Retail News July August 2007

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July/August 2007

CELEBRATING

SUCCESSFUL YEARS

RN July/August07Contents ●

INTRO-JUICE-ING NEW SMOOTHEZE NO QUEUES, NO FUSS. JUST REAL SMOOTHIE'S READY TO GO!

■ inside view

SHOP Set to Impress SHOP 2007 will take place in the RDS from September 2-4, 2007, and looks set to be the biggest exhibition of its kind for the Irish retail, food and drink sectors. The coming together of two of Ireland’s major tradeshows, IFEX and Forecourt, created a new exhibition last year, SHOP, which delivered the perfect forum for Ireland’s retail sector, attracting 5,000 buyers and decision makers. This year’s show will build on the success of the inaugural show and offer valuable insights into how to ‘maximise your profit’ – a main focus for all in the retail industry. This month’s RETAIL NEWS provides a preview of SHOP 2007, highlighting some of the main attractions at this year’s exhibition (Page 24).

Also inside, we speak to Glanbia Consumer Foods’ Chief Executive Colin Gordon about making the most of one of Ireland’s strongest brand portfolios, recognising and responding to consumer trends, and the company’s world class innovation (Page 18).

We also mark the occasion of Repak’s 10th Anniversary, with a detailed report into what this not-for-profit organisation has achieved since its inception in 1997, helping Ireland not just to meet but to exceed its EU recucling targets (Page 40), as well as showcasing Mangan’s Wholesale’s recent ‘Independents’ Day’, which championed Ireland’s independent retailers and formed the centrepiece of Mangan’s 75th Anniversary celebrations (Page 36).

Finally, we examine the Top 20 Wine Brands in Ireland (Page 58), chart the continued rise of Food Surplus Management (Page 54), and profile the extremely valuable Back To School/Lunchbox market (Page 64).

“Celebrating 50 years serving the Kathleen Belton, Editorial & Marketing Director.

With a full listing across all trade outlets, Smootheze is available in two mouth watering flavours - Very Berry Fruity (a delicious combination of berry fruits and low fat probiotic yogurt) and Mucho Mango (a delicious combination of mango and banana blended with low fat probiotic yogurt). Beating the mid morning or afternoon slump has never tasted so good or come in such a convenient format. The delicious blend of juicy fruits and low fat probiotic yogurt provides 50% of your RDA of vitamin C, while the unique smoothie cup, dome lid and attached straw completes the grab and go format.

A heavyweight marketing campaign will support the introduction nationwide, with outdoor advertising to appeal to consumers while they are out and about, a targeted press campaign, ambient visibility through an eco cab sponsorship plus BTL and PR support planned for the summer months.

Irish grocery trade.”

Managing Director: Fergus Farrell Editorial & Marketing Director: Kathleen Belton, email: kathleenbelton@tarapublishingco.com Editor: John Walshe

Glanbia Consumer Foods are delighted to launch new Smootheze, a delicious fruit smoothie drink that offer the goodness of a custom-made smoothie, without having to wait at the juice counter! These tasty new Smootheze are a healthy alternative to caffeine and offering a great fruit burst at any time during the day.

johnwalshe@tarapublishingco.com

Chief News Reporter: Pavel Barter

Wine Correspondent: Jean Smullen

Financial Correspondent: Carmel Linnane

Advertising Manager: Aaron Stewart

Advertising Executive: Caoimhe St. John

T A R A Published by: Tara Publishing Co. Ltd., Poolbeg House, 1/2 Poolbeg Street, Dublin 2.

Joe Collum, Glanbia Consumer Foods Marketing Director commented: “We know consumers are seeking out healthy choices, but may not always have the time to wait and queue for a more nutritionally balanced pick me up. With the increased pressure of today’s busy lifestyle, consumers are not cash poor but time poor. Our new Smootheze offers all the taste and goodness associated with a traditional smoothie in an innovative pack format that is ready to go, straight off the shelf.

The fact that it is available in a generous size format with a hugely competitive price is certain to make it a sure fire success with our consumers”.

Tel: (01) 2413095. Fax: (01) 2413010. ISDN: 01 2413050 Web: www.retailnews.ie Email: retailnews@tarapublishingco.com Subscription to Retail News: €110 plus VAT Email: simone@tarapublishingco.com Origination by: Rooney Media Graphics

The new Smootheze is available nationwide with a RSP of €2.89 for a 300g pack format.

Printed by: Future Print

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RN July/August07Contents ●

Contents 50 50

July/August 2007

CELEBRATING

News 4 Retail Groups Repond to NCA Survey.

5 Innovation Takes Precedence; Consumers Urged to Think Organic.

SUCCESSFUL YEARS

The Retail News Interview 18 Glanbia Consumer

Wholesale’s 75th Anniversary celebrations.

Foods CEO, Colin Gordon, on the company’s increasingly consumer-oriented approach and world class innovation.

Repak’s 10th Anniversary 40 Repak is celebrating a decade of successful packaging recycling in Ireland.

6 New Food Safety Guidelines; ‘Rip-Off’ Debate Continues; Planning Issues.

IGBF Ball 52 The inaugural IGBF

7 RGDATA Crime Survey

Midsummer Ball was a tremendous success.

Makes Worrying Reading.

58

8 Forecourt Revolution Begins; Killarney Named Ireland’s Best Kept Town.

9 M&S Appoints Head of Foods for Ireland; Irish Distillers Report Strong Growth.

Shop Profile 14 Paul O’Mahony’s brand new SuperValu supermarket in Mallow, Co. Cork, is the first to sport the vibrant new SuperValu image.

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Recycling 54 Food Surplus

Karen Meenan’s Top Tips 20 Retail Consultant

Management can help retailers to reduce their waste costs by a minimum of 25%.

Karen Meenan writes on how changing lifestyles and technology will impact on the future of retailing.

Top 20 Wine Brands 58 Jean Smullen profiles

SHOP 2007 24 We preview SHOP

Ireland’s Top 20 Wine Brands.

2007, which takes place in the RDS from September 24, the biggest exhibition of its kind for Irish retail, food and drink sectors.

Money Matters 74 Carmel Linnane weighs

75 Years of Mangan’s Wholesale 36 ‘Independents’ Day’ was

Company Profile 84 Silver Hill Foods are

the centrepiece of Mangan’s

up the pro’s and con’s of opening an independent retail outlet.

taking the retail sector by storm with their excellent range of duck products.

84 Forecourt Focus 86 Declan Cronin’s newly revamped SPAR Express forecourt in Blackrock has proved a shrewd investment.

Shelf Life 96 All the latest news and gossip from the trade.

Regulars 10 Industry News 51 Drinks News 93 Update 94 What’s New Sectoral Reports 64 Back To School/Lunchbox 78 Functional Foods 88 Paper Products

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RN July/August07News ●

Retail Groups Respond to N IRISH retail groups have come out in force to respond to a recent survey into grocery prices by the National Consumer Association. The CSNA described the NCA’s findings as “a limited overview”, while RGDATA Director General Tara Buckley said that the results emphasise the importance of a strong and vibrant independent sector in the grocery market.

Torlach Denihan, Director, Retail Ireland, the IBEC group that represents the retail sector, said: “The retail sector in Ireland is highly competitive and has become more so in recent years with the expansion of discount retailers. Food price inflation has been approximately one quarter of the level of inflation in the wider economy over the last five years. This is despite the fact that business operating costs, such as waste management, energy, property and wages, are among the highest in Europe.”

The National Consumer Agency’s pilot price check survey was carried out into common branded grocery products available in 13 Irish supermarkets and shops, across multiple and symbol group retailers. Comparisons were also carried out on a regional basis using symbol groups in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Drogheda.

Ann Fitzgerald, Acting Chief Executive, National Consumer Agency, noted that “the price differential between Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Superquinn for the basket of 45 branded goods that were common to all three stores is only €2.20.

This RGDATA Director points to the fact General Tara that the Irish Buckley. market is too concentrated. Of the 45 branded items that were common, 21 were the same price across all three outlets.”

These comments were welomed by 4

RGDATA, with Director General Tara Buckley noting: “We agree that the multiple market is concentrated and it is not in the interests of consumers for the largest multiple retailers to be allowed to increase their market share and dominance,” Buckley noted. “This survey shows the positive contribution that the independent sector plays in providing price competition and consumer choice at this level. Allowing Tesco and Dunnes to consolidate their market share and reduce competitive choice locally is not in consumers’ interest. Government Policy needs to reflect this.”

The survey also found “significant price difference” between prices in the multiples and symbol groups, as well as between stores in Dublin and the rest of the country, according to Fitzgerald. The latter result drew particular mention from RGDATA, with Tara Buckley explaining, “The independent retail grocery trade is traditionally strongest outside of Dublin and my members compete head to head with the larger multiples in many rural towns.”

Reacting to the survey, CSNA Chief Executive Officer, Vincent Jennings, said that price is obviously an important element to all purchases, but he suggested that convenient, locally based stores operating within shopper’s communities were of equal importance.

Jennings pointed out that many of the costs associated with running stores in Ireland were high, due to circumstances entirely outside the control of shop-owners. Costs such as business rates, energy and wages are a much higher percentage in smaller convenient stores than they are in multiple supermarket outlets, he noted.

“Any real comparison of the various competitors within our sector must take into account the cost modules and the benefits that accrue from economies of scale and purchasing power,” Jennings argued. “Many of the multiples operate from shopping centres that are owned by themselves, or have managed to achieve preferential ‘anchor tenant’ rental agreements. The convenience store owner, setting up in business today cannot, in many cases, sell products at

Torlach Denihan, Director, Retail Ireland.

the prices charged by the multiples because the operating costs prevent it.”

Meanwhile, RGDATA Director General Tara Buckley noted how “this survey shows that many of the larger

“Food price inflation has been approximately one quarter of the level of inflation in the wider economy over the last five years.

This is despite the fact that business operating costs, such as waste management, energy, property and wages, are among the highest in Europe.”

RN July/August07News ●

CA Survey independent stores are competing headto-head with the large multiples on price and giving consumers good value.

Regrettably, it does not include the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables or fresh meat, areas where independent stores have been consistently cheaper than the larger multiples.”

Buckley cautioned that comparing the price of grocery goods at convenience stores was of limited value given the differing operating formats and consumer shopping preferences.

“The survey involved looking at the prices of 58 branded products across multiple and symbol stores,” she said.

“The survey could only find 13 products that were stocked in both types of stores and could be compared for pricing purposes . This reflects the differing shopping preferences of consumers – while many will do a full shop at larger stores, they tend to purchase an average of 4 or 5 items in a convenience store with an average trip spend of less than €5.

Trips to convenience stores are usually driven by convenience as a main concern, with limited purchases in mind.

The results of the survey also confirm that operating small stores are more expensive – particularly in Dublin. The Government has a key role to play in keeping these operating costs as low as possible in sectors that are regulated.”

The NCA survey was the first published results of their research into grocery prices and a further survey will take place towards the end of the year which will include non-branded goods available in multiple and symbol group retailers.

Innovation Takes Precedence A NEW €10m fund to assist small Irish firms to become more innovative recently allocated 194 small companies with Innovation Vouchers worth €5,000, allowing them to develop initiatives with the assistance of colleges and universities. Ireland is only the second country to introduce Innovation Vouchers as part of an effort to change the small business communiThe first Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher for a food company is presented to Donal Lehane, ty’s approach to innovation.

Managing Director of Food-NPD Teoranta by The scheme was pioneered Michael Dee from Enterprise Ireland’s in the Netherlands.

South East Regional Office.

According to Enterprise Ireland, who are managing the initiaand Universities, but also include tive, few Irish companies outside the Teagasc, the Marine Institute and high-tech sector spend more than Sligo’s Food Centre. €100,000 on R&D per annum.

“The business discusses the quesInnovation Vouchers will open doors to tion they have with the college,” knowledge providers and give the finanexplains Fitzgerald. “If the college can cial support to start them on the innohelp them, the feedback will usually vation ladder. occur in a six to 18 month time frame.

“If retailers need any guidance, Then the college submits the voucher to advice or information from academics Enterprise Ireland and gets reimbursed who have studied in an area of particfor the work that is done. The whole ular interest, they can avail of the servprocess is usually completed in about a ice,” Grace Fitzgerald, Communications year and a half.”

Officer, Enterprise Ireland, told RETAIL As part of the Second Phase in this initiative, Food-NPD Teoranta, a small NEWS. “For example, the marketing company that develops, manufactures department in a particular Institute of and markets a range of foods, based in Technology or University could offer Waterford IT, became the first small guidance on the steps you need to take company in the South East to receive in order to establish an own label brand an Enterprise Ireland Innovation and maybe give case studies of other Voucher. The second phase is now open, organisations or companies that have with a third commencing in October. done something similar.”

“The Initiative is only open to registered The Innovation Voucher offers companies,” notes Fitzgerald. “Sole €5,000 that is to be spent with the traders cannot apply.” knowledge provider. Groups that conFor more information: duct publicly funded research mainly www.innovationvouchers.ie consist of the Institutes of Technology

Consumers Urged to Think Organic!

Vincent Jennings, CSNA Chief Executive Officer.

2007 is set to be the year of organic as Bord Bia's Think Organic summer campaign recently concluded, with a flurry of consumer awareness raising marketing activities that included outdoor advertising, information leaflets with tips and recipes, information about local farmers markets, box scheme deliveries and farm shops.

Furthermore, a total of €8m in grant aid schemes was recently announced for the sector, allowing farmers to apply for investment grants. However, new organic labelling directives from Europe will require organic products to carry an EU organic logo. Food will only be able to carry this logo if at least 95% of the product is organic.

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RN July/August07News ●

New Food Safety Guidelines THE National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has launched a new guide for retailers and caterers to ensure that food safety hazards are controlled and good hygiene practices are in place amongst the 45,000 registered food businesses in Ireland.

“There are two standards: IS 340 and IS 341,” Anne Marie Crowley, Standards Officer at the NSAI, told RETAIL NEWS. “While the scope of IS 340 is for catering operations, the scope of IS 341 is specifically for retailers and wholesalers. Most retail and wholesale operations do not unpack the products, so there is little amount of product handling. However, product is handled in discreet areas such as delis, butcheries, fish counters, etc.

There is specific advice given in 341 as to how these areas should be operated.”

The guidelines are intended to assist food operations in complying with the EU regulations that were implemented in early 2006 as an upgrade on the 1993 regulations. “The previous guide, published in 1998, had been out of date since the new regulations were published. In the 1993 regulations, the requirement for documented HACCP systems did not exist; these are now a requirement and are described in the revised standard. In the meantime, of course, a lot of the major retailers have implemented documented HACCP systems. The vast majority of retailers would have been advised by the previous guide,” added Crowley.

The Standards give guidance on registration of a food business, food traceability, recall and labelling, maintenance of the cold chain (which includes storage and temperature control of chilled and frozen foods), and food hygiene requirements (training, water supply, pest control, etc). Furthermore, “there is a lot of advice, listed under Good Practice, that is not mandatory but is to try and help the smaller businesses that may not be as

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Trevor Sargent TD, and Maurice Buckley, CEO of the NSAI, are pictured at the launch of Irish food hygiene standards IS 340 and IS 341.

sophisticated,” says Crowley. “If you are carrying out very simple operations, you are not required to implement full-blown HACCP systems. That has never been made clear, and we have attempted to do so in this guide.”

The retail Standards were developed by two working groups, alongside representatives from RGDATA, BWG, Londis, Mangan’s, Dunnes Stores, IBEC, Unilever, SuperQuinn, the Department of Agriculture, Horgans, the FSAI, the Health Services Executive, Barrys, Allied Foods, Musgrave, Tesco, the Environmental Health Officers Association, etc.

Launching the Standards, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Trevor Sargent TD, said: “The European food sector employs more than 2.6m people and is worth an estimated €540 billion. The food industry is a very valuable industry in this country and currently gives direct employment to approximately 300,000 people.

These standards, introduced today by the NSAI, will assist food business employers and employees in the food catering, retail and wholesale sectors to comply with EU food hygiene regulations.”

“Rip off” Debate Continues RETAIL Ireland has called Fine Gael Spokesperson on Agriculture and Food Denis Naughten TD’s statement on the size of retail profit margins “misleading”. Naughten stated that the difference between the farm gate price and the price at the shop till is equivalent to the profit made by the retailer. However, this “ignores the fact that retailers do not purchase these products directly from individual farmers”, according to Torlach Denihan, Director of Retail Ireland.

“No retailer can purchase these products at anything remotely near the prices quoted in the survey,” Denihan argued. “Retailers purchase beef from meat factories and milk from dairy companies. Neither are purchased directly from farmers. Retailers purchase vegetables from farmer groups, processing firms or on the open market and rarely directly from individual farmers”.

Denihan added that the survey ignored the costs of opening a shop for 18 to 24 hours a day. “These costs include staff wages and rent, as well as the costs incurred by both processors and retailers, such as processing, storage, refrigeration, packaging, advertising, marketing, merchandising and distribution. In addition, there are significant wastage costs for perishables such as vegetables.”

However, retailers are likely to continue coming under fire over price, as a survey by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, has revealed that Irish shoppers pay 25% more on average for groceries than their European counterparts. Alcohol costs 81% more than the EU average, while tobacco products are 86% dearer, with these products being heavily taxed by the Irish Government.

Planning Issues A green light has been given to a Lidl superstore in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow.

The 1,296 square metre retail space is to be located at Moneybeg, Royal Oak Road, and will consist of a single-storey development 6

and 98 car parking spaces.

Meanwhile, Superquinn has lodged a new application for redevelopment of their supermarket in Finglas, Dublin.

The plan involves demolishing the existing super-

market, rebuilding a 2,800 square metre supermarket, and developing 133 apartments.

KRM Construction Partnership, the promoters of a €280m development planned for Waterford city

centre, have launched a public competition to decide a new name for the scheme. The project – currently marketed as ‘Destination Waterford’ will feature 60 shops and three anchor units.

RN July/August07News ●

RGDATA Crime Survey Makes Worrying Reading A NEW RGDATA survey has revealed that 85% of retailers were victims of crime in the past 12 months. The most common crime was shoplifting, which was reported by 93% of the retailers who had suffered crime. 46% had been victims of fraud, while 32% had suffered from criminal damage or vandalism. The survey reveals that one in four retailers had been assaulted or threatened with physical violence in their store during the past year. In most cases, a weapon was used – with guns and knives being the most common. However, RGDATA members and their staff were also attacked with syringes, baseball bats and a sledgehammer. Some members also found themselves victims of ram raids and tiger style kidnappings.

“The only way to battle retail crime is high visibility and a presence,” Pat Neill, a former Garda detective who now works as Head of Security at Dundrum Town Centre, told RETAIL NEWS. “You need to mix your trained staff with technology: cameras, the ability to review tapes. You need to have systems and procedures in place to deal with crime.” Neill’s team initially recruited security officers from Tallaght, Nutgrove, the city centre, and elsewhere, in order to spot professional thieves entering the shopping centre.

Educating staff as to the risks and warning signs of crime is crucial, as well as maintaining close contact with the police, he added.

“There must be readily and easy communication with the Gardaí,” he noted. “We give all our staff – whether the cleaning service, people who look after parking, or security – knowledge about the risks.”

For the last two Christmases, in order to create awareness and to tackle retail crime, Neill’s team invited representatives from all 120 Dundrum Town Centre shop units to the Mill Theatre. “A Detective Sergeant from the fraud squad in Dublin Castle talked about credit card crime. Then John Moore, crime prevention officer at Shankill Garda Station, offered his thoughts. Both of them gave the shop managers a talk about the prevention of crime and it seems to have paid off because it made them aware as to the physical need of high visibility,” Neill explained.

Pat Neill sits on the Retail Crime Council, part of Chambers Ireland (the country's largest business organisation), and believes that the retail trade’s biggest weakness is the fact that while Gardaí have the power to stop and search when there is reasonable grounds to do so, security officers do not.

“Unless the security officer is 150% positive of a shoplifting offence, there is nothing he can do, as he runs the risk of getting

sued,” Neill explained. “So while a Garda has the authority to stop and search where there are reasonable grounds to do so - when a security officer sees a known shoplifter, he has to follow him or her and put them off rather than catch them. The best way is prevention.

“In the security field, you always hear stories about security officers being setup by fellas coming in and looking at small gadgets, putting them down and picking them up, and walking around with them - leading the security officers on. The security officer stops them, but they haven’t taken anything, and the premises ends up paying out €30,000 for unlawful arrest. Since March of this year, security officers have to be licensed, with four levels of training. Why doesn’t the state extend that power when there is reasonable grounds to do so and give it to the security officer?”

Although few grocery retailers have the kind of protection afforded at Dundrum Town Centre, Neill insists that the presence of cameras and staff training can help prevent crime. RGDATA, meanwhile, “will be seeking a meeting with the new Minister for Justice to ensure that he puts tackling crime at the top of the agenda”, according to Tara Buckley, RGDATA Director General. “Independent retailers want to see the government ensuring that retail crime attracts the necessary level of penalty to deter repeat offenders. We will be seeking assurances that practical measures will be introduced to tackle this crime wave.”

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RN July/August07News ●

Forecourt Revolution Begins A NEW breed of service station is to appear across Ireland, beginning with a €7m property at the entrance to Dublin Port Tunnel. The new facility, hosted by Dublin Port Company, will feature parking for 43 trucks, a lounge with a games room, internet access and shower facilities, a 200 square metre forecourt shop and delicatessen, and a 200 square metre restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“We would like to have built it bigger but we only had 4.5 acres to play with,” Frank Gleeson, Retail Director of Topaz Energy Limited, told RETAIL NEWS. Topaz, which operates Statoil and Shell service stations in Ireland, are set to operate the station.

