20 minute read
Tesco Ireland named as one of the Best Workplaces in Ireland; Have a Gander at NI food waste app
Tesco Ireland named as one of the Best Workplaces in Ireland TESCO Ireland has been officially recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Ireland at the 18th annual Great Place to Work Best Workplaces in Ireland awards in the Clayton Hotel on Burlington Road, Dublin, recently. This is Tesco’s third year to be named as a top Irish workplace, which is assessed through Great Place to Work’s robust ‘Trust Index’ employee survey and a thorough ‘Culture Audit’ assessment of their policies and practices.
Tesco Ireland was recognised as the 17th Best Large Workplace in Ireland 2020, as well as retaining its position as one of 20 Best Workplaces for Women 2020.
“We’re very proud to have retained the Great Place to Work standard for the third year running,” noted Kari Daniels, CEO, Tesco Ireland. “As one of only 23 Certified companies in the country, it’s a great honour. We achieved accreditation for 2020 and will continue to build on learnings year on year evolving our business to better the wellbeing of our 13,000 colleagues. “Our best investment as a business is without doubt in our people. We believe in treating each other with respect, giving everyone an equal opportunity to get on. we’re a proud champion of women in the workplace and thrilled to retain the recognition of Best Workplace for Women this year. As a business, we continue to strive to serve our shoppers a little better every day.” Team Tesco receiving the Great Place to Work Certification at the annual Best Workplaces in Ireland awards.
Have a Gander at NI food waste app GANDER, a world-first award-winning app created to reduce food waste, has transformed the spending habits of Northern Ireland shoppers with a significant soar in downloads and increased sales of yellow stickered foods since its launch last August.
Earmarking Northern Ireland as the initial launch pad for the app, over 41,000 downloads have taken place in the last four months, placing it in the top 12% of apps nationally. In addition, up to 45% more reduced-price food has sold, which means 45% more has been kept from going to waste. These improvements mean that stores on average are selling between 85-100% of their reduced product shown on Gander, with yellow-stickered items selling 40% quicker since the introduction of Gander, and often at higher prices as shoppers are interested in getting the reduction as soon as it appears.
Gander integrates directly with a retailer’s POS, which enables retailers to automatically display to shoppers in real-time all reduced-to-clear food on the shelves within their local store. Furthermore, Gander does this automatically, meaning nothing changes in-store at all and no additional staff training. The app allows the customer ultimate control over what reduced priced goodies they search for, whether it is by location, favourite stores, reduction, food type or even dietary requirements.
Speaking on the success, one of Gander’s founders, Ashley Osborne says: “The traction and growth of Gander has been amazing. We had expected a decent level of interest, but never envisaged the degree of downloads - especially when only trialled in Northern Ireland initially. The level of positive buy-in demonstrated by customers and retailers alike has been phenomenal and testament that Gander’s proposition is a great fit for consumers out there. “Customer feedback has been incredibly supportive and the interest in high quality reduced food is impressive, Blogger Denise Curran grabbing savings thanks to Gander and shopping yellow-labels.
now that they can actually see what is available, whereas previously you would have to go to the store and hope to find something reduced. Plus, shoppers are feeling empowered thanks to Gander, aiding them to be more sustainable in their shopping choices. This supports the app’s endeavour to decrease and prevent food waste and create a more sustainable environment has also proved highly effective. All in all, this has led to not only a substantial reduction in surplus and waste, but an increase in overall sales of reduced items, with up to an 800% return on investment for a retailer using Gander.”
Gander launched initially by integrating with Henderson Technologies award-winning EDGEPos system to display all of the yellow stickered produce from their stores in real time. Gander went live in 310 participating Spar, EuroSpar, ViVo and ViVoxtra stores.
The successful launch of Gander has attracted a lot of interest from additional retailers in the Republic of Ireland and the UK, many of whom are expected to roll out with Gander in the next few months.
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70% of people concerned about environmental impact when buying coffee
A NEW survey has revealed that the nation is waking up to the impact of take-out coffees in single use cups, with 70% of respondents saying that they now consider the environmental impact when purchasing a coffee to go.
