RTD Beverages
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Admired internationally for their high standards and innovative food concepts, Ireland’s symbol groups are vital partners in helping independent retailers compete in a highly competitive sector and achieve the best possible results per square metre of their store
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Breakfast
40 CATEGORY FOCUS Symbol Groups
Eurospar
FACT FILE:
Q&A with Malachy Hanberry, Eurospar managing director
Malachy Hanberry, Eurospar managing director
Q: How have you continued to innovate within your food offerings? A: In conjunction with our retailers, Eurospar is constantly adapting its offer. Our ‘Famous for Fresh’ promise provides strong focus for us as we continue to introduce new range options for in-store manufacture across butchery, delicatessen and bakery departments. These ranges are developed exclusively for our Eurospar retailers and are at the core of the differentiated ‘Famous for Fresh’ offering to shoppers. As a result of this innovation, sales of these easy meal solutions and freshly baked goods across Eurospar stores have rocketed, which has also led to expansion of our fresh and chill selling space in stores. Q: Eighteen months on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, how have you continued to support retailers? A: Eurospar keeps its retailers continuously up to date in relation to all public health advice, and provides all relevant, bespoke, shopper and staff-facing point of sale materials, via our innovative Local Marketing Tool Kit (LMTK). We also provide all Eurospar retailers with a suite of bespoke supports and training assets in relation to recruitment, induction and fresh food departmental skills. Recognising
ShelfLife August 2021 | www.shelflife.ie
that staff turnover represents a big challenge in relation to the loss of fresh foods manufacturing skills we have developed bespoke ‘How To’ instruction video guides to support new staff in the manufacture of all fresh foods core range SKUs, thus vastly accelerating the staff learning curve in key fresh foods departments. Q: How have you remained competitive in terms of pricing while still delivering margin for retailers? A: Eurospar supermarkets have always been competitive on price. Our promotional offers remain best-in-class and our SuperEasy Rewards exclusive member offers add a further dimension to value in Eurospar. Eurospar offers a three-week promotional cycle of offers, overlaid with regular week-long tactical activity that is featured heavily across traditional and social media formats. Shoppers are exposed to our offers via handbills, in-store POS, in-store radio, national press and radio as well as national and targeted social media. Marketing activities across all channels have been upweighted over the past year and are supplemented by excellent local store marketing activities on social media. Local activity is supported by BWG Foods, via the ongoing delivery of bespoke social media marketing
training sessions for store management and staff. Our Price Match or Better and Price Check programmes also provide reassurance to shoppers that our pricing across the store is competitive in the supermarket sector. We are also very proud of our ‘Famous for Great Value Wines’ commitment, which delivers a vast range of exclusive BWG Foods agency wines to suit all pockets, and our unique pricepoint merchandising structure ensures simplicity in the wine shopping experience. Q: What are the main strengths of your store design and development? A: While we have a common ‘look and feel’ ambition and approach, we recognise that one size definitely does not fit all. Therefore, the design and development programme is very sympathetic to the shopper demographic at each location. We also work closely with each individual Eurospar retailer in this regard. In advance of any work being undertaken, a detailed macro category space requirement plan is drafted by the retail advisory team, and this becomes the benchmark against which the actual store development plan is drafted and approved. We are currently rolling out an innovative QR code-
Name of group: Eurospar Number of stores nationwide: 51 Typical store size: 800-1,300 sq m Head office: BWG House, Greenhills Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24, D24 Y722 Wholesale partner: BWG Foods Type of distribution network: BWG National Distribution Centre (NDC) servicing fresh, ambient and alcohol to all Eurospars nationwide Website: www.eurospar.ie Social media: Facebook: @eurosparireland, Instagram: @eurospar_ireland Tagline: The Supereasy Supermarket based initiative across Eurospar supermarkets, that will facilitate easy staff access to range and planogram advice specific to the category space available at each individual store. Eurospar management is also extremely conscious of cost/ROI when providing development advice to our retailers. Q: How would you sum up your main point of difference from the competition? A: The BWG Foods commitment is to develop true partnerships between Eurospar brand owners and retailers, working in partnership together to develop a network of local family-owned supermarkets with a unifying shopper proposition. Eurospar retailers are integrated into the local communities they operate in, and this has never been more evident than since the Covid19 related restrictions were introduced. Being part of the local community means that Eurospar retailers know best how to service their communities’ needs. With the support of BWG Foods, Eurospar retailers can compete on price with Ireland’s largest supermarket competitors, while also providing a level of personal service that cannot be replicated by them.