According to Gleeson, this development will change the face of Irish Pictured at the announcement of Ireland’s largest service station at Dublin forecourts. “There is no doubt that Port are Danny Murray, CEO, Topaz there will be further consolidation. If Energy, complex operator, and Enda you look at the current scenario, we Connellan, CEO, Dublin Port Authority, have in excess of 1,200 service stacomplex developer. tions. Compare that to the UK or other European countries - we have too nomics make sense. This is why a lot of many service stations for the volumes service stations are closing in higher that they pump. You will see closures of land value areas – because the property smaller service stations and consolida- value, as opposed to the business value, tion into bigger locations. You will see is a ‘no brainer’.”

The service station sector is clearly forecourts with full services, retail conveniences, restaurants, adequate park- some years behind road development, ing, car washing, and they will be able to although Gleeson insists that it is not deal with the extra volumes so the eco- due to forecourt laziness. “The NRA

have not allowed any motorway service stations to date. The industry would have liked to develop them over the last few years but could not. As a result, there has been a political directive that has caused the NRA to rethink their strategy. They have now come out with a strategy document that says that they need to build, on a PPP basis, 12 to 14 state-of-the-art service stations.

“The NRA were hoping or expecting that private enterprise would build stations close to the infrastructure of the motorways. Some planning permission was secured but no-one built anything, primarily because of the uncertainty of what might happen with the policy of the NRA. While there has been a little bit of limbo, at least we have a policy now whereby these sites will get built.

That is a positive step. I think they will be built to modern design: they will take tips from international countries where mistakes were made years ago. I think we will build some really good infrastructure which will cater for the motoring public for the next 40 years.”

In planning for the Port Tunnel forecourt, Gleeson travelled to Europe and North America in order to get some ideas of best practice. The station will cater for the current needs of the trucking and motoring public in the Port area, as well as the greater inner city area.

Killarney Named Ireland’s Best Kept Town KILLARNEY, Co. Kerry, is the overall winner of Ireland’s Best Kept Town competition 2007, which is sponsored by SuperValu.

The results were announced by John Gormley TD, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government at an awards ceremony in Dublin Castle.

Killarney also won the Best Kept Large Town category, while Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, won the Best Kept Large Urban Centre category; Tallanstown, Co. Louth, won the Best Kept Village category; and Broughshane, Co. Antrim, won the Best Kept Small Town category.

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Pictured are (l-r): Billy Daly, SuperValu Killarney; Donal Horgan, Managing Director SuperValu; the winning Killarney Tidy Towns Committee; and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley TD.

RN July/August07News ●

Minimum Wage Hike THE minimum wage has been increased from €8.30 to €8.65 – the second such incresae this year and the sixth increase since the minimum wage was first introduced in April, 2000.

Introducing the rise, Minister for Labour Affairs, Billy Kelleher TD, said, “This increase will clearly benefit low paid workers in society, in particular part-time and younger workers.”

M&S Appoints Head of Foods for Ireland MARKS & Spencer has announced the appointment of Stewart Nisbet as Head of Foods, Ireland. Stewart has worked in Marks & Spencer since 1984 and has held senior roles in both Store and Area Management. Over his 23 years with the company, he has also had appointments in the Food Buying Team and Store Operations in the UK. Stewart will be responsible for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland food business and will be looking to extend the sourcing of local Irish product.

Commenting on his appointment, Stewart said, “I'm really looking forward to this new role, both living in Dublin and working in Ireland. In the last 12 months M&S has increased sales of products from Irish producers by 53%. We are committed to further growing our Irish sourced products and intend to double our regional food sourcing within 18 months, whilst also improving and developing our local supply networks.”

Irish Distillers Report Strong Growth 2006/2007 was a highly successful year for Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, with the continued positive development of their spirits and wine business in Ireland and of their flagship brand, Jameson, in international markets.

Jameson achieved double digit growth in 24 markets and sales volumes of 2.3m 9-litre cases, as well as the brand’s continued ascent up the list of the Top 100 Global Spirit Brands, with a ranking in 2006 of No. 42, having entered the list at No. 90 a decade ago. In the Irish market, Jameson continued to grow its volumes satisfactorily and achieved double digit value growth, ahead of the overall spirits market performance.

Meanwhile, the company also reported a strong performance in the dynamic vodka category. Irish Distillers’ portfolio of vodka brands (Stolichnaya, Huzzar, Wyborowa & Zubrowka) grew by almost 20% for the fiscal year, gaining share in this very competitive category. The Premium Whiskey brands (Jameson 12 & 18 y.o, Midleton Very Rare, Redbreast) also performed exceptionally well, with growth of 17% for the year.

In an increasingly competitive wine sector, Irish Distillers’ key brands performed significantly ahead of the market.

Jacob’s Creek & Wyndham Estate in the Australian segment, Montana in New Zealand and Campo Viejo in the Spanish

Paul Duffy, Chief Executive, Irish Distillers, speaking at the recent opening of the refurbished Old Jameson Distillery visitor centre in Smithfield, Dublin.

segment all performed ahead of market growth and grew share significantly.

Commenting on the results, Paul Duffy, Chairman & Chief Executive of Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, said, “These results highlight Irish Distiller’s strength as Ireland’s leading spirits and wine supplier and, with Jameson, as the owner of the world’s leading Irish Whiskey. Jameson internationally is now performing better than ever, growing stronger than anytime in the 227 year history of the brand. It is one of the key brands for Pernod Ricard internationally, and this focus, combined with Jameson’s current success and growth, give us great confidence that we can achieve our target of 3 million cases by the end of this decade”.

Advice on Lighter Legislation ONE of Europe’s leading lighter manufacturers, Bic, and The Trading Standards Institute in the UK, have teamed up to help retailers prepare for the new European Directive regarding lighter safety. The new legislation will have a massive impact on retailers from March 11, 2008, from which date retailers will only be able to sell lighters that are child-resistant and will be forbidden to sell novelty lighters of any description.

“We fully support this new legislation and will be encouraging our members to actively enforce its contents,” noted Christine Heemskerk, Lead Officer Consumer and Product Safety for the Trading Standards Institute.

“The penalties for retailers that don’t fully understand this new legislation is significant – up to a €30,000 fine and/or an imprisonment sentence of two years. Our aim is always to support compliant business and penalize non-compliant businesses so we will be working with Bic to raise awareness of this new legislation and encourage retailer compliance.”

Retailers will be required to keep and show on request documentation identifying where they obtained their supply of lighters and provide relevant ISO 9994 and Child Resistant certificates. Bic will shortly be launching a new website where retailers can seek advice on the new legislation.

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RN July/August07Industry News ●

Mace Safe to School Scheme PRIMARY school students in 26 counties were honored by surprise visits from the Mace Safe to School team throughout the month of June.

The overall national award went to 12 year old Nicole McLoughlin from Gaeltacht school, Scoil Cholmchille in Termon, Co. Donegal. As well as winning a €500 voucher to spend on equipment for the class and a €1,000 voucher for the school - the team also threw a surprise party for her entire class in the local Lagoon restaurant. Pictured are: Brian O'Toole, Mace; Evan Horan (local Mace retailer); Joseph Keatley (Kildare County winner); Nolleen Connell (teacher); Martin Heffernan (RSA); Brendan Dunne (principal).

Mackle Petfoods’ New Production Facilities NORTHERN IRELAND Agriculture and Foods Minister, Michelle Gildernew serves up a new range of Irish stew dog food to Myrtle at the official opening of Mackle Petfoods’ new £2.5m production facilities in Moy, Co Tyrone. Also pictured is the company's Managing Director, John Mackle. The investment will enable Mackle to improve and expand the product range, double output capacity within the next three years and significantly enhance its share of the all-Ireland pet food market.

Kleenex Let it Out Campaign Launched

TWINK, aka Adele King, is helping to launch the new Kleenex tissues campaign, entitled ‘Let It Out’. The campaign is designed to encourage the Irish public to release their emotions; whether to have a laugh, a cry, let off steam or even just a good nose-blow! Twink recently became a cult figure thanks to ‘that’ voice mail message in which she ‘Let It Out’! The ‘Let It Out’ campaign will be supported by a dedicated nationwide consumer and trade PR campaign, radio support, in-store promotions and intensive consumer sampling of Kleenex Pocket Pack with money off coupons. This campaign underscores Kleenex’s commitment to injecting greater excitement into the facial tissue category to continue driving growth in Ireland.

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Glanbia Launch Fresh Direct GLANBIA Consumer Foods have launched Fresh Direct, a new chilled convenience division which will offer a full range of nutritious on the go food and beverages delivered through a new dedicated vans sales route to market. Fresh Direct, headed

by Simon Brown, Sales Director of Glanbia Consumer Foods (pictured), was set up to better service convenience stores with more frequent deliveries, merchandising support and the supply of goods on demand.

Convenience stores’ front of shop on-thego product needs will now be served by the Fresh Direct sales team to ensure their specific requirements are met. A

fleet of ten vans will initially serve 400 customers throughout the greater Dublin area. In addition, a front of store branded chiller programme has been put in place to help merchandise the new fresh portfolio. The division will be expanded in the New Year to cover other urban areas across the country.

Danone Essensis Launches DANONE Ireland recently launched its new Essensis brand - the first-ever mainstream dairy product formulated to nourish one’s skin from within.

Primarily targeting women aged 25+, Essensis is not only a new brand within the dairy category but it also is creating a new sector called ‘dermonutrition’.

Essensis contains ProNutris, a unique combination of Omega 6 from starflower oil, antioxidants from green tea, and vitamin E, selected and tested to provide the skin with some of the essential nutrients it needs. Pictured at

the Danone Essensis promotion at Dundrum Shopping Centre are (l-r): Damian Hughes, Laura Bermingham, Cathy O Connor, Gary Kavanagh and Laoise Downes.

RN July/August07Industry News ●

A Summer of Choices from SMA SMA Nutrition have launched a special booklet for parents this summer, with information on child friendly hotels and restaurants, as well as a range of fun activities and summer camps happening around Ireland this summer. Pictured at the launch of the booklet are (l-r): Shay Bourke, Country Manager, SMA Nutrition (Ireland); SMA Nutrition’s Celebrity Mum Lorraine Keane; Aine Waldron, Nutritionist, SMA Nutrition; with Lia Quinn, Finn O’Connor and Ross O’Connor.

Appointment at Stonehouse STONEHOUSE Marketing Limited has announced the appointment of Janice Gibney to the new position of Stonehouse Group Retail Coordinator. This new position sees Janice take responsibility for all retail activities of the Stonehouse Cash & Carry/Wholesale sector for both branded and own label product. Janice has worked for Stonehouse since March 2006 and previ-

Gala’s Ace Award Winner THE 7th Annual Stonehouse Depot of Year Competition saw 4 Aces Wholesale Ltd, Portlaoise, become the ‘Depot of the Year’ for the third time since its inception in 2000.

The Stonehouse Depot of the Year Competition is an intense quality and standards competition, judged three times a year, by an

independent Food Auditing Company, culminating in the annual awards ceremony. Pictured at 4 Aces Depot in Portlaoise are 4 Aces Directors, Pascal O' Brien (left) and Liam Linden (right), receiving the Stonehouse Depot of the Year trophy, with Gary Desmond, CEO, Gala Retail Services Ltd.

Club Energise Partners Setanta College ously worked for Johnson Brothers.

EuroShop 2008 Embraces Innovation FROM 23 to 27, February, 2008, EuroShop, one of the world’s leading shows for retail investment, will be staged at the Dusseldorf Trade Fair Centre, Germany.

EuroShop only takes place every three years, and the 2008 event is expected to attract more than 1,600 exhibitors from 50 countries and 91,000 trade visitors from 93 countries on 200,000m2 gross exhibition space. EuroShop is renowned as the leading show for retail investment, as well as being a trend barometer and innovation platform.

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Trade visitors to EuroShop 2008 will include decision makers in food and non-food retail, the consumer and capital goods industries, wholesale, the trades and chain gastronomy, architects, interior decorators and visual marketing designers and advertising experts. A variety of congresses, such as the EuroShop Retail Design Conference, hands-on forums and interesting workshops will round out the premier event in 15 halls. For further information, see www.euroshop.de.

BRITISH Open Championship Winner Padraig Harrington is pictured at the official launch of Setanta College, a unique new sports and education institution in Ireland, with Dessie Farrell, CEO of the Gaelic Players Association, and Christine Keohane, Senior Brand Manager, Club Energise Sport, the official partner of Setanta College. The College will offer accredited sports and coaching study programmes through distance learning and the internet.

RN July/August07Shop Profile ●

New Look SuperValu Opens in Mallow Paul O’Mahony’s brand new SuperValu supermarket in Mallow, Co. Cork, is the first to sport the vibrant new SuperValu image.

O’Mahony’s

SuperValu in Mallow, which opened in April of this year, is the latest stake-in-the ground SuperValu store. This new store brings to life the essence and ethos of the SuperValu brand and offers a unique shopping experience for its customers. The inside of the store is vibrant, upbeat and stylish, while the stone clad exterior and tower are sympathetic to the environment, also catching the eye of the passing customer with its clear and distinct signage.

Dan O’Mahony, Paul’s father, first began serving the grocery needs of the people of Mallow a full four decades ago.

His shop, which became known as ‘Dano’s’, was very well known around the town for friendly and considerate customer service, from knowing many customers by their first names to taking the groceries to the car – a tradition still carried out in the store today. When Paul took over the shop, he wanted that reputation for good customer service to continue, but he also wanted to increase the size of the store, hence the move to a location on the opposite side of the road from where it stood.

The development of the new store was just in time to incorporate SuperValu’s new store environment and image,

14

which brings the SuperValu ‘Real Food Real People’ essence and personality to life and allows the consumer to experience the total SuperValu offering at first hand. The SuperValu brand is literally brought to life in every department and can be seen right through from the tantalising fruit and vegetable display, to the butchery and mouthwatering bakery sections, and it certainly demonstrates SuperValu’s continuous mission to be the number one supermarket for fresh food and produce in Ireland.

“The development of the new store was a very exciting process. SuperValu retailers were fully involved in the development of the new brand essence of ‘Real Food, Real People’ and the development of the new store environment and image plans,” enthuses Paul O’Mahony.

“I had full confidence in the Musgrave marketing and store design teams to deliver: however, it was difficult at times to visualise, as this was the ‘guinea pig’ store. We looked at lots of graphics and designs, but it’s still not exactly the same as walking inside a working example.

However, as it all began to come together, I really began to get excited and get a feel for just how different this new store was going to be. The whole new look and feel fitted so well with what we want to do and say to our customers on a

RN July/August07Shop Profile ●

daily basis. It certainly demonstrated to the customer that we take care in delivering good, honestly priced food, in an environment that appeals to shoppers today.

“I am extremely impressed with the layout and look, but the real test is the customers, who are every bit as impressed as I am,” he adds. “They are saying the store is ‘fresh’, ‘modern’, even ‘continental’, with a touch of the country market look. However, most importantly, it is showing at the till too; turnover is already double what it was in the old shop.”

Friendly Atmosphere It’s not hard to see why this new SuperValu is proving a hit with the customers.

At the entrance to the store you are greeted by a welcoming message from Paul O’Mahony, with down-to-earth wording, such as ‘grab me or one of my staff for assistance’, and this type of warm and friendly atmosphere is carried through the store with staff on hand in all departments to offer expert advice on product range and availability, another manifestation of the ‘Real Food, Real People’ ethos brought to life in-store.

Lots of attention has also been given to the practical operation and layout of the store. The aisle by the entrance

contains two high convenience tills for customers who just want to pop in and purchase a few items, such as magazines, a drink from the state-of-the-art coffee machine, fresh food or deli. By locating everything for the high convenience shopper in the first aisle, SuperValu has effectively created a convenience store and a supermarket within one building, without using any physical barriers.

As you move along the store, you are immediately struck by an array of colour from the cut flowers and plants display area and a superb range of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The vibrant colour and well laid-out displays screams out the SuperValu ‘best for fresh’ message. This section also features an impressive ‘new season’s best’ elevated display unit, which highlights the SuperValu expertise in providing top class seasonal product and sourcing produce from Irish suppliers. This is a key differentiator for SuperValu in the fresh produce area and really informs the consumer as to which fruit and vegetables are in season and where they are from, such as Irish-grown apples from David Keane’s farm in Cappoquin.

Modern and Stylish Look The look and atmosphere in the fresh food area and throughout the store is greatly enhanced by many factors such as lighting, flooring and signage. Large baro lights hang over displays of fresh food, highlighting the product against the dark flooring. This creates a modern and stylish look, while also providing light for the hanging mobiles, which display the value messaging, along with inspiring and charismatic imagery.

The bakery section is the next area the Mallow shopper enters after the fruit and vegetables. Here, the consumer is hit with a huge selection of freshly baked breads and cakes. Baskets of crusty loaves, French sticks, baguettes, soda breads and flavoured breads are displayed with engaging messaging such as ‘traditional loaves just like granny would make it’. This is a bright and airy section with an enticing smell of freshly baked bread.

15

RN July/August07Shop Profile ●

SuperValu is renowned for the quality of its fresh meat and SuperValu Mallow is most definitely a flag carrier for this offering. The butchery offers a large selection of top class meat with expert butchers on site to offer advice. On the back walls behind the meat and fish counters, the colourful murals effectively illustrate messages such as traceability and the freshness of the produce. These graphics, in conjunction with the signage and recipe leaflets, draw the customer towards the counter, while also providing inspirational ideas for healthy eating, family and dinner party cooking.

Across this store, many items are cross merchandised with wine, but the wine department at SuperValu, Mallow, is certainly worth a visit. Its design is conducive to browsing, with intimate lighting and high ceilings, offering bulk value as well as individual value items. The area is broken up into various sections, offering fine wines, value wines, cool beers and special offers. This is well signposted, particularly with all wines classified under country of origin, making purchasing decisions a lot easier for those of us that have not quite reached connoisseur status.

Promoting Value According to Paul, “A big part of the new package from SuperValu is a very strong focus on promoting value throughout the shop. Every single shelf end has value units and value offers are continued along the aisles. No matter where you are in the shop, you can see value offers on literally every shelf. We also run regular non-food ‘Wow!’ promotions. For us it’s all about delivering extra value and reward to our shoppers at every turn. We also offer loyalty promotions, the last of which was the Slaney garden furniture promotion, which proved hugely popular.”

Paul outlines some of the environmental initiatives and changes that the store undertook on the move to its new location: batwing light fittings were installed, which are energy efficient, resulting in a 20% saving in running costs; refrigeration, which is to MSVC specification, incorporates the latest energy efficient technology. The store also uses a heat recovery system connected to the refrigeration plant, enabling the heat created to be recycled, providing hot 16

water and heating for the store.

“While these initiatives are certainly creating substantial cost savings for the store, so is the fact that storage space has been reduced considerably, due to the number of deliveries the store receives from MSVC weekly,” says Paul.

Customer Service Although the image and size of the store may be new, Paul is keen to reassure customers that the welcome and personal touch remains the same. “Dano’s always had a reputation for good customer service and, although we have moved from the old shop to a far more modern store, we have retained the name and the customer-focused attitude,” he says. “We pride ourselves on delivering top quality customer service. Considering the quality of the rest of the shop, to do anything less would let us down.”

A big part of the store’s success is down to its staff, according to Paul. “We have quite a lot of staff who have been with us for five or more years,” he boasts. “Our Head Butcher has been with us for 27 years. Training is an integral part of our staff performance and we run continual training programmes with all staff members.”

Paul O’Mahony, like his father before him, is anxious not only to meet, but to exceed customers’ expectations.

“We offer a lot of parking spaces, so we’re handy for the people in Mallow, but we’re also pretty convenient for a radius of about 10 miles to the South of the town. That’s a lot of customers, but we also have a lot of competitors in the area, with more stores in the planning stages,” he concludes. “But we are not afraid of competition: all it means is that we have to FA C T F I L E differentiate and distinguish ourOwner: Paul O’Mahony selves on every Location: Dano’s SuperValu, Bellevue level, from Stores, Mallow, Co Cork presentation Size: 13,000 square feet to product, valNumber of ue to service.

Staff: 75 full time & part time That’s the way Opening we will guarantee hours: 07:30 – 22:00 Monday - Friday our survival.”

07:30 – 21:00 Saturday & Sunday

RN July/August07Retail News Interview ●

Brands Apart Colin Gordon, CEO of Glanbia Consumer Foods, on one of Ireland’s strongest brand portfolio line-ups, recognising consumer trends and world-class innovation.

A food

company is only as strong as its brands, a fact that makes Glanbia Consumer Foods amongst the strongest companies in Ireland.

Glanbia has numerous brands that account for strong positions within the upper echelons of the Irish grocery market. Avonmore, Yoplait, Petits Filous, Kilmeaden and Premier all hold number one positions in their respective categories, but instead of resting on its laurels, Glanbia is not afraid to innovate, extending brand relevancy and sales.

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Colin Gordon, CEO, has fronted Glanbia Consumer Foods since March 2006, and has been instrumental in its recent initiatives, pushing more emphasis behind Yop and bringing Avonmore into the realm of salads, sauces and cereal bars.

“I believe that we have a huge amount of brand potential within our portfolio and through extending the brands into other areas,” he says.

Under Gordon’s remit, Glanbia Consumer Foods has scooped numerous awards. For example, Kilmeaden

Cheese returned from the World Cheese Awards, earlier this year, with two Gold Medals. Kilmeaden swept the board with medals for Kilmeaden Fillet (in the Medium Block and the Mature Block categories) and Bronze Medals for Kilmeaden Extra Mature and Vintage (in the vintage category), while in marketing, the company has received peer recognition across a number of fronts.

Glanbia has also launched a new range of smoothies, complete with unique bespoke packaging. “We are effectively mimicking the DIY thermosleeve that you find in deli bars,” explains Gordon. “The packaging consists of a standard tub with a dome, through which you can pierce a protective foil with an inbuilt straw. This is unique, as far as we can tell, in the world. We have three different flavours so far. The reaction to the brand is phenomenal and we are already exploring the possibility of creating flavours and capitalising on the goodwill that has already been generated. This product has only been out for just over a month and the reaction is extraordinary.”