Maxol’s Rosa Coffee Survey of more than 2,600 people in Ireland also found that one in five (20%) of us would rather not buy a coffee at all than use a single use cup.
Notwithstanding these findings, it appears that there is still a long way to go and more education needed on this growing topical issue, as the majority of people (85%) surveyed said that they would make more changes if they knew more about the impact of single use cups on the environment.
A third of consumers drink three cups of coffee a day, according to the survey, while two in 10 coffee lovers drink four cups of the good stuff daily.
When it comes to take-out coffees, 38% of Irish consumers buy up to four cups each week, with a further 28% purchasing up to seven coffees a week, which equates to a spend of more than €1,000 per year. According to the research, more than half of consumers (54%) prefer to get their coffee on the go; 24% like to make
their own coffee at home or in work and one in five (21%) prefer to drink their coffee in a coffee shop.
Ireland’s favourite coffee by quite some margin is an Americano, with 42% of those surveyed saying it was their drink of choice followed by a cappuccino (22%), latte (17%) and a flat white (11%). The majority of people (56%) would opt for Fair Trade coffee if they were given the choice.
Irish Food Writers‘ Guild Food Awards presented THE 2020 Irish Food Writers’ Guild Awards have been presented, with eight companies recognised for the outstanding quality of their food. The awards, now in their 26th year, celebrate excellence and recognise indigenous food producers and organisations that help to create and maintain Ireland’s outstanding reputation in food and drink.
The winners of the 2020 Irish Food Writers’ Guild Food Awards are: 1. Food Award: Frank Hederman for Hederman Hot Smoked Irish Salmon, Co. Cork 2. Food Award: Shine’s Seafood for Shine’s Wild Irish Tuna, Co. Donegal 3. Food Award: Inch House Traditional Black Pudding, Co. Tipperary 4. Irish Drink Award: Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, Co. Dublin 5. Outstanding Contribution to Irish Food Award: Joyce Timmins, Co. Dublin 6. Environmental Award: Exploding Tree (Chocolate), Co. Cork 7. Community Food Award: Falling Fruit Ireland (fruit harvesting), Co. Dublin 8. Lifetime Achievement Award: Jeffa Gill (cheesemaker), Co. Cork
“These awards highlight the incredible work of small, independent Irish food producers and organisations at a time when supporting local, home-grown industries has never been more relevant or important,” said Kristin Jensen, chairperson of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild.
Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, winner of the Irish Food Writers‘ Guild Irish Drink Award.
ABP Food Group announces changes to its Board ABP Food Group has announced the appointment of three new non-executive directors to its Board.
John Moloney joins the Board as director and Chairman designate. John has had significant experience over a 33-year career in the food and agribusiness sector, including his role as Group MD of Glanbia plc from 2001- 2013.
Tom Kirwan joins the Board having stepped down from his position as ABP UK Managing Director last October. Chartered accountant, Fergal O’Dwyer, Chief Financial Officer of DCC plc, also joins the Board.
ABP Food Group also announced the appointment of two further directors to its Board, Finbarr McDonnell and Mark Goodman, both executives in the group.
The new appointments will join existing and continuing Board members, Larry Goodman, who remains in his role as Executive Chairman, and Frank Stephenson, Group Chief Executive.
Mace celebrates national digital media award success MACE’S passion for digital media, including content creation, advertising and marketing across all platforms, was recognised on a national stage when winning Gold in Best Integrated Media Strategy at the prestigious EPA Digital Media Awards recently. Now in their 17th year, EPA Digital Media Awards celebrate and recognise creativity and innovation across multiple areas of an ever-evolving sector. Mace won Gold in Best Integrated Media Strategy category for the Mace Going the Extra Smile with Johnny Sexton campaign and also took home Silver in Best in Retail & Consumer Goods for the Mace Right Options Campaign 2019 with Johnny Sexton. Pictured are event MC Tom Dunne with Eoin Hederman, BWG; Caitriona Cousins, Mace Marketing Manager & Head of Shopper Insights, BWG; and John Hanly, BWG.
