. We found that because customers were foregoing these outings, they were looking to treat themselves. They spent more on their bottle of wine. Mini kegs of craft beer were very popular. Home cocktail making increased significantly. The sales of cocktail ingredients and accessories went through the roof. Customers were trying to recreate their ‘night out’ experience in their own homes.

Q: What are the main consumer trends you are observing in your store?

A: In craft beer, the Irish breweries are constantly improving and evolving. Previously customers would

Specialist knowledge

The McHugh’s off-licence group was named NOffLA Beer Specialist of the Year 2020. Here, Cathal McHugh highlights some of the initiatives that have cemented the group’s reputation for offering something a little different

Award sponsored by Guinness

Brendan Drea of Diageo Ireland presenting the award for Beer Specialist of the Year 2020 to Frank Haughton and James Carroll of McHugh’s, Malahide Road

have been looking to UK and US craft breweries for innovative styles but now there are very few styles of beer that are not being made excellently by Irish craft breweries. Parallel with this trend towards innovative Irish craft beers is a renewed trend towards the old classics from Belgium and Germany. Customers are really appreciating the richness and complexity of Belgian Tripels and Quadrupels and the refreshing crispness of the best German Helles. 33cl and 44cl cans are increasingly becoming the preferred container for craft beers.

Over Covid times, customers have been trading up in their wine choices and we have been getting great feedback as they realise the extra quality that they get with their increased spend. I would be confident that this ‘trade up’ pattern will continue. Home cocktail making is growing. Customers are assembling their own array of spirits and liqueurs at home to allow them to be adventurous in their cocktail making.

Q: What has been your favourite-ever holiday or day trip relating to the drinks industry, and why?

A: In 2015 we marked our 20th anniversary in business by creating a craft beer concept called ‘Roadtrip’. The concept being that we would select one of our favourite brewery partners and collaborate on a beer that we would bring to market.

For our first one, we teamed up with Rick LeVert from Kinnegar because his beers are amongst our favourites and we were his first Dublin outlet. Aidan, Frank and I went on a road trip to Rathmullan in Donegal for the brew day. We took part in every aspect of the brewing process. It was a hard, exhausting day but it was very enjoyable and memorable. We were very proud of the resulting beer - a big West

McHugh’s Malahide Road and Kilbarrack Road stores both offer excellent breadth of range and product knowledge

Coast IPA. Since then we brewed a new Roadtrip each year with different breweries. Our most recent fifth edition was a Hazy Pale Ale brewed during lockdown with our close neighbours Hope Beer. They are located 700 metres from our Kilbarrack shop. In a play on words, we christened it ‘No Roadtrip - born under lockdown’. The first batch was released in May and sold out quickly. The second batch will be canned in mid-September.

Q: What is the most expensive product you stock in-store? What makes it worth the price?

A: We have a handful of bottles left of Chateau Palmer 2000 from Margaux at €350. It is an exceptional wine from an exceptional vintage. Its price is driven mainly by its rarity. We also have a library stock of rare limited release and first release Irish whiskeys which can cost hundreds of euros.

Q: Do you have any predictions for the future of the off-trade industry in Ireland? Are there any areas in-store that you would like to expand or develop further?

A: While the supermarkets continue to put significant pressure on our sector with their deep discounting, I believe that there will always be a place for good specialist off-licences that offer breadth of range and product knowledge. We will revamp both of our shops over the next 12 months, We will be looking to enhance the customer in-store experience. We will upgrade all of our substantial refrigeration for beers and wines. We will improve our gifting offer. We will also be launching a new ecommerce website. Our current one is eight years old and needs an overhaul. ■