Nutritional Integrity The single thread that unites this organisation’s entire product range is nutritional integrity.

“Fundamentally, all our products are good for you. We hold on dearly to the quality of our products and we are not going to compromise that at all,” Gordon notes. “We deliver fresh quality products that are regularly tested. For instance, we know our milk brands supersede the competition by quite a significant margin. The quality of our milk is technically proven when it comes to avoidance of bacteria, etc. It is a matter of leveraging that information through consumer-oriented messages centred around natural, fresh and nutrition.”

Colin Gordon’s primary task is to develop Glanbia’s position as the leading supplier of branded and valueadded liquid milk, fresh dairy produce, cheeses, soups and spreads in the Irish retail market. His own heritage speaks for itself. Gordon was with the C&C Group for 17 years, where he worked as Marketing Director for Bulmers, ran the Group’s soft drinks division, and developed the Magners brand in

RN July/August07Retail News Interview ●

Northern Ireland. What did this experience bring to his current role?

“My background has been about developing a growth ethic, an entrepreneurial mentality within companies, and looking for new opportunities,” he explains. “It has been about developing outward-facing can-do approaches to new opportunities. That is what I bring to my role in Glanbia.”

Consumer-Focused Mentality Since Gordon’s appointment, Glanbia Consumer Foods has shifted its business mentality from production-focused to consumer-focused. Glanbia brands thrive in healthy, nutritious areas, and the company has long maintained its strength in various product categories.

However, Gordon contends that over the last few years, Glanbia avoided the value embedded within its brands and did not achieve full potential in engaging with consumers and launching communication strategies. That is now turning around.

Convenience of product is crucial in order to generate retail sales, insists the CEO. “No matter what size the shop, where the shop is located, what the shopping hours may be, or whether or not there is parking, people are looking for convenience in order to make their lives easier,” he says. “Sometimes, it is ‘on the go’, sometimes ease of preparation, sometimes a bundled range of products. We do notice a growth in family meals again but people do not want to spend any more time “We than is absolutely notice a necessary growth in preparing them. family meals

again but people do not want to spend any more time than is absolutely necessary preparing them.

Simultaneously, they will not necessarily look for cheap, TV dinners. We need to ensure that there are products and brands that fit into the growing trends in order to make things easier.”

Simultaneously, they will not necessaria specialist function within part of the ly look for cheap, TV dinners. We need innovation centre that studies conto ensure that there are products and sumer trends in particular. The centre brands that fit into the growing trends has a cross-functional role across the in order to make things easier.” globe as Glanbia plc, and we work with Consumers are now taking nutrileading thinkers in the science/technition for granted within quality prodcal field from around Ireland and furucts, he continues: “People have a headther afield. We are unique, due to our line understanding as to what is imporcalibre of employees and associates, the tant about food and good dieting. How quality of input and the sheer scale of that transfers into actual data is still in innovation.” its infancy. You must have a balanced diet, which includes some “There is a huge amount of potential available sugar, minerals, etc. Not everything for the trade, via our range of products and can be outlawed. range of supports, from which they can make Fundamentally, there is a lot of money… What we need to do more no such thing as bad food – in the future is give our trade partners only bad dieting and bad nutritional intake. There is a real reasons to feature our brands and huge communication and educato use our resources in terms of tion area that is largely ignored by insights and learning to drive the government and the authorities performance.” and has been left to the media, and some suppliers, to convey. Too often, the information is wrong.”

The Retail Partnership Of course, delivering these powerhouse brands into the consumer’s Consumer Trends hands is ultimately the role of the Some might say, ‘What would Glanbia retailer, and Glanbia Consumer Foods know? They are just a food company’. are keen to work hand-in-hand with But the group is increasingly attentive retailers to maximise potential. Colin as to what is happening in the retail Gordon believes that Glanbia should trade, keeping a close eye on consumer strive to offer the retailer more solutrends through third-party information tions and more added value. and their own research. For example, “We have just recently restructured recent research from the group our sales team and put a lot more focus revealed that 58% of consumers will and energy on the value-added insights fork out extra for homemade Irish that we provide the trade to help them goods, 83% would prefer to buy brands drive forward,” he states. “There is a with Irish traceability labels, eight in huge amount of potential available for 10 would choose branded products over the trade, via our range of products and supermarket own-label goods, and 86% range of supports, from which they can said that quality was the most impormake a lot of money. We know we are in tant factor in judging value for money. the right sectors with great brands.

The study researched the habits of 400 What we need to do more in the future consumers in reaching its conclusions. is give our trade partners real reasons Glanbia Consumer Foods also buy to feature our brands and to use our specialist information, whether for resources in terms of insights and retail, audit, trends, or household. The learning to drive performance.” group also has a lot of information on With the keen mind of CEO Colin brand tracking and brand status.

Gordon, Glanbia will continue rising Further research is assigned to the from strength to strength, bolstering its development of innovative new prodportfolio with new launches and innovaucts. “Our Mixed Seeds and Super tions. “I passionately believe in this Fruits concepts for Yoplait are evidence company’s opportunity and potential,” of that,” says Gordon. “We are unique in he concludes. “My vision is that in delivIreland because of the expertise and ering that, we can become the most investment levels available to us in our dynamic food company in Ireland.” innovation centre in Kilkenny. We have 19

RN July/August07Karen Meenan’s Top Tips ●

Tomorrow’s Shopping World Revealed Retail consultant Karen Meenan provides some insights into how changing lifestyles and technology will shape the future of retailing as we know it.

This

month, I want to share with you a fascinating piece of research carried out last year in the UK. This report examines how technology has mushroomed in all our lives, especially in retailing, and how can we use technology to improve our net profit.

“Despite talk of market maturity, food retailing will still be here for the next generation but how will it look?

How will changing lifestyles and developing technologies shape the way we shop in the future?” So asks Joanne Denney-Finch OBE and Chief Executive of IGD – a leading retail research company based in the UK. IGD and EDS carried out some comprehensive research last year amongst two types of consumers: teenagers (aged 13-19), who have grown up with technology and who represent the customers of the future, and established shoppers (aged 25-40).

Teenagers are technology-literate, early adopters, independent and have ever-increasing expectations.

Established shoppers have not grown up with technology but are increasingly exposed to it in everyday life.

A good example of where differences occur between teenagers and adults regarding technology is not 20

necessarily the access/to or ownership of items – but rather their usage and that is where there is a clear opportunity for retailers to look to the future. For example although almost all adults (97%) have a mobile phone, many are unable to send emails from their phones– most teenagers (98%) are able to master this. The access to/ownership of certain items were very similar for both groups– laptops, Blackberry, mobile phones – the one big difference being the penetration of MP3 players – almost three quarters of all teenagers (70%) versus just over one third of all adults.

The Technological Explosion Today’s teenagers were born between 1988 and 1994: during that time, there has been a technological explosion. In fact, many of the “gadgets” which have been developed during their life times are now as commonplace as mobile phones and memory sticks. Here are some of the key technological advancements during their lives: 1988 CDs outsell vinyl records.

1989 First commercial direct broadcast satellite service (BSkyB) launches.

1990 Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web.

1991 The first website goes on-line.

1992 Kodak release the first professional digital camera system.

1993 Commercial providers sell internet connections to individuals.

1994 SMS text messaging launches.

1995 eBay.com and Amazon.com launch.

1996 The first DVD players and discs are available worldwide.

1997 AOL (America On-Line) launch their instant messenger service.

1998 Sony launch their memory stick.

1999 Google launches and Blackberry is introduced.

2000 First camera phone launches.

2001 First iPod is released.

2002 PayPal is acquired by eBay. 2003 Chip and PIN launches.

2004 iTunes launches.

2005 Nokia signs deal with Visa to include chips in mobile phones.

2006 All card transactions require Chip and PIN instead of signature.

The overall objective of the research was to explore the impact of changing lifestyles and to develop technologies on the way we shop for groceries now and the way we will

RN July/August07Karen Meenan’s Top Tips ●

Established customers (adults aged 25-40) could see the value of online shopping because of the time element involved in shopping (driving to the supermarket, parking, shopping, returning home, unpacking etc.). With on-line shopping, this twohour weekly expedition is reduced to a 20-minute on-line order and a delivery to the door the following day.

They still have to do the unpacking though.

Response to Out-OfStocks

Changing technology will affect the way we interact with retailers.

shop in the future. The attitudes of two different groups on consumers were measured to test the impact of the medium term and long term. 500 adults and 500 teenagers were interviewed from a cross section of locations throughout the UK.

Key Findings What was surprising about the findings was how closely aligned the views of teenagers and adults aged 25-40 were. However, there are certain experiences where they differ and this will impact on their approach to grocery shopping in the future.

Need For Immediacy Teenagers’ attitudes to downloading and instant messaging signify a strong need for immediacy. More than half of this group use instant messaging and download music and almost one third of all teenagers use chat rooms. They have a ‘want it, want it now’ attitude and this relates to their idea of shopping. On-line shopping does not fit this ‘want it now’ mindset. During focus groups, it was apparent that having to wait for delivery of on-line shopping was a barrier to using this service. They preferred other in-store technologies to speed up shopping, such as hand held scanning products.

As part of the research, IGD measured the responses to out-of-stocks amongst the two different groups. They found that half of all teenagers (50%) will walk out of a store if the brand they want is out of stock, compared with 35% of adults. For a retailer, this can be a significant issue, as this does not just mean the loss of sale for one item but potentially a full shopping trip.

One in five teenagers will substitute brands (20%) compared with one in four adults (26%).

In last month’s issue of RETAIL NEWS, we focused on sell-outs, particularly sell-outs in the newsagency and magazine department – the whole point being how can you sell what you do not have? Here is the same theme cropping up again – only this time the statistic is worse! Half of all teenagers and one third of all adults will walk out of a store if the product they want is out of stock. Consider the implications of that in the future!

With the wealth of choice and range not only within a store but within a 100 metre radius, there are many stores – your competitors – who could end up enticing your customers if you do not pay attention to the level of sell-outs in your store.

It was very interesting to read that although adults’ and teenagers’ attitudes to brands were very similar, the responses are different when faced with out-of-stocks. During focus groups, it was clear that expectations

Sources The introduction of Chip & PIN technology for credit and debit cards is just one example of how technological advances affect the retail trade.

EDS: www.eds.com IGD: www.igd.com CSNA: www.csna.ie

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RN July/August07Karen Meenan’s Top Tips ●

Sunday title) and turn that number into a sell-out statistic.

For example, if you sold out of four Sunday titles out of a possible 16, your stat for that day would be 4/16 or 25% sell-outs. If you sent back Easons unsolds and on examination, found that 18 out of a possible 45 titles had sold out – that stat is 18/45 or 30%. If you looked at your Newspread invoice and found that 10 out of a possible 30 titles had no returns, then your unsolds for that supplier is 10/30 or one third.

Now focus on your daily newspapers and see how many sell-outs you encountered of the total deliveries each day that week.

As retailers, we all seem to be concerned with what stock is left and tend not to pay as much attention to the stock which has sold out. I know I spent more time worrying about bananas going black than concentrating on adding scallions to my range!

CSNA (Convenience Stores Newsagents Association) has long been lobbying for a full copy returns service which will concentrate the minds of our suppliers on over-stocks.

The 2005 waste figure for end-of-life vehicles (scrapped cars, buses and trucks) was 96,000 tonnes. This figure compared with 113,000 tonnes – 20% higher in volume for unsold newspapers and magazines. Easons and Newspread are now offering a full copy returns service to all customers – this should address the waste issue in your stores.

Now is a good time to focus on more sales and concentrate on sellouts. You can’t sell what you don’t have and half of all tomorrow’s customers will walk out if you don’t have it! Good luck!

For younger consumers, aged 13-19, online shopping does not satisfy their demand for immediacy.

are particularly high for larger retailers to be able to provide everything a shopper needs: out-ofstocks were ranked, therefore, as a major source of frustration for both groups.

Although availability is a key concern in satisfying today’s shoppers,

teenagers’ expectations of being able to get what they want when they want would appear to make the issue of availability even more important in the future.

This is an area where technologies in the supply chain or even just greater attention to detail by retailers could be improved. Although this improvement may not be visible to the consumer, improving availability responds to shoppers’ needs in both groups and is, therefore, welcome.

A Simple Exercise Last month, I suggested you examine the last six weeks’ copies of invoices from your four newsagency suppliers – Irish Times, Independent Newspapers, Eason and Newspread.

This month, I suggest you do the following simple exercise, which doesn’t need any technology at all. Get a red pen and mark a ‘0’ for every time you had no returns of any title (newspaper or magazine, weekday or

About the Author RETAIL consultant Karen Meenan runs her own consultancy business, Results Training & Marketing, focusing on net profit and how to maximise profit for the retailer. For more information, contact Karen on 086 6027711 or by email kmeenan@eircom.net.

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO OUT-OF-STOCKS? Adults Do not buy anything at all

2%

3%

Wait until next time to buy it

17%

13%

Buy a different size or type of same brand

20%

15%

Buy a different brand

26%

20%

Leave and buy it in another store

35%

50%

Results Training & Marketing When Results Really Matter

Source: EDS/IGD consumer research 2006 22

Teenagers

SHOP 2007 Opens For Business SHOP 2007 will take place in the RDS from 2-4 September 2007, and is the biggest exhibition of its kind for the Irish retail, food and drink sectors.

When

two of Ireland’s major tradeshows, IFEX (Ireland’s International Food, Drink and Hospitality Exhibition) and Forecourt (Ireland’s Convenience, Retail and Forecourt Equipment Exhibition), merged in 2006, a new exhibition was created – SHOP. SHOP – designed for those in the retail, food and drink sectors to develop new business, launch new products and network – proved in its first year that it delivered exactly what the industry was waiting for.

5,000 focused buyers and decision makers attended last year’s show and an impressive 87% of visitors purchased new products or sourced new suppliers. Visitors included buyers from multiples and symbol groups, forecourt retailers, independent retailers, convenience stores, supermarkets, wholesalers and delis.

Western EPoS Systems WESTERN EPoS Systems impresses with the most straightforward and usable EPoS system. Clear, logical and simple touch-screen terminals combine with a back office system that is incredibly powerful, yet requires little previous computer experience.

The Western system is usable in any retail environment, from small convenience stores to multilane supermarkets, single outlets to multiple stores. Fully-integrated forecourt pump control and mobile phone top-ups are speedily accessible from the touch screens, helping improve your retail potential.

Western also offers Chip & Pin compatibility and integrated counter scales to complete your system. Call John Gill on 065 684 4488.

Stand No: H14 Stand Manager: John Gill

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Maximise Your Profit This year’s show will build on the success of the inaugural show and offer valuable insights into how to ‘maximise your profit’ – a main focus for all in the retail industry.

To help deliver the information in a memorable way, a virtual shop, ‘Maximise Your Profit – SHOP’ – in association with the Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association will again be staged. It will be carefully planned to demonstrate how to maximise profits through attention to display techniques and systems, merchandising, marketing and sales tools and the best use of space. This unique feature offers specialised guidance on how to make the most of your shop space by providing practical demonstrations and advice from industry experts.

Vincent Jennings, Chief Executive of the Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association, says: “SHOP is a most welcome addition to the retail calendar. All those who work in the retail sector are faced with the day-to-day reality of operating in an increasingly competitive marketplace and the need to maintain profit margins. This feature is a ‘must see’ for all those who need information on how best to do so.

It is presented in a way that makes it easy to absorb the great advice on offer.”

County and City Enterprise Boards County and City Enterprise Boards will have a strong presence at the Exhibition again this year, as SHOP provides an excellent showcase for the various companies and products they represent. Over 40 of these innovative Irish suppliers will be at SHOP. Sheelagh Daly, CEO, Wicklow County Enterprise Board, representing the Enterprise Promotions Committee of the National Association of County & City Enterprise Boards, says: “We encourage businesses in all areas and counties to attend the

Europe will once again host the Barista International Team Challenge. In addition to hosting coffee making demonstrations and a range of seminars on exciting topics, reflecting the current trend in speciality coffee and coffee making, the barista teams from a number of countries will compete across a variety of exciting challenges.

Awards SHOP aims to recognise excellence and innovation through two main awards: The International Cheese Awards and the Product of the Show Awards.

Gerflor GERFLOR is a highly innovative manufacturer of vinyl floor coverings, with many technically advanced solutions ideally suited to the retail sector. They have been supplying Ireland for over 40 years and have an enviable reputation for consistently delivering high quality advanced products which not only meet but exceed their customers’ expectations.

Ranges ideally suited for the retail market include: - Creation luxury vinyl tiles available in realistic mineral and wood effects - Attraction – fast track loose lay interlocking tiles - For back of house/warehouse areas - GTI loose lay tiles.

Their extensive portfolio also includes: easy to maintain HSE compliant safety products; noise reducing acoustic products and static control products.

Stand No. E45 Stand Manager: Cillian O’Shea Exhibition to launch or showcase their products to the industry. It helps them get valuable sales and also helps retailers who get to see at first hand some of the tremendous new products being produced throughout Ireland. SHOP serves as a great platform for these suppliers to launch new and quite often specialist products into the food, drink and retail sector.”

Barista International Team Challenge Visitors to SHOP will gain valuable insights into the current trends in coffee making. The Irish chapter of the Speciality Coffee Association of

Retail Solutions RETAIL Solutions is one of Irelands largest suppliers of computerised scanning systems for supermarkets, convenience stores and forecourts. Their multi-award winning software is widely regarded as being the best in the marketplace, suitable for both single and multibranch operations.

Stand No: D8 Stand Manager: Chris O’Neill Ireland’s most prestigious cheese competition takes place at SHOP The International Cheese Awards.

The awards reflect the extraordinary diversity and quality that prevails in the cheese industry today and offers entrants the opportunity to win one of the most prestigious awards across 19 competition classes. The International Cheese Awards provide a showcase for visitors to sample first hand the tremendous variety of cheeses now available in Ireland.

The Product of the Show Awards at SHOP 2007 will showcase the latest new and innovative products in the industry. As all the products represented are produced by exhibiting companies, whose company and stand

Maria O’Neill Design & Associates MARIA O’Neill Design & Associates specialise in retail, leisure and corporate design, with a major focus on offering their clients a look to suit their customers and their budget. The company endeavours to look after a project from design stage to the complete installation. Their stand will show the type of work they have been involved with over the last year.

Stand Number: B7 Stand Manager: Maria O’Neill

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Taravale Foods TARAVALE Foods have been producing salads, sandwich fillers and other related deli products for over 15 years, and 2006 saw them launch their very own branded range of

CardGroup Ireland CARDGROUP provide a totally new refreshingly alternative style of greeting card, minicard, gift bag, bottle bag and wrapping paper. CardGroup operate on a consignment system with a full merchandising service that offers retailers maximum profit without the risk. This means that all their products are put into the shop free of charge and retailers only pay for what they sell.

Their margins are excellent; service levels are optimised because they are operated locally; and their consignment system ensures no dead stock, no damaged cards and a positive cash flow. The CardGroup range complements most traditional card ranges, thereby increasing overall card sales.

Stand No: F37 Stand Manager: Bill Wallace 26

prepack salads: ‘Roots & Shoots’.

Roots & Shoots….“Prepacked Salads with a difference...… which are all dressed up & ready to go!” were showcased at SHOP 2006, and proved to be a big hit with all visitors to the show, while also being awarded the ‘SHOP 2006 - Best Chilled Foods / Ready Meal Product of the Show Award’.

At SHOP 2007, Taravale Foods

details are clearly labelled: visitors have the opportunity to meet the product suppliers face-to-face and have their queries answered on the spot.

“SHOP offers all those in the industry exactly what they need from “their’ exhibition,” enthuses Garret Buckley, Joint Managing Director of Expo Events. “They can find out about the latest trends, network, and be informed on how to maximise profits.

It also provides a platform for the

will be introducing some brand new additions to their current product portfolio and they will also be launching their next phase of Roots & Shoots products. So be sure to come and visit them at Stand G22/H21, where they look forward to seeing you.

Stand No: G22/H21; Stand Manager: Ronan Burns, Sales Manager.

launch of new products and gives exhibitors unrivalled access to potential customers. The number and quality of visitors to our inaugural show and the high levels of satisfaction and return exhibitors for 2007 highlight the prestige of this event.”

SHOP 2007 is organised under the guidance of two leading exhibition and event organisers - Expo Events and Key Events. See www.shopexhibition.com for more details.

JM Food Services JM Food Services produce premium quality products for the catering and deli trades. Their product range includes Salads, Soups, Pies, Lasagne, Quiches and a full range of ready meals. They operate from a purpose built factory unit in Navan, County Meath, where all their products are produced from first principal. All butchering and prep work is done in-house and all dishes are based on original home-cooked recipes. Since their establishment in 2003, their business has gone from strength to strength, which the company attributes to the quality food products which they produce.

Stand No: K 26

Stand Manager: Rosita Moyles

AWARD WINNING

COME VISIT US @ STAND D8

Unit 25-26 N17 Business Park, Tuam, Co. Galway 2 Marine Terrace, Malahide, Co. Dublin Tel: 093 70107 Fax: 093 70108 Email: info@retailsolutions.ie

POPAI Annual Retail Marketing and In-store Communications Conference RETAIL marketing trade association, POPAI UK & Ireland, announced that it is to integrate its Annual Retail Marketing and In-store Communication Conference within Ireland’s premier international retail, food and drink exhibition, SHOP, for the first time this year.

The Conference, sponsored by merchandising and POP display solutions provider Kleerex, is to be held on the final day of SHOP, which runs from the 02-04 September 2007 at RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin.

Speakers from leading brands, including Diageo, PepsiCo and Allied Bakeries, will provide attendees with valuable retail marketing insight and case studies, whilst Unilever will present details of its ‘perfect store’ concept. Guy Vaughan of retail research specialists RMS Instore will also provide the latest thinking on instore effectiveness and measurement.