AS part of a recent three-year digital transformation deal, technology company Client Solutions will migrate key Tesco Mobile customer-facing systems to the cloud on Microsoft Azure, to enable the telecoms network to reach its ambitious potential. The project, which is already underway, is estimated to be worth around €2.5m and scheduled for completion by July 2022. For Tesco Mobile Ireland, the suite of solutions will allow their teams to better understand the user experience and ultimately improve the service to their growing customer base. Pictured are Leo Murphy, Sales Director, Client Solutions, and Geoff Byrne, Chairman, Tesco Mobile Ireland. Client Solutions powers Tesco Mobile Ireland into the cloud
Aldi opens new Swords store
ALDI’S nationwide expansion continued recently with the opening of a new flagship Project Fresh store in River Valley, Swords, Co. Dublin, creating 24 new jobs. The new store is Aldi’s 22nd in Co. Dublin. Aldi now operates 142 stores across the country. Featuring Aldi’s exciting award-winning Project Fresh layout and design, the new store boasts a large shop floor spanning 1,316 square metres, 139 free car parking spaces, 20 bicycle spaces, wide aisles and hi-spec fixtures and fittings. The new store is part of Aldi’s €160m investment in its Irish store network, including €100m in 20 new stores and €60m in revamping the layout and design of all its stores nationwide. Store manager Kevin O’Leary is pictured with staff at the new Aldi store.
A GRANDMOTHER from Co. Tipperary became the first person to go on Winning Streak more than once in the same series of the National Lottery TV game show. Ann Skeffington from Cashel, Co. Tipperary appeared on the RTÉ One show on February 22, winning €58,000, just four months after she won €40,000 during her first outing on the show! Pictured at the presentation of the winners’ cheques are (l-r): Marty Whelan, Winning Streak co-host; winner Ann Skeffington; Jim O’Connor, The National Lottery; and Sinead Kennedy, Winning Streak co-host. The winning ticket was bought from Texaco/ Mace, Dublin Road, Cashel, Co. Tipperary. Tipperary granny’s Winning Streak continues
Club calls on fans to create new can design
CLUB has launched an ‘unreal’ campaign calling on digital natives and creatives to design the next Club can through Instagram, with the winning design going on to be produced and sold in stores throughout Ireland. The ‘Club Unreal Flavours’ campaign is challenging consumers to demonstrate how they would turn an ordinary can into an unreal one. Club fans wanting to get in on the action can show off their design skills by simply snapping a blank can, create a winning design and sharing it with Club via Instagram for a chance to win. The competition is open until March 31 and Club will share a selection of the best designs online before announcing the overall winner on April 14, 2020. The can design will then go live on 150,000 Club orange cans by the end of summer.
Tesco Ireland raises €5m in five years for Temple Street TESCO Ireland has reached a monumental fundraising milestone, having raised €5m over the course of its five-year partnership with CHI at Temple Street. Throughout the course of this partnership, the funds raised have helped the hospital to buy over 270 pieces of vital medical equipment for patients, including ultrasound scanners, patient monitors and respiratory equipment. Tesco also announced a further extension to its partnership for one year for 2020, continuing with its ambition of purchasing much-needed equipment to aid the treatment of sick children with the aim of raising an additional €1m. Pictured are Kari Daniels, CEO of Tesco Ireland, and Denise Fitzgerald, CEO of Temple Street.
Ireland’s €2m Coffee Morning
PICTURED are Jason Doyle, Managing Director at Bewley’s, and Fintan Fagan, CEO of St Francis Hospice Dublin, celebrating the announcement of a fundraising milestone. €2m was raised for Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice Together with Bewley’s 2019. This brings the total funds raised over the course of the 27-year partnership to €39m. Every euro raised locally stays locally, with funds raised supporting local hospice and specialist palliative care services nationwide. “It’s been a privilege for Bewley’s to lend its support as sole sponsor for Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice for the past 27 years,” said Jason Doyle. “To be part of this incredible fundraising milestone is something we are very proud of.”