The conference is due to start at 8.30am (registration at 8am) and will

run until 1.30pm, after which attendees will have the opportunity to network with peers and to explore the show.

Kellys’ Butchers DOMINICK Kelly’s butchers in Newport, Co. Mayo are receiving national and international attention for their traditional Black and White Puddings, Black Pudding Terrine and Sausages. Kelly’s is included in the 2007 Bridgestone Good Food Guide by John & Sally McKenna.

Prizes include numerous gold awards for both Black and White Puddings, a prestigious Diamond Award for a Black Pudding Terrine in the 2005 Speciality Food Awards and the highest honours from the International Fresh Food/Slavakto Fair in Utrecht Holland (2003) with Gold Medals for Black Pudding, White Pudding, Pork Breakfast Sausage and their special White in Black Pudding. Kelly’s products are available through selected shops and supermarkets.

Kelly’s is an artisan butchers, producing excellent products with a superior taste. As well as a shop they have a production unit with a full export licence on site.

Stand Number: F36 Stand Manager: Seán Kelly

High Profile Event “POPAI’s objective in Ireland is to promote the role of P-O-P within the marketing communications mix, to increase the understanding of P-O-P and retail marketing, and to reflect the needs of local members,” explains Martin Kingdon, Director General, POPAI UK & Ireland. “As such, we are delighted to be partnering SHOP 2007, incorporating our premier Conference in Ireland within this high profile event.

“With changes to media and lifestyle, the opportunity exists for retail marketing to achieve a far greater prominence in the planning process of brands and agencies,” he continues. “With a market size of approximately €100m, there is significant room for growth and expansion of the organisation in Ireland.”

Who Should Attend?

Brand, Retail and Agency professionals involved in P-O-P, brand and media planning and above & belowthe-line strategy.

Anyone wishing to book their place at the Conference should contact POPAI UK & Ireland on 0044(0)1455 554848 or visit www.popai.ie 29

Shop for Profit at SHOP PRACTICAL and manageable advice on how to increase profits and drive down costs will be a focal point of this year’s SHOP exhibition (RDS, September 2-4) with the ‘CSNA Shop’.

An innovative ‘must see’ for those in the retail food and drink sector, the CSNA Shop @ SHOP (in association with the Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association) has been designed to demonstrate how to maximise profits through attention to dis-

Pictured are (l-r): Vincent Jennings, Chief Executive of the CSNA and Margaret Andreucetti, Expo Events Ltd.

Lily O’Briens LILY O’Briens, one of Ireland’s leading chocolatiers, presents its first 230g assorted Organic Collection at SHOP 2007.

Distributed nationwide through Tennant & Ruttle, the Lily O’Brien’s range includes gifting, sharing, impulse and novelty formats at a variety of price points. They offer exceptional shelf impact, contemporary packaging and mouth-watering recipes for an increasingly sophisticated consumer. Why not visit their stand at H17 to see their Christmas ‘07 and Spring ‘08 ranges, and to discuss opportunities for driving confectionery sales to new heights?

Stand No. H17 Stand Manager: David Wright play techniques and systems, merchandising, marketing and sales tools and the best use of space. This unique feature offers specialised guidance on how to make the most of your shop space by providing practical demon30

strations and advice from industry experts.

Vincent Jennings, Chief Executive of the Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association says: “The CSNA Shop @ SHOP was one of the most successful aspects of last year’s show. In today’s competitive retailing environment, retailers need real and meaningful advice on how to make their business as profitable and successful as possible. The organisers of SHOP have understood this and delivered a way to absorb a lot of important information in a practical and memorable way. Retailers will

learn a lot from this aspect of the event.”

Joint Managing Director of EXPO Events, Garret Buckley, adds, “SHOP is much more than a great networking and sales opportunity. It is very much information driven and aims to anticipate what retailers and those in the industry need as they develop their businesses. The CSNA Shop @ SHOP is one of the best ways for retailers to get valuable insights that can really help their businesses. We hope that as many retailers as possible can come along to gain the benefit of the feature and the show as a whole.”

Sunshine Juice Ltd SUNSHINE Juice Ltd was set up in 1997 by Paul Walshe, producing an Irish range of 100% freshly squeezed juices with no artificial additives or preservatives. Their commitment to quality means that all their juices are freshly squeezed daily from specially selected fruit under strict hygienic conditions and according to HACCP regulations.

The company specialises in producing freshly squeezed juices to the highest standards for retail and food service and is the largest fresh juice manufacture in Ireland. From supplying all the necessary ingredients and utensils, through to designing a bespoke juice bar concept and providing all the necessary staff training, Sunshine Juice is the only company in the country that specialises in this area.

Stand No: H31

Stand Manager: Laura Mulligan

“Hellmann's Dressing you up for Summer”

Pictured at the launch of the "Hellmann's Dressing you up for Summer" promotion in Fallon & Byrne are The Tesco Team with Samantha Mumba - Elaine Bowden, Muriel Bowden, Paula Murray and Robert Conors. The "Hellmann's Dressing You up for Summer" promotion in which two wardrobe makeovers to the value of 5,000 euro were up for grabs in stores around the country saw the promotion taking to the road hosting fashion shows in June and July in a number of shopping centres around the country. A true fashionista Samantha Mumba launched the promotion and said at the launch "to be given 5,000 euro to spend on clothes, bags, hats and shoes is, lets be honest a dream come true for a lot of Irish women, me included!" The Hellmann’s Dressings range has this Summer got even bigger with two new variants - delicious Honey & Mustard and tangy Balsamic Vinegar.

Product of the Show Awards THE Product of the Show Awards at SHOP 2007 provide an opportunity for exhibitors to put their products and brands in front of the right buyers. This year’s awards will focus mainly on innovation across all areas and are open to all companies exhibiting at SHOP 2007.

They are a dedicated showcase for the most innovative products and are of huge interest to visitors, with more than 75% of all visitors checking out the New Product Awards section of the show.

Not only are the Product of the Show Awards entrants and finalists prominently showcased in a dedicated area at the show, but the format of the Awards ensures that not only is participation hassle-free but the selection process is carefully planned to give entrants the opportunity to discuss their product’s merits with industry peers and the judging panel.

Preliminary judging takes place on Tuesday, August 28, when samples of the products will be tasted by the judges, entries will be short-listed and the finalists will be asked to present and discuss their products on the first morning of the show.

The judging panel is made up of Chairman Dermot O’Connell, Musgrave Wholesale Services; John O’Brien, consultant: Margaret Donnelly, Irish Food Magazine; Patrice Ryan, buyer at Donnybrook Fair; Keith Ball, Soil Association Ltd; and Evan Doyle, proprietor, The BrookLodge Hotel, Macreddin Village, Co. Wicklow.

Entry forms must be submitted to Expo Events no later than Friday, August 17, 2007. For more information, contact Expo Events on Tel: (01) 2958181.

National Organic Awards SHOP will also once again feature a number of innovative initiatives designed to showcase just some of the advances within the retail food and drink sector.

Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture and Food have come together for the inaugural National Organic Awards, which will be showcased and represented at SHOP 2007. The awards will celebrate innovation and excellence of value added products across the organic food and drinks range. The Irish organic mar-

Westmann WESTMANN are designers and manufacturers of hot and chilled food display systems. They also provide full layout planning and interior design for restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, butchers, deli and speciality shops. They have many years of proven experience in helping retail businesses to meet the growing demands of their customers. By designing equipment for a retailer’s specific needs, they can maximise space and enhance the overall presentation of a retailer’s products.

As a partner with Aichinger, Europe's largest retail fit-out specialist, Westmann can provide the additional benefits of the most technologically advanced display equipment on the market today.

Stand Number: B18 Stand Manager: Brendan Murphy 32

ket is currently valued at €66.4m and is growing on an annual basis.

NPJ Sales SECURITYFEELBETTER is a revolutionary new product of French origin which is now available on the Irish market.

Security-feelbetter is a nonalcoholic digestive made from plant extracts, which favours the digestion of food and drinks. This drink naturally stimulates the system and helps it eliminate toxins faster. It thus reduces the troubles directly linked to excesses, such as digestive migraine, better known as a ‘hangover’. Its pearflavoured taste makes it pleasant to drink, while it is also easy to serve (no dilution needed). A 30ml bottle will provide the required effects and consumers can start feeling them after only 30 to 40 minutes. This product is FDA approved and declared proper for human consumption.

Stand Number: C19 Stand Manager: Bernard Brady

SAVE TIME AND MONEY WITH Tellermate Model TYR100 The TY R100 provides instant float count to prepare your till for the day's first transaction. Use the R100 to perform random spot audits, keep track of your actual cash vis à vis POS takings.

The machine can operate on an optional rechargeable battery which allows the machine to be moved between tills with ease.

Flexibility Select counting method, such as notes, bagged or loose coins.

Facilitate Considerable time savings: Tellermate counts all your coin, note, coupons, pension dockets, bus tickets etc. on one small, portable unit

Improved security It improves your security by reducing the time that money is out in the open. And it’s silent, so you can cash up safely and quickly without anyone knowing that you have the day’s takings on the table.

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"I have found the Tellermate to be extremely beneficial to my business. It is four times faster than counting by hand, which frees me up to attend to other essential business. It also virtually eliminates discrepancies in my cash lodgements, giving me more leverage with the bank when negotiating lodgement fees.

Us t i s Vi t N a ITIO B I EXH No. P SHO Stand

RICHARD MORGAN XL STOP & SHOP, WEXFORD

162 Clontarf Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3.

Tel: 01-833 0844 Fax: 01-833 0845 Email: info@moneypoint.ie Web: www.moneypoint.ie

K8

McGrath To Appeal to New Breed of Pet Owner With the pet food market currently valued at €125million, it is obvious that Ireland is a nation of ‘pet owners’ but set against a background of rising incomes and increased expenditure on premium brands, the latest research would also indicate that we are fast becoming a nation of ‘pet lovers’. Add to that the fact that 29% of all Irish households own a dog (75% of which are ‘one dog households’) and that sales of dog food alone accounts for a staggering €74million, the dog is firmly established as an important member of the Irish family.

Research also indicates that ‘humanisation’ is the key driver in the pet food market today. Health and nutrition are also a top priority. Like human meals, pet food must offer functional health benefits and have gourmet appeal – and consumers are prepared to pay a premium for it.

Thanks to a €3.7 million investment programme, Mackle Petfoods, Ireland’s fastest growing indigenous pet food company, is poised to meet the needs of this ‘new breed’ of pet owner. As the company behind leading brands such as Brandy and Cat Club, Mackle’s have over 35 years experience in the pet food market. Now, following an intensive period of market research and new product development, the company is launching McGrath - an exciting new premium brand of dog food, which is set to take the market by storm.

McGrath may be familiar to some – but in name only.

Since its purchase of the Master McGrath brand in 2005, Mackle has invested heavily in R&D, to create a completely new and invigorated premium product – a tinned dog food which looks, smells and tastes as if it has been prepared at home.

McGrath is all about the food and is targeted at medium to large sized dogs. McGrath is a 100% natural product, which has been developed in conjunction with leading animal nutritionists and is available in four unique recipes: • Irish Stew – with lamb, carrots, and barley • Beef Casserole – with beef, carrots and haricot beans in onion gravy • Mediterranean Chicken – with chicken, green beans and pasta in a tomato sauce • Lamb Terrine – with lamb and garden peas in a mint jelly

Each formulation has been extensively trialled against other leading brands and results from taste tests and consumer group research has provoked a very positive reaction from dogs and owners alike.

Principally targeting females as the main grocery shopper, Mackle Petfoods is supporting the launch of McGrath with a high profile TV advertising campaign, in-store activity, on-pack offers and added value packs. Following the consumer launch of the brand in August, an intensive PR campaign will hammer home the message that McGrath is the natural choice for responsible dog owners who genuinely want the best for their pet.

Initially McGrath will be available in each of the four recipes in a 400g offering and a variety 4-pack, enabling consumers to trial each of the unique recipes. The brand will be further promoted through an all-Ireland in-store holiday promotion, offering consumers the chance to win one of four holidays to selected European holiday destinations. This will be supported by a full range of point-of-sale material.

“This really is a major and very exciting development for the company and for Ireland’s changing pet food market,” said John Mackle, Managing Director of Mackle Petfoods.

“By closely monitoring the market over the last decade, and tracing the move to a more ‘emotional’ yet informed relationship between owner and dog, we’ve produced a premium, yet affordable Irish brand which appeals to the needs and aspirations of this new breed of pet owner. At the same time, the brand offers retailers a new option which fills an obvious gap in the market, and ultimately offers added value and increased profitability.”

RN July/August0775 Years of Mangan’s Wholesale ●

Mangan’s Celebrate ‘Independents’ Day’ Mangan’s Wholesale recently celebrated their 75th Anniversary with an ‘Independents’ Day’ at the Radisson Hotel, Galway.

Ennis-based

Mangan’s Wholesale continued their 75th Anniversary celebrations with their own version of ‘Independents’ Day’ on July 4, in the Radisson Hotel, Galway. The event was organised by Mangan’s Wholesale to champion the independent retailer and is the centrepiece of the company’s 75th anniversary year. Events included a business conference, a celebration dinner and trade show which was attended by retailers and suppliers to the grocery trade.

The main focus of the business conference was on positioning independent convenience retailers for the future. Speakers included Jim Power, the Chief Economist of Friends First, who outlined the likely economic backdrop for small business, and also a number of representatives from the food and beverage sector, who suggested a variety of ways that independent 36

The Mangan Family, pictured at their ‘Independents’ Day’ celebrations.

Irish Rugby Coach Eddie O’Sullivan, guest speaker (centre), is pictured with Gabriel Mangan, Chairman (left), and Niall Mangan (right), Head of Cash & Carry and Foodservice, Mangan’s Wholesale.

RN July/August0775 Years of Mangan’s Wholesale ●

Vibrant Independent Sector

Gerry Munnelly, Mangans Wholesale Collooney (centre), picks up an award from Terence and Gabriel Mangan on his retirement.

retailers could attract and retain new business.

The keynote address of the conference was delivered by the Irish rugby coach Eddie O’Sullivan, who outlined his approach to team building and planning.

One of the clear messages emerg-

Peter Foley, CEO of Mangan’s Wholesale, speaking at the event.

ing from the conference was that the Irish consumer is demanding better food solutions from deli counters.

There is a definite trend away from the recent phenomenon of the ‘breakfast roll’ as consumers, particularly women, are looking for healthier and more nutritious food solutions.

Peter Foley, CEO of Mangan’s Wholesale, encouraged suppliers to continue to support the vibrant independent retail sector as it continues to meet the needs of the busy consumer.

He highlighted the range of promotions which Mangan’s will be running between now and the end of the year, including a heavyweight consumer loyalty promotion this autumn, as well as a variety of other promotional campaigns throughout their network of retail stores and Cash & Carries.

Other highlights include the continued success of the ‘Country Deli’ concept: there are now 30 stores operating a Country Deli, with a target of 50 by the year’s end. Furthermore, Mangan’s plan to open 10 new Mace stores, 10 new Vivo stores, eight Xpress Stop stores and complete eight major revamps by the end of 2007 – this investment will total over €10m.

Company History Terence Mangan, the company’s Managing Director, outlined the history of the business, which was founded by his father in Kilmihil, Co. Clare in 1932, including the huge growth during

Pictured are (l-r): Malcolm Reeves, Ennis, Co. Clare; Antoinette Colleran, Mangan’s Wholesale, Ennis, Co. Clare; and John Ryan, Vivo, Killenarden, Dublin.

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RN July/August0775 Years of Mangan’s Wholesale ●

Susan Ryan, Ryan’s Mace, Kilrush, Co Clare, picks up a special award from Terence and Gabriel Mangan.

the 1960s, the diversification into Cash & Carry trading, the addition of the Mace franchise for the West of Ireland in 1967, the advent of convenience shopping, the birth of Xpress Stop in 1997 and the addition of the Vivo franchise to the Mangan’s portfolio.

Terence noted, “The business has evolved from a local food distributor to a business with national distribution capability, including a network of eight strategically located Cash and Carries. Some indicative examples of our ongoing progress include the recent opening of a convenience store at the Dundrum Luas station and also the acquisition of a foodservice distribution business in Galway.”

Mangan’s Wholesale is now one of the largest businesses in the West of Ireland, with 250 employees and a turnover approaching €200 million p.a. However, the company is not resting on its laurels, but is committed to further growth and development.

Indeed, Mangan’s are currently investing in new strategically located distribution hub and warehouse/cash & carry in Tullamore, adjacent to the motorway network, as well as committing significant funds to technology, to their Mace, Vivo and Xpress Stop brands, as well as supporting progressive independent retailers, according to Terence.

Quality Shopping Experience

Martin and Carmel McCague, from Clontibret, Co. Monaghan, are pictured with Declan Weldon (right) from Mangan’s Wholesale.

Tom Downes, Mangan’s Wholesale Ennis (centre), receives a special award for 35 years service, from Terence and Gabriel Mangan.

38

The event was rounded off with a concluding address by company Chairman, Gabriel Mangan who thanked the customers of Mangans Wholesale for their support over the years, stated that he looked forward to the next phase of working together and noted how Mangan’s consumers will continue to avail of a quality convenience shopping experience.

Gabriel also thanked their “wonderful staff ” for their contribution to the Mangan’s success story: “In an era where loyalty seems harder and harder to find, it is a source of great pride that so many of our employees have been with us for significant parts of our 75 years and have seen us grow from local level to now being a completely truly national business, competing successfully in the marketplace.”

RN July/August07Repak’s 10th Anniversary ●

A Decade On: Ireland Keep Repak is currently celebrating 10 years of successful packaging recycling in Ireland.

This

year, Repak is celebrating a decade of successful packaging recycling in Ireland. Repak was set up by industry to help meet Ireland’s EU packaging recycling targets at the lowest possible cost and in 2005 met and exceeded its EU target.

Since its establishment in 1997, Repak has achieved many successes and has helped reform Ireland from a country with minimal recycling activities to a country that has managed to achieve not only the EU recycling targets of 25% of packaging waste recycled for 2001 but also the target of 50% for 2005 and are now focused on achieving the target of 65% for 2011.

Celebrating 10 years of Repak are Andrew Hetherington, CEO of Repak, and Senator Feargal Quinn.

The success of the Repak scheme is founded upon the fair and effective principle of shared responsibility, where members pay fees based on the amount and type of packaging they place on the market. Nearly 80% of Repak fee income comes from packaging levies raised from the brand holder/importer of packaged goods. Those further down the dis-

ABOUT REPAK IN 1997, Repak was set up by industry to help meet Ireland’s EU packaging recycling targets at the lowest possible cost and in 2005 met and exceeded its EU target by recycling circa 60% of all used packaging on the market, nearly 10% above the 50% EU recovery Target. The success of the Repak scheme is founded upon the fair and effective principle of shared responsibility, where members pay a fee based on the amount and type of packaging they place on the market. The packaging levies raised by Repak are then used to fund packaging recycling in Ireland.

Repak has invested over €90m in supporting packaging recycling in the last six years alone and has grown packaging recycling from under 15% in 2006 to nearly 60% in 2005. Without the early subsidies of Repak, there would be less certainty and availability of recycling contractors servicing businesses, as well as fewer kerbside recycling collections.

40

tribution chain, such as hoteliers, restaurants and independent retailers, who do not brand/import packaged products, pay less than 4% of Repak fees, despite making up over 50% of their membership. The packaging levies raised by Repak are then used to directly fund/support packaging recycling in Ireland.

The Beginning Since its inception, Repak has grown packaging recycling in Ireland from under 15% in 1998 to in excess of 60% in 2005, according to the latest official EPA figures. Packaging recycling is not only reaching and exceeding our EU targets but it is leading in the area of municipal and household recycling, with over 56% of all municipal recycling being packaging recycling.

Repak support packaging collections by funding the packaging which is collected and recycled from over 925,000 household kerbside bins (i.e.

R ●N July/August07Repak’s 10th Anniversary

s Getting Greener green bins), 2,200 bring banks and nearly 90 recycling centers nationwide. It also supports the collection and recycling of used packaging from industry’s back door through nearly 170 Repak registered contractors (this number includes both Local Authorities and Private Contractors).

Without the early subsidies of Repak, there would be less certainty and availability of recycling contractors servicing the retail trade and other businesses and fewer kerbside recycling collections than we have today.

Since 1997, Repak have recovered or recycled nearly 3m tonnes of used packaging, resulting in the equivalent saving of nearly 2.2m tonnes of carbon. Repak has also invested over €115m in funding of packaging recycling activities in this time period. Examples include direct subsidy support system, the launching of nationwide recycling campaigns such as Repak Recycling Week, investment in the placement of new Bring Bank sites helping increasing the number of Bring

Banks to 2,200 nationwide, the introduction of Pay-by-Weight charging system and the recently launched Repak and EPA Packaging Prevention and Minimisation Programme.

What Does the Future Hold?

However, there are many challenges in the future for Repak if Ireland is to meet its recycling target of 65% by 2011. As Ireland’s targets grow, Repak will be forced to recycle or recover more materials from domestic or household bins, which is significantly more expensive than the recovery of commercial/backdoor packaging tonnes. Repak estimate that €180m needs to be invested by Irish industry in packaging recycling over the next five years in order for Ireland to meet its next EU packaging recovery targets.

By 2011, the annual funding of packaging recycling by Repak is forecast to rise to €45m. The soon to be

Repak’s highly successful Easter recycling campaign.

introduced reduction in the de minimis from 25 tonnes to 10 tonnes will help with spreading the burden of future cost increases across more businesses than the current 2,200 members.

De Minimis

Pictured at the launch of the Packaging Waste Prevention Programme, which is co-funded by the EPA and Repak, are Former Minister for Environment Dick Roche TD; CEO of Repak, Andrew Hetherington; and Dr Gerry Byrne, Chairman of the National Waste Prevention Committee and EPA Programme Manager.

Changes to the Waste Regulations, which are expected to be introduced by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, will see a lowering of the De Minimis or threshold for obligation from 25 tonnes to 10 tonnes.

Under these new rules, many Irish companies, who produce over 10 tonnes of used packaging and have a turnover of over €1m, will have a legal duty to ensure the recycling of the packaging waste they put on the market.

Newly obligated companies have two options to ensure they comply with the law: to either join Repak or to self 41

RN July/August07Repak’s 10th Anniversary ●

comply. In order to make compliance easier for newly obligated companies, Repak has developed an attractive offer for scheduled member’s (independent retailers, hardware stores etc) who are not brand holders/importers. This simple payment of a flat annual fee is possible as Repak gets most of its revenue from the primary packaging producers (i.e. brand holders/importers).

The annual fee will be less than the registration cost of registering with a local authority under self compliance. The new offer from Repak includes: Repak’s Recycling Week campaign has helped Ireland to take massive strides forward in recycling packaging waste. Repak is now focused on achieving the target of recycling 65% of packaging waste by 2011.

• Flat Annual Fee of €400.

• No joining fee or back fee for newly obligated compa nies.

EXCELLENCE IN RECYCLING EACH year, Repak rewards excellence in recycling. Over the years, there have been very commendable winners from the retail sector and these are a good example to other retail outlets of how to implement waste solutions.

Case Study- EuroSPAR Lucan.

Repak Best Practice Award 2006 Independent Retail Sector The EuroSPAR in the Ballyowen Shopping Centre in Lucan is a 14,000 square feet supermarket and has a staff of 140. It has consistently displayed the highest standards in the area of packaging recycling, prevention and minimisation. The store has a sophisticated waste management structure, spearheaded by two managers, who work with the entire staff to ensure the highest possible environmental standards from staff training right through to the back door. In 2005, this store reduced the amount of packaging sent to landfill by 6.4%. Overall waste sent for recycling declined by 16 tonnes, year on year, reflecting their aggressive 42

emphasis on prevention as a first step in the recycling chain.

Case Study- Centra, Tower Shopping Centre, Blarney, Co. Cork. Repak Best Practice Award 2005 – Small Retailer Centra, Tower Shopping Centre, Blarney opened in 2003 and was the 2005 winner in the Small Retailer category. O’Leary’s Centra has an excellent waste management structure in place, which is spearheaded by a Waste Co-Coordinator. There is on-going waste awareness training for staff, monthly progress meetings and informative notice boards. In 2004, they decided to encourage suppliers to deliver in re-usable packaging, thereby greatly reducing their backdoor waste. In the same year, their packaging recycling rate more than doubled, with over 50% of all waste generated going for recycling.

This progressive and responsible approach to waste management also resulted in a 50% saving in waste management costs.

• Annual fee increases to be capped at a maximum of 5% for three years.

Prevention and Minimisation The prevention and minimisation of packaging at the source and right throughout the distribution chain is also a key challenge for Repak and its members in coming years. Waste prevention and minimisation means using less material to get a job done.

This “stop waste before it happens” approach is an integral part of how industry now approaches packaging decisions: avoiding over packaged, disposable, and non-reusable or non-recyclable products where possible. This is a process of continuous improvement. Good design can play a hugely supportive role in determining where packaging can and should contain a high proportion of recycled material.

The total environmental impact and the carbon footprint of both the packaging and the product are also major considerations. These must consider factors such as total energy and resource use. Reducing the environmental impact can only be successful if the entire packaging production chain is taken into account.

Repak will be assisting its members in the calculation of the carbon and environmental impact of their packaging supply changes.

As well as resulting in considerable cost and energy savings, it is estimated that a 3% reduction in the amount of packaging used at the source of production could proportionally result in the Irish packaging industry preventing the following amount of material reaching the Irish market: •

•

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3,138 tonnes of steel, which is the equivalent of almost 24m food cans.

554 tonnes of aluminium, which is the equivalent of 33m aluminium drinks cans.

9,619 tonnes of cardboard and paper and 4,339 tonnes of wood, which is the equivalent of over a quarter of a million trees or almost six hundred hectares of conifer forest.

Introducing the New City Baler Range from Mac-Fab Systems Ltd Mac-Fab City Balers are specifically designed for small businesses, pubs, offices, garages, forecourts, retail outlets, wholesalers, convenience stores, basically anywhere space is at a premium!

The City Balers are perfect for busy shops that need to make room for storage, by compacting recyclable materials into tight, tidy bales.

Mac-Fab has the solution for all businesses, by baling you can Increase storage space, with a clutter free working environment Avoid high waste collection costs Reduce Waste Volumes by up to 90% Show your commitment to the environment by baling your Recyclable Material for less For more information on Mac-Fab systems full range of baling presses visit www.macfab.com, email sales@macfab.com or call Mac-Fab on 042 966 7193

B FA AC M

It Makes Cents To Bale Your Recyclable Material With a Mac-Fab City Baler

The Plastic Recycling Specialists

• Permitted •Nationwide • Complete plastic recycling facility •

All types of plastic considered,

Compounding, Granulation, Shredding Etc

•

Contract recycling undertaken

Kells Road, Kingscourt, Co. Cavan Tel: 042-966 8703 Fax: 042-966 8704 Email: retechinfo@eircom.net Web: www.retechprocessing.com

Announcing the all new "Compact" 40 baler.

Advantages: low height and weight making it suitable for convenience stores, service stations, fast food outlets, pubs and restaurants, where space and height are restricted. Baler dimensions: H 1.695m x W 0.718m x D 0.570m, weight 140 kgs.

Small easy to handle bale (up to 40kgs.)

Our baler range goes from 40kgs up to 650kgs. We also supply 1100 litre bin presses and bag presses (ideal for reducing the volume of your black bag waste).

AB&C, 60 Wyndham Downs, Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland Tel: 021 4877739 Mobile: 087 2418650 E.mail: info@abandc.ie

RN July/August07Repak’s 10th Anniversary ●

•

•

Repak Time-Line

3,620 tonnes of glass, which is the equivalent of almost 10m wine bottles.

6,553 tonnes of plastics, the equivalent of 157m 1.5 litre PET plastic drinks bottles.

Prevention and Minimisation Program Repak and the EPA this year launched a packaging prevention programme to help Irish industry reduce the amount of packaging on their products. The Packaging Waste Prevention Programme is co-funded by the EPA and Repak as part of the National Waste Prevention Programme (NWPP).

• • • • •

•

•

.

. .

. .

The programme measures will see: a series of awareness raising seminars; a ‘what is best practice’ packaging website; a supply chain benchmarking study; exemplar best practice case studies; consumer research study on packaging preferences and purchase behaviour; Packaging Design Awards aimed at promoting examples of best practice; Development of a carbon footprint calculator for member companies;

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:

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Development of an interactive householder carbon footprint calculator.

I n f r a s t r u c t u re

Repak’s Recycling Week campaign has helped Ireland to take massive strides forward in recycling packaging waste. Repak is now focused on achieving the target of recycling 65% of packaging waste by 2011.

There is also an urgent need for the development of more recycling infrastructures within Ireland.

Smaller households are on the increase in Ireland, which means many consumers are looking for smaller packs and more singleserve portions, which results in more packaging ending up in domestic bins.

The infrastructure in Ireland needs to reflect this, with more sorting facilities and more varied household collections, specific to certain materials. The simpler it is to recycle, the easier it is to encourage consumers to recycle straight from their own homes.

45

Complete Waste Management & Recycling • Domestic • Commercial & Industrial Waste • Skip Hire • Compactors / Balers • Wheelie Bin Service

Tuam Business Park, Weir Road, Tuam, County Galway.

Telephone: 093 240 27 Mobile: 087 252 4254

How Can Something so Purple be so Green!

LoCall 1890 600 900 Winner of Repak Large Recycling Operator 2006

RN July/August07Repak 10th Anniversary ●

Greenstar’s Green Solution Keith McCormack, Head of Marketing at Greenstar, explains how the company can help to reduce waste costs and make significant savings. consultation, education, research, and environmental and waste auditing.

Since its inception in 1999, Greenstar has invested €240m in infrastructure and strategic acquisitions and has increased employment from 100 to over 500 in 34 locations nationwide.

In early 2006, Greenstar raised €200 million in debt finance to facilitate the ongoing growth and development of the company.

Rising

insurance costs, rising energy costs .. what comes next in IBEC’s list of top non-labour related cost concerns for Irish businesses? The cost of disposing of waste and the amount of legislation relating to waste management is growing all the time and having a very real impact on margins. How can businesses ensure that they are dealing properly and legally with its waste and also keep their costs down?

With proper planning, businesses can reduce waste costs and at the same time make significant savings, help the environment and ensure compliance with legislation in an environmentally sustainable way.

Proactive waste management has helped over 90% of businesses either save or control their costs.

Greenstar works with many of the top 100 companies in Ireland to ensure that their waste management policies are tailored to the specific needs of their business and that as much waste as possible is recycled so that waste disposal costs are kept to a minimum.

Waste Management Legislation Changes to Irish and EU law now mean that the business that created the waste is responsible for disposing of it correctly. This means that hazardous waste must be separated from non-hazardous waste. The penalty for failing to dispose of waste correctly can be up to 10 years in prison or a multimillion euro fine. A business is still responsible for the appropriate disposal of its waste, even it hires a contractor or another business to take care of it.

So, how can Greenstar help businesses manage their waste in the most cost effective way?

Proper waste management is about minimising the amount of waste your business needs to dispose of. The more waste a business can recycle or just not create in the first place, the less they have to send to landfill and the lower their waste management costs.

Greenstar can work with businesses to put in place a comprehensive waste management policy that caters for all the different types of waste a business produces and will reap reap them benefits from the outset.

As Greenstar is the only waste management company to offer the full spectrum of waste management solutions from on-site consultancy, collection, materials recovery, recycling and biological treatment, right through to the provision of residual landfill facilities, we can also dispose of all your waste in the most appropriate way.

Importantly, Greenstar will also ensure that a business’ waste policy meets all the legislative requirements and can provide a full paper trail so a business can have complete peace of mind about waste disposal, as well as keeping costs down.

Greenstar offers customers a fully compliant, transparent and traceable service with respect to collection, materials recovery, recycling, biological treatment, e.g., composting, and residual landfill. Additional services offered by Greenstar include

Who are Greenstar?

GREENSTAR, Ireland’s largest integrated waste management company and subsidiary of NTR plc, provides services and infrastructure at each level of the waste management hierarchy.

Greenstar were recently named the Repak Large Recycling Operator of the Year.

Greenstar operates materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, Sligo, Cork and Dublin, including Millennium Park, the country’s largest and most sophisticated automotated recycling facility which can divert between 70-85% of waste from landfill.

Greenstar owns and operates EPA licensed, state-of-the-art residual landfill facilities at Kilcullen, County Kildare, Knockharley, County Meath and Kilconnell, Co. Galway and Ballynagran, Co. Wicklow.

Greenstar has been awarded the Green Apple Award for excellence in landfill operations.

47

Guy Recycling RECYCLING SERVICE COVERING ALL IRELAND.

Waste Management Solutions

GUY RECYCLING COLLECT THE FOLLOWING MATERIALS FOR RECYCLING CARDBOARD, PAPER, AND ALL PAPER BASED PRODUCTS PLASTIC SHRINK WRAP, PALLET WRAP PLASTIC DRUMS AND BUCKETS

CONTAINERS CAN BE PROVIDED FOR STORAGE GUY RECYCLING ARE FULLY LICENCED Enviro-Pak No. 1 for balers, bottle crushers, bin packers and food waste disposal equipment

RECYCLING CERTS PROVIDED

Mobile: 086 850 1377 Fax: 057 864 1813 www.enviropakireland.com email: enviropak@hotmail.com

PLEASE PHONE ANYTIME 048 37 527702, 048 37 518651 OR MOBILE 0044 7761 303409 Email: guyrecycling@yahoo.co.uk

Wishing Repak best wishes for the next 10 years • Glass Recycling • Confidential Shredding • Paper & Cardboard Recycling • Waste Electronic Recycling • Expanded Polystyrene Recycling • IT Asset Recovery

Tel: 1800 661551 a Rehab Group Company

RN July/August07Repak 10th Anniversary ●

Greenstreets Lead the Way COMPLIANCE reporting has placed new costs and obligations on all businesses, diverting their attention away from normal activities. But there is an easier way. Over the past seven years, Greenstreets has worked with a range of customers to manage their obligations under various regulations, including the WEEE and Packaging regulations. Their customers have benefited from the cost effective and time saving manner of Greenstreets’ approach to their reporting requirements, allowing them to concentrate on their core activities, while compliance issues and reporting are automatically taken care of by Greenstreets.

Going forward, we will see more and more environmental regulations come into force, necessitating more assessment and reporting of statistics.

This will introduce additional direct and indirect costs. Greenstreets offer

a unique mix of consultancy and software solutions to manage compliance reporting on regulations including: - Packaging Regulations; - WEEE & RoHS Regulations; - End-of-Life (ELV) Regulations; and - Waste Tyre Compliance.

For further information on how Greenstreets can help your business, contact Howard Mulligan at 01-4100618 or by email: howard.mulligan@greenstreets.ie.

Later this year, Greenstreets are introducing additional products and services that will enable businesses to capture data from energy, waste, water, chemical and transport usage.

Information captured is measured against billing history and compared to stakeholder behaviour in the workplace.

Businesses will be able to reduce reporting time and improve operational efficiency by having a better understanding of their environmental impacts.

Mac-Fab Systems Ltd. FOUNDED in 1976, Mac-Fab Systems manufacture a range of equipment for the pre-stressed concrete industry. In 1996, they set up a new department to manufacture hydraulic vertical baling presses and now successfully export these baling presses to 12 countries, making them the fastest growing baler manufacturer in Europe.

During the course of 2007, MacFab Systems Ltd will launch four new Baler models to their existing range of 15 Baler models, which are capable of baling paper, cardboard, plastic, textiles and other materials. This reduces waste volumes by up to 90% and saves on expensive storage, transport and handling costs.

New to the market is the Compact 40 Baling Press, which is the most easy to use and competitively priced

Baler in its range. The Compact 40 is Lightweight (150kg), user friendly, low maintenance and easy to store, especially where space is at a premium. Producing Bale weights from 2040 kgs, it is easy to see why this baler is perfect for small businesses, shops, pubs and offices.

The success of Mac-Fab Systems can be attributed to their supply of the most competitively-priced quality balers on the market, with a fully-trained service team throughout Ireland, UK and Europe. Mac-Fab Systems design their balers to meet their customers’ specifications, complemented by ongoing Research & Development. The company services a range of sectors, including county councils, retail outlets, supermarkets, garage forecourts, convenience

stores, shopping centres, hotels and pubs. Key clients include Marks & Spencer’s, Halfords, Johnson & Johnson, BMW, Kingspan Group, Peugeot, Michelin, Harvey Norman and Wyevale Garden Centre Group.

All their equipment conforms to current EU Regulations.

Contact: Gene McConnon, Sales Manager, or Harry de Bruijn, European Sales Manager.

Email: sales@macfab.com Address: Magheracloone, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, Ireland Phone: + 353 42 966 7193 Fax: + 353 42 966 7846 Website: www.macfab.com 49

Limerick, Clare and Kerry Minimising Waste Together!

Contact: Regional Waste Management Office Mallow Street, Limerick Tel 061 496596 e-mail: rwmo@limerickcoco.ie website : www.managewaste.ie

BARNA WASTE Waste Transfer Station, Recycling Facility & Civic Amenity Site Carrowbrowne, Headford Road, Co. Galway.

Tel: 091-771619 E-mail: info@barnawaste.com Fax: 091-771735

Lo-call 1890 300 450 (for Galway Domestic Collection) Lo-call 1890 445 445 (for Sligo/Roscommon Domestic Collection) EPA Licence No. : 106/2 Collection Permit No. : CW074 • EPA Licenced Recycling Facility • Domestic and Commercial Waste Collection and Recycling • Cardboard/Paper/Plastic/Cans/Kerbside Recycling • Civic Amenity Site for non-hazardous waste • Domestic and Commercial Skip Hire (various sizes 4cy -12cy) • Septic Tank and Drain Service • Commercial Waste Auditing and Profiling Service • ISO 14001 Accreditation

Best wishes to Repak on it’s 10th Anniversary

RN July/August07Drinks News ●

MGD Visit Beamish & Crawford PICTURED are Doug Broadman, Senior Vice President International, Miller Genuine Draft, and Alf Smiddy, Managing Director, Beamish & Crawford, on a recent visit to the Beamish & Crawford Brewery in Cork.

Heineken to Sponsor Rugby World Cup on TV3 HEINEKEN will be the exclusive broadcast sponsor of all TV3's Rugby World Cup 2007 coverage this autumn to add to their continued involvement in quality rugby events. While Heineken are an official sponsor of Rugby World Cup 2007, they are proud to play a role in bringing all of the action closer to the fans in Ireland. Pictured at the recent launch are: Philip Matthews, TV3 panellist; Matt Cooper, TV3 presenter; Colm McNamara, Senior Brand Manager, Heineken; Paul Wallace, TV3 panellist; Siobhan McNickle, Off Trade Brand Manager, Heineken; Jim Williams, TV3 panellist; Pat Kiely, TV3 Sales Manager; and Jim Glennon, TV3 panellist.

Sol Shines at DJ Party PICTURED at the Sol Shine DJ Finale Party are Brian Sherry, Heineken Ireland; and Christian Eschenback, Commercial Manager - Sol, North & Central Europe. Belle & Sebastian entertained the crowd at the party, joined by deck diva Mo Kelly, which marked the finale of the Sol Shine DJ Tour, which has been touring the country since May, featuring some of the coolest DJs on the Irish club circuit.

Finlandia Celebrates Midnight Sun FINLANDIA Vodka has recently celebrated the Magic of the Midnight Sun, a phenomenon experienced annually in its native Finland each Summer Solstice, when the sun never sets in the northern parts of the country. A Midnight Sun Party was celebrated in Renards, Dublin, to share the magical Summer Solstice experience with people in Ireland, where guests sampled a choice of delicious Finlandia cocktails. ‘Magical Nymph’ Aisling Walsh and Noel-John McLoughlin of Finlandia Vodka are pictured at the party.

Kopparberg’s Summer Tour BUILDING on its stunning sales success in Ireland, Kopparberg Cider has launched a summer tour. 12 Swedish brand ambassadors have come to Ireland to spread the good word about Kopparberg Cider, visiting over 750 bars, as well as local landmarks and cultural events in each region. The Great Taste of Sweden Tour is part of a €1.5million advertising and promotional campaign that also includes 48 sheets, transport and nationwide press. The

Swedish team are pictured, being welcomed by the Swedish Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Claes Ljunberg.

51

RN July/August07IGBF Ball ●

Belles & Beaus of th The Irish Grocers Benevolent Fund’s inaugural Midsummer Ball was a great success.

The

Irish Grocers Benevolent Fund’s inaugural Midsummer Ball took place recently at the former seat of the Dukes of Leinster, Carton House, on June 24th. Some 320 guests supported the event, including the inimitable Senator David Norris as MC, who was joined by leading industry figures including: Chris Martin, CEO, Musgrave Group; Tony Keohane, CEO, Tesco Ireland; Albert Ragon, MD, Danone; Malachy McCloskey, Chairman, Boyne Valley Foods; Alfie Lydon, MD, Coca-Cola Bottlers Ireland; and Barry Connolly, CEO, Richmond Marketing.

Frank Coghlan, Musgrave, President of Appeals, and Senator David Norris, MC, pictured at the IGBF Midsummer Ball.

Margaret Reynolds; Angela and Jim Bradley, Chairman of the IGBF and C&C Ireland, and Peter Reynolds, C&C Ireland, at the IGBF Ball.

52

Pictured at the Ball are (l-r): Michelle Thornton, Hotel Solutions, with Darragh and Fiona Monaghan, the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group.

RN July/August07IGBF Ball ●

e IGBF Ball The fund provides financial relief to people engaged in the food and beverage trades who’ve fallen on hard times. Last year, the IGBF were able to help 286 families, representing nearly one thousand individuals, experiencing hardship.

The event raised €86,000 for the fund and entertainment on the night included Macnas, Anuna, The Celtic Tenors and Frankly Sinatra. Prizes given away on the night included two cars, a trip for two to the 2008 US Masters, a five night break at

Paul Nimmo, Musgrave, and his wife Carole, enjoying the IGBF fundraising ball.

Pragelato Village resort and spa, a weekend in Prague, and two premium tickets for all Ireland Hurling Final.

Cheri Feeley and Gráinne Scolard at the IGBF Ball.

Pictured at the IGBF Ball in Carton House are Gearóid and Claire Surlis, Surlis’ SuperValu Tubbercurry, with Anne O’Brien, Musgrave (centre).

Siobhán Keaney and Vivienne Dowd at the IGBF Ball.

Ruth and Seán Healy, Johnson Brothers, at the IGBF Ball.

Anne Manning & Jenny O’Regan, pictured enjoying the Ball.

Roz and Vincent Flanagan, VF Coldstores, at the IGBF Ball.

53

RN ●

“It is the retailer’s

July/August07Recycling

responsibility not to dump meat in landfill, but until now there hasn’t been any alternative… Our service is top class and feedback from supermarkets is excellent.”

Brothers Niall and Adam Lord, Directors of Food Surplus Management.

Disposable Heroes Food Surplus Management, the only fully licensed waste company in Ireland that can legally handle packaged meat products, comes to the rescue of retail.

Retailers

are faced with a barrage of responsibilities, but one of the most troublesome, time-consuming and expensive tasks is the disposal of unwanted food and drink.

In recent years, waste costs have been pushed higher and higher.