Carving out a market LIDL Ireland has announced a two-year supply deal with Kildare-based cooked meats producer, O’Brien Fine Foods (OBFF) worth €40m. Lidl has also made a further €50,000 investment in O’Brien Fine Foods, which will see their Irish
beef produce exported to more than 3,000 Lidl stores in Germany as part of their 2020 Christmas offering. The deal will see O’Brien Fine Foods supply Lidl’s 201 stores across the Island of Ireland, as well as Lidl’s 797 stores across Great Britain. It comes as Lidl and O’Brien Fine Foods mark 10 successful years of supply partnership in Ireland. “In terms of quality and flavour, the O’Brien Fine Foods range of cooked meat products are second to none and we are delighted that our customers in Ireland will continue to enjoy them, and that our international customers will have the opportunity to sample the best of Irish produce,” said Henry Howard, Senior Buyer for Lidl Ireland, pictured (right), with Brendan Conway, Buying Executive for Lidl Ireland; and John O’Brien, Managing Director of O’Brien Fine Foods.
€500,000 EuroMillions Plus ticket sold in Tipperary
STAFF at Ely’s Centra Store in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, are pictured celebrating after they sold a winning ticket for the EuroMillions Plus top prize of €500,000, which was won on February 26. Speaking on selling the lucky Quick Pick ticket, Ronan Ely, one of the owners of the family business said: “It’s tremendous news to get and there’s a massive buzz about Thurles town since early morning.” The Ely family business currently employs over 100 staff at their three Centra stores in Thurles and Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny, which they have operated for the last 30 years.
Java Republic travels back to its roots
LUIS Alvarez (pictured), Java Republic Coffee Quality Consultant was recently in Costa Rica on a Coffee Origin Trip, with global green coffee merchant, DR Wakefield. During this trip, both teams were given the opportunity to cultivate on-the-ground relationships with Costa Rican farmers and more importantly understand the day-to-day challenges that these farmers face as producers of the highest quality coffee beans in the world. A law was passed in 1989 prohibiting the planting of low-quality beans, encouraging Costa Rican farmers to pursue true excellence, ensuring that bad coffee is literally against the law!
ALDI Ireland has received the Green Retailer Award at this year’s Green Awards. Aldi was recognised for its company-wide commitment to a series of sustainability initiatives, including packaging and waste reduction, carbon reduction, biodiversity and staff training and awareness. Over the past 12 months, Aldi has introduced three new eco-friendly bags, including reusable, compostable and paper bags. In addition, the retailer has removed all single use plastic bags for loose fruit and vegetable produce and replaced them with 100% compostable bags. Aldi also continues to invest heavily in new eco-friendly refrigeration and lighting systems and made a commitment to plant over 100,000 trees across Ireland by 2024. “We consider it a great honour to receive this Green Retailer Award,” noted John Curtin, Aldi Group Buying Director. “To be recognised at the Green Awards is something that all companies in the sustainability space aspire towards, and to be recognised as a stand-out amongst our retail competitors is something we can be very proud of.” Aldi Ireland wins Green Retailer Award
Dealz unveils new co-leadership for island of Ireland DEALZ and Poundland have appointed two Irish women to take leading roles as part of a new structure for the business across Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The discount retailer has created two new positions to oversee the business across the island but will continue to trade as Dealz in the Republic of Ireland and as Poundland in Northern Ireland. Sharon Sheridan (left) has been appointed Country Manager – Trading, responsible for trading decisions, including buying, merchandising and supply chain. Sharon has led trading in the Republic of Ireland for the past seven years. Olivia McLoughlin (right), who joined last October from Dixons Carphone, has been appointed Country Manager – Retail, with responsibility for supervision of 99 stores. Olivia was previously responsible for ROI, NI & Scotland with Claire’s Accessories & all of Ireland with Carraig Donn.
Fyffes pineapple farm receives Rainforest Alliance Certification
JANUARY 29 saw Fyffes pineapple farm in Costa Rica, Anexco, granted the Sustainable Agriculture Standard Certification by Rainforest Alliance for the farm’s sustainable practices. Approximately 1,100 workers, 8m boxes of pineapples, 3,239 hectares of farmland and protected forest areas are now RFA-certified. “Fyffes is extremely delighted about what our team at the Anexco farm in Costa Rica has achieved,” noted Wolter Van Der Kooij, Fyffes General Manager for Pineapples. “The Rainforest Alliance certification reconfirms our high level of social compliance and environmental commitment. As we look towards the future, our ambition is to continue to improve the farm for its workers, its community and local natural habitat.”