European Directive 1774/2002, introduced in January 2006, prohibits the sending of packaged food products to landfill, while other EU legislation governing operations, and HACCP

54

methodology, requires every retailer to keep a tight ship when it comes to waste and hygiene. This legislation might seem to be a burden, but it makes sense.

Meat in landfill can spread disease – decomposing meat can infiltrate water supplies, leading to outbreaks like Foot & Mouth. But how can the retailer, with his or her jampacked daily routines, face the burden of waste alongside all their other responsibilities? The answer can

be found in Trim, Co. Meath.

Established in January 2004, Food Surplus Management (FSM) recycles the packaging and contents of short-dated meat products, dairy products, soft drinks and other material that would otherwise go to landfill. From a retailer’s perspective, this means the disposal of all packaged meat products, vegetable, dairy, cereal, biscuit, chilled, frozen, beverages, confectionery: in other words, all food products found in a supermarket.

“On average, up to 20,000 tonnes of waste are processed per year at our plant in Trim,” explains Niall Lord, Sales & Marketing Director of FSM. FSM is the only company in Ireland with a Category 3 intermediate plant licence, allowing it to recycle both the packaging and contents. The licence permits FSM to recycle packaged waste food into products for the pet food, animal feed, technical and biofuel industries.

Segregating Waste Retailers are supplied with 240-litre wheelie bins that arrive in two different colours: Red is a “wet bin”, suitable for the likes of packed meats, yogurts, meats, butter, cheese, ready-made meals, drinks and soups; while Green is for “dry foods” such as fruit and veg, bread, cakes, cereals, biscuits, confectionery and rice. This allows retailers to segregate their waste in an effective and efficient manner.

“We tailor the service to suit the store,” continues Lord. “A large store will usually have two or three collections a week. It is in our interests to collect the product as quickly as possible and while it is still in good condition, otherwise we can’t recover it.”

There is a bin charge for each collec-

RN ● July/August07Recycling

tion, but FSM leaves clean laundered bins in place of those it removes, allowing retailers to go about their business without having to worry about nasty odours.

The Benefits The benefits of FSM’s service are evident. Retailers can dispose of perishable and out-of-date food in an environmentally friendly and economically useful way. Not only is this more cost effective than going to landfill, but it is also environmentally compliant.

“It is the retailer’s responsibility not to dump meat in landfill, but until now there hasn’t been any alternative,” explains Lord. “It is in their interests to handle the products correctly. Our service is top class and feedback from supermarkets is excellent. Food makes up 80% of a supermarket’s general waste, the rest is sweepings and litter bins. One store in Dublin went from having a general waste bin collected three times a week to being collected once a month because all discarded food goes through us. We cut their waste bill by about 40%.”

Exploiting a Market Niche Food Surplus Management, a familyowned business, initially sourced raw material for the pet food business from cooked meat producers. When these producers began asking if FSM could take their entire short-dated food product range, they realised that there

Food Surplus Management process up to 20,000 tonnes of waste per year at their plant in Trim, Co. Meath.

was a niche in the market. The FSM team were up to speed with European regulations and, predicting the legislation that would prohibit meat products and other organic material at landfill, approached the Department of Agriculture about their proposed initiative.

“We worked closely with the Department as to best practice for this service,” explains Lord. “After three years of negotiations and meetings with the Department, we came up with a plant design and built a factory in Trim.”

Did they model the plan on similar businesses overseas? “No, because we are the first ones to do this in Europe,” he boasts. “From our internal research, there was no one else

FSM AT A GLANCE • Specialists in the recovery and recycling of short dated and out of date packaged food.

• Fully licensed operators, offering a fully compliant service.

• FSM has the only Category 3 Intermediate Plant License in Ireland for the recovery of packaged food from retailers.

• Provide retailers with laundered bins for the collection of packaged food.

• Retailers always have clean bins on site.

• FSM offer a cost effective and environmentally compliant alternative to composting and landfill.

• Reduce waste costs by a minimum of 25%.

doing this. The fact that we had contacts with the pet food business was a huge advantage to us, since we knew what raw materials they required. So we only had to convince pet food manufacturers that we had a higher grade product than that which they were used to.”

FSM is one of a kind. Other major waste contractors are only interested in recyclables, so most out-of-date food products are entering general waste and contaminating the recyclables that have a value. Lord continues: “In recent years, the buzz in the waste business has been around composting.

But composting is not working.

Contractors are producing mass amounts of compost that nobody wants, so it still ends up in landfill.

The difference between us and all these other methods of waste handling is that every bit of our product is consumed. We also recover all cardboard, paper, plastic, glass, steel, aluminium, etc.”

Cost Savings How much, then, can a retailer save by using FSM? “Some counties have higher landfill charges, but you are talking about saving 25% on landfill,” Lord notes. “Cost-wise, it is cheaper and retailers will also be environmentally compliant and satisfy any laws that are in place via the FSAI or health boards. There are 101 different reasons why retailers should do it, but the central reason is cost and compliancy.”

Notably, FSM also ensures product and brand destruction. “Part of our 55

RN July/August07Recycling ●

“One store in Dublin went from having a general waste bin collected three times a week to being collected once a month because all discarded food goes through us. We cut their waste bill by about 40%.”

Established in January 2004, Food Surplus Management (FSM) recycles the packaging and contents of short-dated meat products, dairy products, soft drinks and other material that would otherwise go to landfill.

service is brand destruction.

Everything that we take is de-packed so the food that we recover for the pet food, animal feed or bio diesel industry is non-branded product. In some instances, food producers have dumped product at landfill, only to find that the food has ended up in a market: when this happens they have a claim on their hands and egg on their face.”

A pilot scheme for 20 Musgrave stores will now roll out to another 60 stores over the next few months retailers paying for the service via their Musgrave contract. FSM are also in negotiations with other major retailers.

plans to have four fully operational plants around the country. Company profits have climbed consistently in

tandem with demand for the service, with 2006 turnover (€1.5m) increasing by 100% on 2005. The company is on target to increase turnover to €2m in 2007 and plans to double its workforce over the next year.

Cementing its role in the Irish waste disposal market, FSM was recently awarded the Ulster Bank Invoice Finance and Irish Independent Business Achievers Award. Considering his success, Niall Lord is realistic in his expectations for this family-owned company. “We have doubled our rate of growth over the last two or three years and would like to keep that momentum going,” he says. “We would hope to be in a position to explore the possibilities of setting up similar facilities in the UK and Europe in the future.”

Continued Growth Since its establishment three years ago, the company’s fortunes have risen rapidly. Earlier this year, Food Surplus Management acquired a 30,000 square foot plant in Meath, where it plans to open a second recycling facility and a pet food manufacturing facility in late 2007.

By the end of 2008, the company 56

FSM offer retailers two bin types: a Red bin for the collection of packed meats, yogurts, milk, butter/ cheese, beverages, juices, ready meals and soups; and a Green bin for the collection of fruit/veg, bread, cakes, cereals, biscuits, confectionary, pasta/rice, all dry food.

REDUCE YOUR WASTE COSTS BY 25% FOOD SURPLUS MANAGEMENT LIMITED • Specialists in the recovery and recycling of short dated and out of date packaged food.

• Fully licensed operators offering a fully compliant service.

• FSM has the only Category 3 Intermediate Plant License in Ireland for the recovery of packaged food from retailers • Provide retailers with laundered bins for the collection of packaged food.

• Retailers always have clean bins on site.

• FSM offer a cost effective and environmentally compliant alternative to composting and landfill.

• Reduce waste costs by a minimum of 25%.

90% of food retailers general waste is packaged food It is the responsibility of the retailer to ensure that they are handling their waste correctly EU law prohibits the dumping of meat products at landfill

FSM provides a recovery and recycling service to some of the largest food and drinks manufacturers' and distributors in Ireland. They have recently received the first Category 3 Intermediate License for their new facility in Trim, Co. Meath (ID 9). This facility is the first of its kind in Ireland to be licensed by the Department of Agriculture & Food for the handling of packaged food waste.

FSM OFFER RETAILERS TWO BIN TYPES: RED BIN for the collection of: packed meats, yogurts, milk, butter/cheese, beverages, juices, ready meals, soups.

GREEN BIN for the collection of: fruit, vegetables, bread, cakes, cereals, biscuits, confectionary, pasta/rice, all dry food.

For further information contact Food Surplus Management Limited Oaktree Business Park, Trim, Co. Meath Tel: 046 948 3002 Fax: 046 948 6750 Email: njlord@fsm.ie www.fsm.ie

RN July/August07Top 20 Wine Brands ●

The Vine Knowledge Jean Smullen counts down Ireland’s Top 20 Wine Brands.

An

international survey which was released this month named Gallo Family Vineyards as the world's most powerful wine brand. In the survey, the Power 100 put together the most powerful drinks brands in the world.

Of the top ten wine brands, five were from the US, four from Australia and one, Concha Y Toro, from Chile. The Australian wine brand Yellowtail came in at number 5 and was the

highest "New Entry": this wine is now distributed in Ireland by Gilbeys Wines.

Our own market reflects the current global trend in terms of overall sales. Gallo Family Vineyards is currently in fourth place, just below Blossom Hill, Wolf Blass and Jacob's Creek, which is currently in first place.

Concha y Toro comes in ninth in terms of overall sales on the Irish market.

Let us look at the Irish Top 20 and pick a wine from each brand portfolio which exemplifies what is best about the range and, most important, what makes it attractive to the consumer.

We will look at one varietal wine from each winery which tipifies the range and will also match this with a food style which we hope will be useful when making recommendations to your customers.

20

19

Le Piat D'Or

Barton & Guestier

Medium White Vin de Pays de Gers (€7.99)

2005 B&G Reserve Merlot (€8.99)

THIS is a fresh, fruity white wine, made from a blend of local grape varieties. It has nice pear drop aromas and a light fruity finish on the palate.

If you want something light to go with your spaghetti carbonara or your penne pasta with tomato and basil, then this is the wine to go for!

THIS wine is made from 100% Merlot and has lovely soft tannin with plum fruit, black cherry and chocolate overtones. It goes well with roast meat as well as with strong cheese. This is a light, easy-drinking style of wine.

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2006 Kumala Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay (€7.99)

2005 Errazuriz Estate Chardonnay (€10.49)

NATURAL, crisp acidity and a simple freshness are the hallmarks of Kumala’s ‘easy-drinking’ Dual Varietal white wines. Good everyday drinking wine.

Chenin has a natural acidity, which gives this wine a nice lift. Nice weight of melon/citrus fruits. Good with fish or anything cooked in a cream sauce.

THIS is an un-oaked Chardonnay: the grapes are grown in one of Chile's top white wine regions, Casablanca Valley.

This un-oaked Chardonnay really highlights the distinct quality of the fruit from this region. The natural acidity is retained, so this wine will work well with light food, such as grilled fish or chicken.

Kumala

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Errazuriz

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2002 Faustino V Reserva (€10.99)

2004 Nederburg Manor House Collection Sauvignon Blanc (€11.99)

Faustino

Nederburg

THIS is one of Spain's classic wine styles. Made from a blend of 92% Tempranillo and 8% Mazuelo, this wine has been aged in American Oak casks for 16 months.

Lovely red fruit with soft vanilla flavours, this will work with roast meat, such as pork, chicken or turkey.

THIS herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc has a dash of Semillon added to round out the flavours. Crisp acidity and lovely gooseberry flavours.

This wine goes well with any white meat cooked in a cream sauce, such as fish, chicken or veal.

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Lindemans

Sutter Home

2006 Lindemans Bin 35 Rose (€11.49)

Sutter Home Family Vineyards (€7.29)

MADE from a blend of Grenache and Shiraz, this wine is made for early drinking and has tons of fruit flavours: cherries and summer fruit. It has residual sugar, which makes it a perfect match for Asian food. Prawn Thai curry made with coconut milk is a great match for this wine, which also works well as an aperitif or party wine.

THIS Sutter Home red wine is made from a blend of grape varieties and is an everyday drinking wine. It’s a good match for quick and easy food, such as stir fry chicken, barbecue pork, sausages, pizza, pastas, and burgers.

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2004 Torres Coronas (€8.99)

2006 Eagle Hawk Cabernet Sauvignon (€8.99)

Torres

THIS red wine is made from a Spanish grape called Tempranillo, and has lots of soft, oaky blackcurrant fruit. It is particularly good with turkey, as the soft vanilla flavours and black fruit work well with white meat.

Eagle Hawk

THE Eagle Hawk is the image used

by Australian wine company Wolf Blass since he first built his winery in 1966 which was called Bilyara (the Aboriginal word for Eaglehawk).

Cabernet Sauvignon is a grape variety with good firm tannin. Try this with lamb or with your favourite pasta dish.

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RN July/August07Top 20 Wine Brands ●

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2004 Carmen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (€12.99)

2004 Trio (Concha y Toro) Merlot/Carmenere/Cabernet Sauvignon D.O. Rapel Valley (€11.99)

Carmen

THIS is one of the iconic wines from Chile and a wine which has enjoyed great recognition on the Irish market. Winner in 2004 of the NOffLA Wine of the Year Award, this wine from Edward Dillon & Co. Ltd is made from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape.

The grapes are grown in Chile's Maipo Valley, the ‘birthplace’ of the Chilean wine industry. The Maipo Valley has the oldest viticultural tradition in the country and is perhaps the best known for red wines, notably Cabernet Sauvignon.

Concha y Toro

THE Trio range is a blended wine from Concha Y Toro, distributed by Findlater Grants. A blend of Merlot, Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon, the grapes are sourced from the Rapel Valley, a large area which accounts for around a quarter of all Chile's vineyards.

No variety says Chile like Carmenere, yet its re-emergence is the story of a happy accident. Carmenere was little more than an archival curiosity until the early 1990s, when winemakers discovered that many of the Chilean vines they had called Merlot were actually Carmenere.

This wine has a wonderful minty character and was made to go with steak. The firm tannins act as a wonderful foil to meat which is cooked rare. This wine will also work wonderfully with any hard full bodied mature cheese like cheddar.

They recognized what Carmenere lovers have come to appreciate: the low tannins and big, bright blackberry fruit of Carmenere make it a delight to drink and an ideal match for a range of foods.

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2006 Long Mountain Chenin Blanc (€7.99)

2004 Hardys Stamp Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon (€9.99)

THIS wine was one of the NOffLA Gold Star winners in 2006 and is the signature wine from this South African range, distributed by Irish Distillers/Pernod Ricard. Chenin Blanc originated in France, but this grape variety has long been a staple of the South African wine industry. The flavours are honey/lemon but the grape also has a wonderful natural acidity which lifts the wine and makes it unique. A great barbecue wine, it has lots of fresh zesty flavours and is a good with seafood, chicken and lighter red meats.

HARDY’S Stamp of Australia offers one of Australia's most popular, easy-to-drink wine ranges, from Allied Drinks. The Stamp range is identified by the original Australian postage stamp, dating back to 1937, which features on the Stamp of Australia wines. The Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon blend is very typically Australian, and offers the spicy white pepper and blackcurrant aromas and flavours of the Shiraz grape, blended with red cherry and a hint of toasty vanillin oak and good fruit tannins from the Cabernet, which offer complexity to the wine. A very fruit driven, distinctive style of wine, this is perfect for rich earthy meat sauces which accompany any type of roast meat dish.

Long Mountain

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Hardy's

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2004 Floresta Sauvignon Blanc (€19.99)

2005 Rosemount Diamond Label Shiraz (€11.49)

Santa Rita

Rosemount

THIS is a very aromatic wine, showing classic concentration flavours of gooseberry and tropical fruits. The acidity is very fine and is beautifully balanced with lovely ripe flavours. This wine from Santa Rita is the flagship of their range, distributed by Gilbeys Wines. It is only available in limited quantities.

ONE of the Australian ‘Regional Heroes’ would certainly be Rosemount, from Gilbeys Wines. This iconic Australian winery recently unveiled an exciting new look, with a unique eye-catching diamond shape bottle and the introduction of screw cap closures.

This hand-crafted wine from Chile is only produced in the best vintages. It shows the great character and personality of Leyda Valley, one of the newer Chilean wine regions and one which has been internationally recognised for its Sauvignon Blanc. Its aromas recall fragrant citrus blossoms, ripe kiwi fruit and wild gooseberries. It is fresh, crisp and zingy on the palate. Sauvignon Blanc wines blend well with the delicate flavours of Sushi and Sashimi when taken alone.

Rosemount has a strong link with two of Australia's greatest wine regions, the Hunter Valley and McLaren Vale. Rosemont Diamond Label represents the heart of Rosemount. Stylish and sophisticated, these varietal wines represent the fruit-forward easy drinking wine style which is typical of the range. The Shiraz has complex layers of lifted flavour with concentrated dark fruit, spice notes and background oak flavours, with lovely length and long, soft finish. This is perfect with lamb, pasta, and spiced dishes.

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2005 Turning Leaf Merlot (€8.99 - €9.99)

Blossom Hill White Zinfandel (€8.99)

Gallo Family Vineyard

THE world's number one wine brand is in fourth place overall here in Ireland.

Turning Leaf is one of the brand names in the Gallo stable from Edward Dillon & Co. Ltd. The Merlot grape was harvested in California's Central Valley about 100 kilometres east of San Francisco.

Wines produced from the Merlot grape are usually deep in colour, with very obvious soft, ripe fruit character, sometimes described as plums. It has a tendency to have low tannin and can be medium or full bodied. This wine was made to go with Pasta with Tomato and Meat Sauce. A medium-bodied red wine like Merlot will complement meat sauce.

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Blossom Hill

THIS wine style is very popular. Zinfandel is a red grape variety. It makes some of the best quality red wines from California and is now very much associated with this American wine region. The ABV (alcohol by volume) is relatively low in this wine (10.5%), making it a good choice for those who are watching their weight or their alcohol intake. The grapes come from Northern California and this wine, made from a red grape, is vinified as a white wine, making it lively on the palate with aromas of strawberries and flavours of ripe watermelon, and is distributed by Gilbeys Wines. This is a great wine for barbecues, picnics and alfresco eating. It also goes well with Asian and Oriental food, as this type of cooking uses many spices which need an intensely flavoured wine.

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Wolf Blass 2005 Wolf Blass Yellow Label Chardonnay (€8.99 - €9.99) AN Australian brand is also in second place, the Wolf Blass range, distributed by Edward Dillon & Co. Ltd. Wolf Blass himself is probably the most famous wine maker in the world. Originally from Germany, he emigrated to Australia and built an empire.

Chardonnay is a white grape variety that has almost become a brand name with consumers. In Burgundy, Chardonnay was the sole vine responsible for all of the finest white Burgundy. Chardonnay has a great affinity with wood. Wine which is made from this grape variety has medium acidity and broad fruit flavours. Chardonnay is now grown successfully in the world’s major wine regions. It varies from light to full-bodied and from crisp green apple flavours of Chablis in Burgundy (cool climate) to the full fruit mouthfuls from parts of Australia (hot climate).

This grape was made to go with rich creamy sauces. The creaminess and texture of the sauce adds to the characters of the food and rich sauces for white meat dishes, such as chicken or fish, need a more full bodied white wine, which Chardonnay can offer.

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J acob's Creek 2006 Jacob’s Creek Riesling (€9.99) THE best selling wine brand in Ireland in 2006 was Australia’s Jacob's Creek, from Irish Distillers/Pernod Ricard. This Australian wine exemplifies what a ‘wine brand’ is all about. There are a range of grape varieties available in this range but one of my favourites is the Riesling grape.

Young Riesling has aromas of honey and lemon, whose flavours follow through on to the palate, backed by a crisp firm acidity. As Riesling ages, it will take on kerosene or diesel aromas but the crisp style of citrus fruit will remain on the palate.

New World Riesling is now very fashionable, offering an up-front style of wine with pronounced aromas and good weight of fruit. Jacob's Creek Riesling is dry and sappy. This wine, because of its natural acidity, was made to go with fish. The crisp lemon/lime flavours will zap through an oily fish such as salmon or mackerel.

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RN July/August07Back to School/Lunchbox ●

Lunch Boxing Clever The Back to School/Lunchbox market is growing by 6% per annum, with innovative, healthy products fuelling market growth.

The

‘Back to School/Lunchbox’ market is a massive one, encompassing a huge range of products. Pretty much any food product sold in a store is suitable for lunchtime eating. However, there are a number of products generally associated with lunches, either for school-going kids or adults, while a plethora of products are being targeted specifically at this burgeoning market.

Recent years have seen uproar over childhood obesity levels throughout the Western world, leading to a massive re-think on the part of food manufacturers and marketers.

Consumers are demanding healthier products for children (and adults), which has meant a massive influx of new, ‘better for you’ products aimed at both markets. Indeed, the children’s food market is estimated to be worth in the region of €14-15 billion throughout Western Europe (Source: Research and Markets).

Suppliers and their marketing teams are increasingly concerned with providing products that appeal 64

to children, while meeting the health and dietary requirements of their parents. Sometimes, this involves relaunching an existing product to help it meet these criteria. One of the most important factors is to ensure that there is no taste compromise when it comes to healthier products, which the main manufacturers have fully embraced.

The Government have, in recent years, been actively involved in promoting healthy eating in schools, encouraging parents to provide a healthy balance in the school lunch box.

A recent survey of all post-primary schools, carried out by the National University of Ireland, Galway, on behalf of the Irish Heart Foundation shows that one third of all Irish secondary schools have healthy eating policies. This figure is expected to rise considerably, following the recommendation of the National Taskforce on Obesity that all schools develop policies to promote healthy lifestyles.

It’s not just school-goers, however, who eat packed lunches, and the market continues to grow. Indeed, it has been estimated that adults account for nearly half of all lunchbox meals consumed. TNS Worldpanel usage data to November 2006 shows a 6% increase in lunchbox meals over the previous year.

Yoplait Everykid, containing LGG, is available in packs of eight in two flavours, Raspberry & Strawberry.

Yop is the original and current number one yogurt drink and has been fuelling generations of teens for over 20 years – the brand enjoys an 85.6% value share within the taste drinks sector.

It’s a delicious low fat drinking yogurt, free from preservatives or

Glanbia Parents can help to ward off school colds and flu with Yoplait EveryKid. Offering all the taste and goodness of Yoplait Yogurt, EveryKid also contains LGG - the world’s most clinically researched probiotic, which is proven to strengthen kids’ immunity.

Available nationwide, the 100g shots of goodness are available in packs of eight in two flavours, Raspberry & Strawberry.

Yop has been fuelling generations of teens for over 20 years.

RN July/August07Back to School/Lunchbox ●

artificial sweeteners and rich in calcium. The range is available in five fruit based variants - strawberry, raspberry, strawberry & vanilla, forest fruits and Yop Breakfast – a mix of strawberry and cereal. New for the ‘Back to School’ season is limited edition Yop Choc, available in convenient 207g and 400g bottles.

Yop is also back with a splash on small and big screens this summer for the first time in 10 years. The new creative focuses on Yop as a healthy and tasty alternative to soft drinks and harnesses the brand’s irreverent personality to convey it in a humorous way.

Kraft Foods Kraft Foods has re-launched Dairylea Lunchables with improved product ingredients and a new recipe that delivers strong nutritional benefits that will reassure parents, while still delivering a fun and great tasting lunch box option for kids.

Redesigned packaging also accompanies the re-launch and has been designed to maximise freshness and deliver strong on-shelf standout.

Each Dairylea Lunchables pack now has added Vitamin D to aid absorption of calcium. Additionally, all of the bread and crackers in the product range are made with whole grains.

Dairylea Lunchables still provides more than a third of a child’s dailyrecommended intake of calcium. The new Dairylea Lunchables come in six delicious variants.

At the key ‘Back to School’ time, Kraft is investing significantly in the

Kraft Foods have re-launched Dairylea Lunchables with improved product ingredients and a new recipe.

re-launch with TV and outdoor advertising, alongside strong trade promotions.

Cheese snacks continue to be a key driver of growth within the cheese

strips are easy to peel so that they are suitable for younger kids to eat. Each pack is a great source of calcium, a low sugar food with no artificial flavours.

Dairylea Tri-Bites are the perfect

Dairylea Tri-Bites are the perfect addition to any lunchbox.

category and Kraft’s Dairylea, a longtime kids’ favourite, offers a range of cheese snacks to meet the entire family’s ‘Back to School’ needs. All Dairylea cheese snacks provide calcium and dairy goodness for growing children of every age, and the range appeals to kids and parents alike.

Dairylea offers a wide variety of unique cheese snacks perfect for lunch boxes or after school snacking for kids of all ages.

Dairylea Dunkers are driving strong growth due to their unique dunkable fun. There is a range of four flavours, including the new delicious Baked Crisp.

Dairylea Strip Cheese is a unique Dairylea Dunkers and Dairylea Strip Cheese are snack, available in 4 driving growth in the cheese snacks category and 8 packs. The

addition to any lunchbox. They taste great, are a good source of calcium, and are a convenient mess-free choice.

For ‘Back to School’ 2007, Kraft will continue to strongly support Dairylea above the line with both cinema and TV advertising, and by delivering strong trade support across the entire Dairylea range.

Kerry Foods Cheese Snacks continues to benefit from consumers’ increasing demand for natural, real foods – with Kerry Foods’ Cheestrings brand benefiting in particular. The brand continues to grow from strength to strength in the market, particularly with the launch of Cheestrings Light in March of this year.

“Cheestrings Light is opening up the Cheestrings brand to a whole new set of consumers who regularly buy into ‘Light or Lighter’ brands – current sales of Cheestrings Light are 10% of the total brand already, with about half this being incremental,” commented Peter Elvin, 67

RN July/August07Back to School/Lunchbox ●

Concentrate bottles will retail with 100% extra free on flashed packs.

Batchelors

Cheestrings Light is opening up the Cheestrings brand to a whole new set of consumers who regularly buy into ‘Light or Lighter’ brands.

Sqeez ready-to-drink 200ml juices are a healthy addition to any lunchbox. The range includes Mini Babybel is an instantly recognizable brand with favourites such as its distinctive red waxy jacket.

Orange Juice, Apple advertising, as well as strong trade Juice, Tropical Juice, Orange with promotions.

Calcium and Multivitamin.

Earlier this year, the ready-todrink range was extended with the GlaxoSmithKline introduction of Sqeez Smoothies This ‘Back to School’ season, Ribena 200ml and 3-pack formats, which comwill be supported by superb term-time plement the successful litre launch. offers across both the Ribena Ready to These handy size packs are a definite Drink (RTD) and Ribena Concentrate winner for consumers looking for ranges, rolling out from August into healthier lunch alternatives. The deliearly autumn. cious Smoothies are available in Strawberry & Banana and Peach,

Marketing Controller, Cheese Snacks.

Cheestrings next ‘Back to School’ advertising campaign is its biggest ever, beginning on August 27, to keep driving the Cheese Snacks category in the new school year and introduce the brand to a whole new set of families starting school for the first time.

Adult cheese snacks are the fastest growing sector of the cheese snacks market. As a product innovator in the lunchbox market, Kerry Foods launched Brunchettas in 2004.

Targeted primarily at women, Brunchettas ignited the on-the-go adult snacking sector and now claims a 39% share of this market.

Horgan’s Mini Babybel is an instantly recognisable brand with its distinctive red waxy jacket. Its unique ‘zipper’ opening makes it a fun cheese to be enjoyed at any time. Mini Babybel has all the natural flavour and nutritional goodness of real cheese and is a welcome addition to any lunchbox or cheeseboard. Mini Babybel is available in Original, Light and Cheddar and is sold in nets of six. Mini Babybel is supported by ongoing TV 68

Sqeez Smoothies were recently launched in 200ml and 3-pack formats.

This ‘Back to School’ season, Ribena will be supported by superb termtime offers, including Ribena Concentrate Bottles retailing with 100% extra free.

Ribena’s RTD Tetra triple packs will retail with a great value price promotion across the brand’s Blackcurrant, No Added Sugar Toothkind Blackcurrant, Orange and Apple flavours.

Further driving sales, both Ribena Blackcurrant and No Added Sugar Toothkind Blackcurrant 1 litre

Pineapple & Passionfruit flavours and are an easy way for consumers to boost their daily intake of fruit.

Also from Batchelors, Amigo juice drinks are a firm favourite with Irish kids and their parents alike.

The brand’s success has been its ability to react to kids’ changing needs. Amigo is also an attractive option for parents as it is available in a combination of sizes: 3’s, 6’s and 9-packs. Watch out for strong promotional activity in the key ‘Back to School’ period.

Kelkin Ltd A long established family favourite, Kelkin MultiVitamin Drink combines

RN July/August07Back to School/Lunchbox ●

Kelkin Not From Concentrate Orange Juice, a 100% pure juice product, is now available in 330ml bottles.

the flavour and goodness of ten different fruits.

Just one 200ml carton of Kelkin MultiVitamin Juice per day provides half the recommended daily dose of vitamins that an adult needs. The handy 200ml 3pack is ideal for children’s lunchboxes, while the 1 litre family carton or 750ml glass bottle are best for home use. All Kelkin juices are widely available in supermarkets, convenience stores and

health shops.

Based on the success of the 1 litre NFC bottle, Kelkin has now launched a new 330ml bottle – ideal for school and work lunch boxes. Kelkin NFC (Not From Concentrate) Orange Juice is a 100% pure juice product which contains no added sugar and no artificial colours, flavours or

Just one 200ml carton of Kelkin MultiVitamin juice per day provides half the recommended daily dose of vitamins that an adult needs.

preservatives, giving consumers that ‘just squeezed’ fresh taste straight from the bottle, while it is also rich in anti-oxidants, folate and potassium, which have been shown to protect against heart disease.

Also from Kelkin Ltd, Jordans Cereal Bars are the ideal snack to complete a healthy lunch box for ‘Back to School’ time. All of Jordans Bars are made using only natural ingredients, with no artificial flavourings, colourings or preservatives.

Jordans bars are available in singles and 6-packs in a variety of flavours. The New Frusli range is a nutritious combination of whole oats and ‘real’ juicy fruit pieces, making it the perfect light snack or energy boost anytime of the day. As well as being packed with over 24% fruit, Frusli is

Tayto Faves is a ten-pack variety of Tayto’s best selling snacks, Tayto Snax, Tayto Chipsticks and Mighty Munch.

McVitie’s For the ‘Back to School’ period, McVitie’s recommends that retailers need to balance the dual needs of the family; parents’ desire for nutritionally balanced products with children’s demand for tasty and fun snacks.

McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes are in a class of their own as the number one Jaffa Cake in Ireland The New Frusli range from Jordans is a and one of the most popular nutritious combination of whole oats and ‘real’ biscuit brands. First created juicy fruit pieces. over 60 years ago, each Jaffa now loaded with even more wholeCake contains a combination of light grain oats, providing a good source of sponge, dark chocolate and ‘smashing fibre and releasing energy gradually. orangey bit’ in the middle and conBestsellers in the range include tains only 1g of fat per cake.

Raisin & Hazelnut, Wild Berries and There are some great portionedCranberry & Apple. controlled formats for the lunchbox, including McVitie’s Jaffa Grab & Go Multi-pack, six individually wrapped Tayto snack packs, each containing three Tayto Faves is a new snack offering Jaffa Cakes; and Mini Jaffa Cakes from Tayto, the number one snack Pods, six individually wrapped pods of brand in Ireland (Source: ACNielsen, Mini Jaffa Cakes. McVitie’s Jaffa Market track, Impulse Crisps, Units, Cakes Grab & Go packs are now also Total Confectionery, MAT 8w/e 22nd available in a convenient 24x40g April 2007). Now on the market nearCounter Display Unit, which maxly two months, Tayto Faves is a tenimises in-store visibility and impact pack variety of Tayto’s best selling for both the retailer and shoppers. snacks.

McVitie’s Penguin is one of the Tayto Faves contain the top three biggest chocolate biscuit bars in the selling snacks in the Tayto portfolio Irish market and has been a huge Tayto Snax, Tayto Chipsticks and also favourite with children for years. the hot and spicy flavoured Mighty Instantly recognisable, the Penguin Munch.

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RN July/August07Back to School/Lunchbox ●

design has excellent on-shelf visibility and contains no artificial colours, flavours or additives. McVitie’s Penguin range includes a 9, 18 and 27 pack, as well as a variety pack, which includes Mint and Orange varieties.

Ideal for lunchboxes, the McVitie’s Minis range are packed with oats and wholemeal, and are available in the following varieties: McVitie’s Mini Cookies, McVitie’s Mini Chocolate Digestives, McVitie’s Mini HobNobs and McVitie’s Mini Chocolate HobNobs.

Pom-Bear are potato snacks that are shaped like a teddy bear, which are targeted towards kids of 4-8 years of age.

paign has been planned for the remainder of the year with TV advertising scheduled for July and August on Nickeloden and CITV. In conjunction with TV advertising, BR Marketing have planned on-pack promotions, sampling and Pom-Bear fun days.

McVitie’s have a massive variety of products which are perfect for the ‘Back to School’ season.

leader in the kettle snacks market, claiming a market value share of 49% and remains a firm favourite due to its large portfolio and variety of flavours offered.

In the autumn of 2007, Pot Noodle will be supported with another memorable TV Campaign, in-store promotions, street sampling and more innovative promotional activity from Ireland’s favourite pot snack brand.

Knorr Quick Lunch is a range of tasty snack meals easily prepared and ready to eat within 5 minutes. The range is ideal as a quality hot food snack or as a side dish to accompany any meal.

In the autumn, Quick Lunch will be changing from the current tray packaging to a new Pot format, offering consumers convenience and fabulous new flavours including the tasty Pasta Arrabiata.

Unilever

Pot Noodle is an Pot Noodle has no artificial colours or preservatives and has ideal ‘Back to been significantly reduced in salt.

The range includes some portionSchool’ snack that The new range will consist of sevcontrolled formats for the lunchbox, has no artificial colours or preservaen varieties, including firm favourites such as the McVitie’s Minis multitives and has been significantly such as Curry Rice and Curry Noodle. pack, six individually wrapped 25g reduced in salt. Pot Noodle is great as bags, and the 24x40g Counter Display a hot, tasty, filling snack.

Unit.

Pot Noodle is currently market Premier Foods Ireland The number one single serve ready to drink juice drink in BR Marketing Ireland, Capri-Sun continues to Pom-Bear are potato snacks enjoy strong growth in the comthat are shaped like a teddy petitive juice market. Made with bear, which are targeted towards natural juices and conkids of 4-8 years of age. Pomtaining no artificial Bear snacks are gluten flavours, colours or free, with no artificial preservatives, the conflavours, colours or venient, easy-to-open preservatives and only 200ml pouches are lightly seasoned. The available in five and ten range now includes sinpacks, in Orange, Wild gles 25g and multipacks Berries, Tropical, (Original, Cheese & Apple, and Onion, Salt & Vinegar).

Knorr Quick Lunch is changing from the current tray packaging to a new Pot format, with seven fabulous flavours in the range.

Blackcurrant flavours.

A heavy weighted cam70

RN July/August07Back to School/Lunchbox ●

are fat free and contain less than 10 calories each.

Ambrosia has grown from strength to strength over the last few years (+19% yoy, TNS 52 w/e 31 Dec 06) driving growth in a traditionally dormant category with its innovative and convenient single serve snack products.

Ambrosia’s range of rice pudding and custard pot desserts are the perfect snack for kids’ lunchboxes and an old favourite Hartley’s range of jellies has seen phenomenal with adults too. The growth since their launch onto the retail market brand provides wholetwo years ago. some, delicious treats which are low in fat, contain no artiMeanwhile, the 100% Capri Sun juice Crosse & Blackwell have announced ficial colours or preservatives and range is available in orange and apple new healthier recipes for their are a good source of calcium, providflavours and made with 100% juice Character Pasta Shapes, including the ing between16-26% of the RDA for and nothing else. popular Simpsons brand. calcium.

Hartley’s has seen phenomenal sugar content and increased the tomato 2006 saw the launch of a range of growth since launch onto the retail content by 20%. new products, from great family value market two years ago. The brand has Wholewheat pasta is now used as custard and rice pudding 4-packs to secured a 33% share of the ambient standard, which means that Crosse & the 160g Fruit Combination Twinpots jelly market (TNS, 52 w/e 31 Dec 06).

Blackwell Character Shapes now con– Rhubarb and Custard, Peaches and Hartley’s ready-to-eat jelly pots are tain 40% more fibre than other Custard, Custard with Apple Sauce the perfect treat for kids’ lunch boxes. brands of tinned pasta on the market. and Creamed Rice with Strawberry The range includes original They are naturally low in fat and Sauce. Look out for a great new addiStrawberry and Raspberry in a handy tomato sauce is rich in vitamin C and tion to the range – Rice Pudding with size 125g pot and Low Sugar Orange lycopene and there are no artificial Raspberry & Blackberry Sauce. and Low Sugar Strawberry in an additives.

The brand will be supported this extra value family 4-pack, with less year with a fully integrated marketthan 10 calories per pot. ing campaign, including sampling, New to the range are the 175g radio and press activity, as well as Low Calorie Pots, perfect for those a host of great value offers inwatching their waistline. Available in store. two flavours, Cranberry & Raspberry Crosse & Blackwell have and Mango & Passionfruit, the pots announced new healthier recipes for their Character Pasta Shapes. Tinned pasta in tomato sauce has always been recognised as a naturally low-fat, carbohydrate-rich food and a good source of vitamin C for children, but parents have had concerns about salt, sugar and food additives. Crosse & Blackwell have reduced Ambrosia has grown from strength to the sodium content of Capri-Sun continues to enjoy strong growth in the strength over the last few years with its their Character Pasta competitive juice market. innovative and convenient single serve Shapes, controlled the snack products.

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Wake up to the smell of success. The all new MACE. We see it all around us, a constantly evolving consumer, an increasingly dynamic retail environment and increased prosperity. How can you be a part of it?

Mace are happy to announce the shop of the future. A totally new shop designed to respond to consumer needs and guaranteed to be a winner with today’s demanding shopper. From changeable window graphics to clutter-free counters for greater access, from a new deli to a customer services centre, Mace have thought of everything.

Early in the morning is a good time to make a great decision, so pour the coffee, wake up to the smell of success and get one of Ireland's finest retail packages working for you now. And into the future.

www.mace.ie Contact: Brian O’Toole on 087 2599282

RN July/August07Money Matters ●

Setting up a Retail Outlet Carmel Linnane looks at the options for those thinking of opening an independent retail outlet, noting the potential pitfalls.

“Before you start a business, you need to know that you have what it takes and that you understand what is involved.

Read about, and talk to, other entrepreneurs who have done what you would like to do, those who have succeeded and those who have failed.”

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Many

people who are chained to an office desk think of setting up their own restaurant or store of some kind. Some quit the day job and go for it. Many don’t make it past the first year. Why? Quite often, it results from lack of realistic planning, insufficient market research, bad accounting or basically bad management.

You may as well face it: there is no soft job earning big bucks out there.

Making a business work requires a lot of hard graft, forward planning and sheer determination. So before you decide to pack it in and open a retail outlet of any kind, ask yourself a few hard questions, such as: 1. What is the market for your product or service?

2. Who are your customers?

3. Who are your competitors?

4. What are your production requirements i.e. premises, equipment, technology, labour?

5. How are you going to finance it?

6. Can you work alone?

7. Can you take responsibility?

8. Are you prepared for the inevitable risks involved?

9. What skills you will need to run your new business?

10. What skills do you need to buy in?

11. What is the best location and what will it cost?

12. How long before you will reach profitability?

Knowledge Before you start a business, you need to know that you have what it takes and that you understand what is involved. Read about, and talk to, other entrepreneurs who have done what you would like to do. Talk to both those who have succeeded, and those who have failed. Then have a rethink about your plan.

Let’s say you are happy with the plan, that you’ve found your location, know your customer base and secured the finance. Next you must decide what is the best way to set up your business. The most common formats are sole trader, partnership or a company.

Sole Trader If you are setting up a small business, which you want to own and totally control yourself, this type of business format is a possibility.

Advantages: Sole trader is simple to set up. There is no formal registration of your business needed before you start trading. It is possible to

RN July/August07Money Matters ●

alter the business format to, say, a limited company at a later stage. You do not need to register the financial accounts for your business.

Disadvantages: While you absorb all the profits, you also absorb all the debt and all the risks of the business.

Set Up: To set up as a sole trader, first decide on a business name and have it registered. The Companies Registration Office (www.cro.ie), explains the procedures you need to follow to register your business name.

Once registered, the Registrar will issue you with a Certificate of Registration.

Next, you should fill in a Revenue taxes registration form. These forms are available from any tax office or can be downloaded from www.revenue.ie. They can be used to register for Income Tax, Employer’s PAYE/PRSI and Value Added Tax (VAT).

You need to register for VAT if the annual turnover for your business (excluding VAT) is likely to exceed €51,000 in respect of the supply of goods. Sole traders do not pay corporation tax, but will need to file a Return of Income with the Revenue Commissioners every year under the self-assessment system. Your accountant and a legal advisor will be able to help with all of this.

Partnership The second option is to set up a partnership. A partnership is where 2 to 20 people form a business together. All partners can be involved in running the business, or some may be sleeping partners, who have invested money in the business but are not involved in running it.

If you plan to trade using anything other than the partners’ names, you will need to register your trading name with the Registrar of Business Names. A limited partnership can be set up, where one or more partners limit their liability to the amount of money they invest in the business.

Partnerships (including limited partnerships) are obliged to prepare accounts and submit them to the Companies Registration Office. In the interests of posterity, a Partnership

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Agreement should be drawn up to decide how difficulties should be managed, should they arise.

Companies The third option is to set up a company. This is a separate legal entity owned by shareholders. It is totally separate from the people who own and run the business. It is an individual in its own right and can enter into contracts. Ownership is transferable by share ownership. Companies can be limited or unlimited. In a limited company, liability is limited to the company, so shareholders can only lose whatever share capital they have in the business. A private limited company can have up to 50 members who can trade their shares privately.

A company must register as an employer and operate PAYE/PRSI on the pay of directors, even if there are no other employees. You must register for VAT if the annual turnover for your business (excluding VAT) is likely to exceed €51,000 in respect of the supply of goods or €25,500 in respect of the supply of services.

Corporation tax is charged on all

“You may as well face it: there is no soft job earning big bucks out there.

Making a business work requires a lot of hard graft, forward planning and sheer determination.”

profits of companies resident in the State, regardless of where they are generated. Relief may be available to a small company where its trading income does not exceed €254,000 for the financial year. Marginal relief applies where trading income for a 12 month period does not exceed €317,500.

The Hidden Factors When setting up a retail shop, you must ensure that the area the retail shop is to be located in has been zoned for commercial development. If the premises within the zoned area have not previously been used as a retail premises, you must apply to the planning section of the local Council for change of use.

The next thing you must look at is insurance. Get good business insurance or you may live to regret it. An uninsured loss could have a very detrimental effect on your business and could possibly put you of business. Usually in a start-up situation, a combined policy would be made available by your insurance broker, which would include cover for risks such as fire, flood, robbery, employers liability or public liability, professional indemnity and so on. You could also consider some personal protection against personal accident or serious illness. The list can be as long as you want to make it.

Then you need to read up on employee legislation. If your business is small, you may not need to employ others but most likely you will.

Remember that employees have many statutory rights which you should know about before you start hiring.

Many government enterprise boards will have guidelines in these areas.