Lidl raises over €300k for Jigsaw
OVER €300,000 has been raised for youth mental health charity Jigsaw through initiatives and fundraisers lead by Lidl Ireland in 2019. The news comes as Lidl launched its 2019 Impact Report, detailing the positive economic and social impact that the company has made within the communities it serves throughout Ireland. Another highlight of the report reveals that Lidl’s community partnership with FoodCloud not only provides local charities with donated meals and in-kind donations but also works to reduce food waste. In 2019 the national partnership diverted 230,699 kgs of food from being sent to landfill, saving 738,237 units of CO2. “I’m delighted and incredibly proud of the significant and positive contribution Lidl has made to our customers, the communities that we serve and our environment in 2019,” said JP Scally, Managing Director of Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland.
CORE Sponsorship, part of Core, Ireland’s largest marketing communications company, was awarded four awards at the European Sponsorship Association (ESA) Awards, including winner of the overall Sponsorship of the Year Award for the An Post Irish Book Awards. In 2018, Ringers Creative developed the #ReadersWanted platform for the An Post Irish Book Awards and have collaborated with Core Sponsorship, Core Creative and Starcom over the past two years. The campaign picked up three awards at the ceremony held in London: Best Newcomer, Arts and Culture and the Grand Prix European Sponsorship of the Year. Core Sponsorship also scooped a fourth award for the Strong Roots Media Sponsorship of Virgin Media Television’s coverage of the Guinness Six Nations. An Post and Core Sponsorship win at European Awards
C I G A R E T T E C H A R A C T E R I S I N G FLAVOUR BAN
WHAT IS CHANGING AND WHEN? 20TH MAY 2020
All cigarettes with characterising flavours and cigarettes with flavour capsules will be banned from this date. In effect, this means a ban on menthol cigarettes.
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?
It is business as usual until the ban comes into effect. Continuing to sell through until the last day will ensure that you do not lose any potential sales.
“JTI Ireland will support you at every step to manage these changes in your business”
DEREK MOONEY JTI IRELAND SALES DIRECTOR
WHEN DO THESE RULES COME INTO EFFECT?
The new rules come into effect from 20th May 2020, in line with TPD2 requirements.
WHAT IS BEING BANNED?
CAN I CONTINUE TO SELL CIGARETTES WITH CHARACTERISING FLAVOURS IN THE COMING MONTHS?
Yes. It is business as usual until the ban comes into effect on 20th May 2020. Continuing to sell through until the last day will ensure that you do not lose any potential sales.
WHY ARE THESE PRODUCTS BEING BANNED?
This is the next phase of EU tobacco rules introduced in 2016 (TPD2). These rules prohibit the use of “characterising flavours” in cigarettes.
HOW CAN I AVOID HAVING NON COMPLIANT STOCK AFTER THE 20TH MAY 2020?
Stock rotation is key. It is very important to merchandise to ensure that older/flavoured products are sold through first. This will help to avoid having non compliant stock left after the ban comes into force.
DOES THIS BAN AFFECT VAPING PRODUCTS?
No. Only flavoured cigarettes and cigarettes with flavour capsules are affected by this ban.
WHEN SHOULD I STOP ORDERING CIGARETTES WITH CHARACTERISING FLAVOURS AND CIGARETTES WITH FLAVOUR CAPULES?
It is business as usual at the moment, so you should continue to order as normal. JTI Ireland’s sales teams will provide expert advice in the coming months to ensure you do not have non compliant stock when the ban comes into effect.
WHAT IS JTI DOING TO ENSURE I DO NOT HAVE NON COMPLIANT STOCK AFTER THE DEADLINE?
An order management process that includes careful stock rotation and JTI deadline for dispatch of cigarettes with characterising flavours will avoid having non compliant stock after 20th May 2020.