Conclusion Setting up a retail outlet is not a walk in the park. You need a lot of commitment and determination to set up, do the paperwork and keep the business running successfully. There may come a day when you long to be back behind that office desk where the accounts department took care of the bills and you got paid when you were sick or on holidays.

RN July/August07Functional Foods ●

Food That Works For You Ireland’s €271m functional foods market continues to grow at 9% per annum.

Irish

consumers are increasingly looking at food not just as a source of energy but also for its health benefits (source: Irishhealth.com). Functional foods are foods that provide health promoting property beyond the basic nutritional function of providing nutrients to the body. Functional Foods can contain added ingredients that make food functional, or a food product may be naturally functional (e.g. Vitamin A in milk).

The global market for functional foods is growing rapidly at between 8% and 10% per annum and is worth in excess of €48 billion. In Ireland, the sector is valued in excess of €271m a year and growing at approximately 9.5% year on year (source TNS Worldpanel, 52 w/e November 2006).

The fresh dairy products market in Ireland, which includes a massive amount of products which could be described as ‘functional’, is estimated to be worth up to €250m. The general health drinks sector is the largest sector in FDP worth €45m. Most dairy products with functional properties contain probiotics.

A probiotic is defined as a live micro-organism which when administered in adequate amounts, confers a health benefit on the host. Bacteria contained in a probiotic food grade product must: be present as live cells

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Yoplait Essence: the first functional health shot to hit the Irish market.

and preferably in high quantities; be stable and viable during the entire life of the product; and be able to provide health benefits to the host.

Glanbia

Marketing support to the end of this year will include a print press campaign, innovative sampling campaigns in women-centric environments and in-store demonstrations and tastings.

The first product to be developed at the newly opened (€15m) Glanbia Innovation Centre, Yoplait Essence was launched nationwide in February 2006. The range was the first functional health shot to market, offering a range of four variants differentiated by their specific health function and benefit. The range consists of: Yoplait Essence Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol; Yoplait Essence Lose Weight; Yoplait Essence Immunity Boost; and Yoplait Essence Healthy Digestion.

The Yoplait brand has been synonymous with taste and natural goodness for over 30 years, offering a portfolio of innovative brands designed to meet the increasingly diverse requirements of modern consumers.

The health yogurts market currently represents 11% of the total fresh dairy products sector and is growing at 31% year on year. In recognition of the emerging consumer food trend towards Superfoods - and the mainstreaming of concerns around digestive health - Yoplait launched new Yoplait Mixed Seeds in March 2007.

Yoplait Mixed Seeds is a combination of crunchy seeds (a blend of Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds and Linseeds) in a creamy probiotic yogurt. The range is available in three flavours; Strawberry, Original and Peach, in single pots (125g) and four packs (4x125g). The range is an excellent source of fibre and a healthy way Yoplait Everybody contains an added 15 vitamins and minerals, with less to help balance diet and aid digesthan 1g of fat. tion, gently and naturally.

RN July/August07Functional Foods ●

The specific health drinks sector is currently worth 9% of the total fresh dairy products market and this sector is growing by 34% year on year. Yoplait Essence currently enjoys 10% value share of this sector and with a fully integrated marketing programme planned for this year, the brand is confident of growing this share.

Essence is currently the proud sponsor of the Waterford hurling team - involved at both a senior and grassroots level. Other marketing developments include the redesigned brand website (due to launch in June 2007) and a heavyweight TV and print campaign is planned for later in the year.

Currently, Glanbia Consumer Foods claims a number position two in the €45m General Health Drinks sector with a 9% share (5.3% Yoplait Everybody and 3.7% for Yoplait Everykid). Yoplait Everybody contains LGG, the world’s most clinically researched probiotic, which is proven to strengthen your immunity. Yoplait Everybody contains an added 15 vitamins and minerals. In addition, each delicious shot is less than 1g of fat.

The Yoplait Everybody range comes in convenient 4 and 8 packs and comprises of delicious tasting Raspberry & Passion Fruit; Strawberry & Elderberry; Strawberry and Fruit of the Forest.

Unilever Flora has a clear commitment to encourage and inspire Irish people to adopt a heart healthy lifestyle and has a range of foods that are positively good for the heart, including the Flora pro.activ and Flora Omega 3 Plus ranges.

The Flora pro·activ range consists of a probiotic yogurt drink, a semiskimmed milk drink, low fat yogurts and healthy spreads. All the spreads are high in polyunsaturated fat, low in saturated fat and virtually transfat free. Each product in the range is also enriched with a special active ingredient called plant sterols.

Because of this, Flora pro·activ can help to reduce cholesterol and look after the heart as part of a healthy diet.

Flora has recently introduced an Omega 3 Plus range of products that 80

contains a spread and pro-biotic mini-drink. Flora Omega 3 Plus spread contains the highest level of The Flora pro·activ range also enriched with a special omega 3 in a spread active ingredient called plant sterols, which helps to and the pro-biotic reduce cholesterol. mini drink is a delishot contains more than 200g of cious yogurt-based drink that is confruit & veg. venient for all the family Knorr Vie is free from artificial AdeZ is a combination of fruit colours, flavours, preservatives and juices and soya with vitamins and added sugar and is naturally rich in minerals, which help maintain a strong body. Each glass (250ml) of AdeZ contains soya protein and 35% of the recommended daily allowance of calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and B6.

AdeZ comes in three delicious varieties; AdeZ Mango & Apricot 1L, AdeZ Pineapple & Passionfruit 1L and AdeZ Blackcurrant & Raspberry 1L. Peter Stringer, rugby scrum half for Munster and Ireland, Flora has recently introduced an states, “As a professional rugby player, Omega 3 Plus range of products.

I know how important it is to keep anti-oxidants. Each shot contains 50% strong. Whatever daily challenges I of the recommended daily allowance face, whether I’m training on the pitch of Vitamin C. or mentally preparing for a Munster The Knorr Vie range is now availor Ireland match, I like to keep able in four flavours: New Pineapple focused and maintain a strong body.

Passionfruit & Sweetcorn, AppleAlong with regular exercise and a Carrot-Strawberry, Banana-Pumpkin healthy diet, I would recommend and Orange-Banana-Carrot. It is now drinking AdeZ. It tastes great and has also available in a 6-pack. many of the key ingredients needed to This range will be heavily supportmaintain a strong body.”

Knorr Vie is the only product that offers consumers almost 50% of their daily intake of fruit and vegetables in one little bottle. It’s the only product of its kind on the market and has enjoyed impressive sales since its launch in November 2005.

This new innovation from Knorr was created in response to the emerging trend that Irish adults are AdeZ is a combination of fruit juices and soya with not eating their RDA of vitamins and minerals, which help maintain a 400g of fruit & veg. strong body.

Each 100ml Knorr Vie

RN July/August07Functional Foods ●

fresh dairy product containing ProNutris, an exclusive combination of active ingredients, including Omega 6 from Starflower Oil, antioxidants from Green Tea, Vitamin E and an Knorr Vie offers consumers almost 50% of their exclusive probiotic.

RDA of fruit and vegetables in one little bottle.

Each ingredient was specially chosen after extensive ed throughout 2007 by Unilever with research and development by Danone a comprehensive sampling and ATL scientists. These were then comcampaign. bined to deliver the best possiDanone Activia is clinically proven to help improve slower digestive transit when eaten ble blend of nutrients to Danone every day. enhance skin quality. Essensis Danone claims to be the number one has been proven to strengthen fresh dairy manufacturer in Ireland the fast developing natural health the skin’s barrier with an MAT value share of 35.1% segment in the Irish fresh dairy marfunction, (Source: ACNielsen Scanning Data ket. A great tasting probiotic yogurt Jan 07). Danone’s success is founded containing the unique culture Bifidus on strong category management, Actiregularis. product innovation and intensive Activia is currently available in marketing support.

4x125g format in nine delicious Danone’s products include Danone flavours (Raspberry, Prune, Actimel, which is scientifically proven Rhubarb, Strawberry, Peach 0%, to help to strengthen the body’s 0% Forest Fruit, Mango, natural defences; Danone Apricot and Natural), while the Activia which is clinically brand’s new fibres range conproven to help improve slower sists of Cereal with Fibre, digestive transit when eaten Strawberry Cereal with Fibre every day; and Danone and Kiwi Cereal with Fibre, as Essensis, a new dermonutrition well as new Apple Muesli Fibre probiotic, which is the first Danone Essensis is the first ever dairy product to and Muesli Fibre. A mixed Fruit 8 ever dairy product to deliver deliver beauty benefits by nourishing the skin from pack and natural 500g complete beauty benefits by nourishing within. the range. the skin from within.

Danone Activia is supported by nourishing and strengthening cells Danone Essensis is a delicious, extensive TV and below the line camresulting in overall improved skin paigns and the brand continues to quality. drive growth of the natural health Essensis is available in: segment with an impressive value Raspberry-Pomegranate yogurt drink growth of +54.3% (Source: ACNielsen 4x100g; Peach-Apricot yogurt drink Value Share MAT Jan 07).

4x100g; Raspberry-Pomegranate yogurt 4x110g; Plain yogurt 4x110g.

Claiming 17.3% of the total fresh Connacht Gold dairy market and, with one-third of Connacht Gold has launched a range Irish households buying it regularly, of functional food products into the Danone Actimel claims to be Irish market, which the company feel Ireland’s number one fresh dairy represents a significant step forward product. Actimel is available in 12 in driving added value sales in the flavours, including new Blueberry milk category. and Forest Fruits and Cherry Following 18 months of research flavours, while further extending the and development, Connacht Gold has 0.1% fat range, with a Strawberry formulated a product that combines Danone Actimel is scientifically flavour. Actimel is available in packs both prebiotic properities (soluble proven to help to strengthen the of 4, 8 and 12. fibre: Inulin) with “good” probiotic body’s natural defences.

Danone Activia plays a key role in bacteria, Bifobacterium BB12. The 81

RN July/August07Functional Foods ●

BioV from Connacht Gold: available in Whole Milk, Strawberry, Banana and Orange & Peach flavours in 250ml bottles.

existence of both probiotic and prebiotic properities working together form a synbiotic relationship. Hence the product branding: Bio V Fresh Synbiotic Milk.

According to Connacht Gold, Bio V Fresh Synbiotic Milk boosts the body’s natural defence system and assists digestion to help maintain a healthier lifestyle. It is also rich in Calcium, low in sugar and fat and is suitable for vegetarians.

Super + Milk and Slim + Milk from Connacht Gold, adding value to the milk sector in-store.

Bio V milk products are available in Whole Milk, Strawberry, Banana and Orange & Peach Flavours from the milk category, in both 250ml bottles and six-packs. The flavoured products are all made from natural fruit juices.

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Also from Connacht Gold comes a value-added milk range in 1L cartons.

Connacht Gold Super + and Slim + milk branding was devised to appeal to young adults who are interested in health and wellbeing. The product branding and imagery appeal directly to their target market of young adults and communicates clearly the key product attributes.

Connacht Gold Super + and Slim + milk are reduced fat milk products but have added fat soluble vitamins of full fat milk. Super + Milk is a low fat milk (1.5% fat), with added fat soluble vitamins A, B2, D & E, as well as having added Folic Acid and being high in calcium.

Slim + Milk is 99.7% fat free, and has added fat soluble vitamins A & D, as well as being high in calcium and enriched with milk proteins.

Dairygold Omega 3, which illustrated that 98% of kids do not get enough Omega 3 from their diet.

Three 10g portions of Dairygold Omega 3 contains one third of the RDA of Omega 3, making it an easy way to get kids to increase their intake of Omega 3.

Batchelors

Sqeez is the number one selling ambient juice brand in Ireland, according to Batchelors. The range is sub-divided into ‘Originals’ and ‘Benefits’. The ‘Originals’ range includes familiar flavours such as Orange, Apple, Tropical, Pressed Apple, Grapefruit, Pineapple, Orange with Bits. The ‘Benefits’ range covers the wellbeing portfolio, which was developed in response to the growing consumer interest in health products.

Sqeez Cranberry Dairygold Juice drinks, including Dairygold Heart is low in fat and Cranberry Light and contains a blend of natural plant Cranberry & Orange sterols which are clinically proven variants, provide a tasty, to help lower blood cholesterol convenient way to enjoy levels as a part of a healthy balthis nutritious berry anced diet. Now with 33% less every day. The health salt, Dairygold Heart offers all benefits of cranberries the benefits of a cholesterol loware well established, parering spread and helps keep your ticularly in the area of heart healthy. urinary tract health.

Dairygold Light+ is a great Blueberries also have a tasting low fat spread and is Sqeez ‘Benefits’ was developed in wide range of health enriched with 12 essential vitaresponse to the benefits including antimins and folic acid. As part of a growing consumer ageing properties and balanced diet, three servings of interest in health the maintenance of Dairygold Light+ provides 150% products. vision health. Sqeez of the RDA of Folic Acid and at Wild Blueberry juice drink is availleast 30% of the RDA of Vitamins A, able widely in 1L cartons.

D, and all the B group Vitamins.

Sqeez Multivitamin is a delicious Dairygold Omega 3 was recently and nutritious blend of 10 different launched,backed by findings of an juices with the added benefits of 11 IUNA survey conducted on behalf of essential vitamins. One glass of Sqeez Multivitamin provides consumers with their recommended daily amount of many vitamins which help to maintain a healthy body. Sqeez Orange with Calcium provides an easy way for consumers to supplement their intake of important nutrients, which are Now with 33% less salt, Dairygold Heart offers essential for building and mainall the benefits of a cholesterol lowering taining strong bones for people spread and helps keep your heart healthy. of all ages.

RN July/August07Company Profile: Silver Hill Foods ●

Kings of the Hill Silver Hill Foods are taking the retail sector by storm with their range of tasty, traceable, and environmentally friendly duck products. “

We

sell every part of duck, apart from the quack,” smiles Fergal Mahon, Retail Sales Manager for Silver Hill Foods. A great catchphrase, undoubtedly, but an accurate one at that. From Chinese Roast Duckling to Honey Roast Half Duck, Boneless Chinese Duck Roast to Gourmet Duck Sausages, Silver Hill’s catalogue of innovative duck products is every food connoisseur’s golden ticket. Silver Hill is one of the leading providers of duck meat to retail in Europe. What is more, the company is locally based (Emyvale, Co. Monaghan) and family-run.

Duck’s resurgence on consumers’ dinner plates across the country is undeniable, and Silver Hill is inextricably linked to the rise in demand.

The company is currently experiencing high double digit growth year-onyear in retail. As people begin to recognise the Silver Hill name in restaurants, so they are purchasing the products from their local convenience store or supermarket.

Foodservice is feeding into retail and vice versa.

Not many companies have a her-

84

itage to rival Silver Hill Foods. “The company was started 45 years ago by my parents,” explains Stuart Steele, Managing Director. “They hate me saying it, but my mother wanted to breed chickens and my dad wanted to breed turkeys, so they compromised: ducks. In those days, it purely was a duck breeding company but they travelled overseas, saw the quality of the ducks there and decided to create a high quality product. That has been our ethos ever since.”

How has the product changed over the years? “Years ago, it was a case of producing the bird, putting it in a bag and selling it,” he notes. “Nowadays, we compete worldwide. We routinely compete against imported Thai products, but all our products are natural and hand produced. All of our cooked products are slow-cooked, air chilled, and of the finest quality. We do everything ourselves: there is a whole background of farming behind the duck that you get on the plate.”

industry about 12 years ago. We are our own breeder, so we have always had to trace in order to assess our ducks. We are based in Monaghan, spread over a radius of about 40 miles. We have about 600 acres in total, satellited out for the purposes of bio security. This ensures that the hatchery is not near the breeders, the breeders are not near the plants, etc.”

Quality Assurance Scheme The company recently passed the Bord Bia Duck Quality Assurance Scheme with flying colours, sailing through the audits and training, and living up to the company’s ‘Guaranteed Irish’ tagline. Stuart Steele says that he prefers to let the products speak for themselves. He has a point. Presenting hand-produced duck with succulent, tender meat, these products are akin to a serving in a top class restaurant. In fact, the Silver Hill R&D Manager, Gary McDowell, used to work as the head

Competitive Advantage The family-owned and high quality ethos is more than just a marketing slogan. These days, consumers want to know where their products are from (especially their meat products); they want food to be locally sourced, and if they have to pay a little bit extra for great quality, so be it. In an era when consumers constantly question the contents of their food, Silver Hill is at a competitive advantage.

“This is our own breed,” says Fergal Mahon. “People know our duck and insist on it in a lot of places. We have complete control over our product.” Silver Hill duck is marketed as 100% Irish. Rightly so, insists Steele: “Traceability became a buzzword within the

Presenting hand-produced duck with succulent, tender meat, the Silver Hill product range is akin to a serving in a top class restaurant.

RN July/August07Company Profile: Silver Hill Foods ●

L’Ecrivain chef Derry Clarke is pictured with Helen & Stuart Steele, Managing Director of Silver Hill Foods.

chef in Castle Leslie Estate. McDowell is assigned the task of creating a new retail product every week and the company has launched around 30 new products in the last year alone.

“We don’t sell on price, we sell on innovation,” remarks Steele. “We have around 170 different products at present.”

Mahon continues: “We also have a huge amount of products ready to go.

Certain products go well with certain sectors in the retail market. In regard to innovation, retailers constantly ask me about what is going on in the UK. But we have found that we are leading the innovation moreso. We have a lot of value added products. We try to create both fresh and cooked products, which is where a lot of the market is going. We are expanding our products into areas such as duck fat. One of our latest products is a whole cooked duck with pancakes and sauce - the type of thing that you would find in a restaurant.” Yet for a consumer, this is a hassle-free meal, taking only 20 minutes to reheat from the pack.

Increasing Market The duck market has exploded for a number of reasons. Firstly, Chinese immigration to Ireland has increased demand. Silver Hill products are in 97% of all the restaurants in London’s Chinatown, according to Steele.

Furthermore, many Irish consumers are now travelling and encountering duck dishes in restaurants overseas.

Mahon recommends that retailers promote Silver Hill products via in-store demonstrations, discounted prices, and informative leaflets that convey the company story. “We encourage all the retailer buyers to come and have a look at our factory,” he adds.

Selling every part of the duck (apart from the quack) proves environmentally efficient. The feathers are assigned for duvets, pillows and cushions, while the manure is dried and sold across the world as a fertilizer. “The environmental sustainability aspect of the business is very important to us,” explains Steele. “We live on the farm, so it is not just a job, it is a way of life. We always have some

“Traceability became a buzzword within the industry about 12 years ago. We are our own breeder, so we have always had to trace in order to assess our ducks.”

environmental project on the go. We won the Sustainable Energy Ireland Awards in 2004, 2005, 2006 and we are short-listed for 2007. We have a worldclass plant to deal with manure; we dry the slurry and sell it in fertilizer shops. We turn the liquor, released from the slurry, into gas; this in turn transforms into electricity. We run many environmental awareness campaigns and we promote all this as an integral part of our business. New products do not get launched until they pass an environmental screening.”

Silver Hill has been in business for 45 years due to great product and a dedicated, professional, focused team of people. “The family have real passion for their work,” says Mahon.

“Stuart brings the same levels of commitment as his mother and father, who established the business.” And the team are certainly not short on ambition. “The market, especially at retail, is only in its infancy,” says Mahon. “Duck fat, paté… it’s endless.

There are so many different products that we can release. The sky is the limit.” Stuart Steele nods in agreement. “It sounds like a cliché,” he says, “but we are only just getting started.”

The Silver Hill range of innovative duck dishes is growing all the time.

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RN July/August07Forecourt Focus ●

A New Beginning in Blackrock Declan Cronin’s newly revamped SPAR Express forecourt in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, proved a big investment, but one that is already paying dividends.

Declan

Cronin has been trading from his forecourt site on Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock in Dublin for 20 years. For all that time, he traded as a Texaco forecourt with a small Star Market. But that has all changed now: the ageing forecourt has been given a complete face-lift and a new lease of life in partnership with SPAR. Declan tells RETAIL NEWS, “The fuel sector has seen a lot of rationalisation in recent years. The southside of Dublin has been quite badly hit by this process. With fuel margins sinking and land prices soaring, many forecourts in the area have made the business decision to close up shop and sell off the land.

Pictured outside the SPAR forecourt are store owner Declan Cronin and Garry Healy, Retail Operations Advisor, SPAR Ireland.

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“I trade on this site under a lease from Texaco. It’s a big site and could become a large number of apartments but Texaco wanted to retain a presence in this suburb and so did I,” he continues. “So I made the decision to completely redevelop the site and join with the SPAR group to introduce a superior quality shop onto the site.”

Significant Redevelopment Declan had two big reasons for redeveloping the site: “Firstly I believe we will see petrol margins rise in the future as a result of this thinning out of forecourts.

Secondly, although this area is well serviced by conven-

RN July/August07Forecourt Focus ●

ience shops, there are four schools less than half a mile from here, totalling over a thousand students. That’s a lot of dropping off and picking up of kids in the area immediately around this site and I have always served a chunk of that trade.”

So significant was the redevelopment that Declan was forced to close for the duration of works. The entire site, from underground fuel tanks to canopy, was demolished and rebuilt. The old forecourt building, which had been located at the front of the site, was moved to the rear, creating more space around the pumps and ample parking near the main door. Despite the scale of the project, works commencing on August of last year were completed by April of this year.

“Despite the fact that the old Star Market was small and had no deli, the site did enjoy a strong shop trade,” Declan notes. “The location has always been convenient to people dropping kids off at school or picking them up. It was critical to create a shop that would take advantage of the type of trade we get here. Working on the design with SPAR was fantastic. We went through over a dozen layouts and designs before we agreed on the final layout.”

Partnership The store owner is extremely happy with his choice of symbol group partner. “SPAR has an incredible amount of knowledge and information about the grocery sector, about the shopping habits of Irish consumers, about best selling products and, most of all, about how to make a shop that works well,” he says. “It was fantastic to have that level of expertise at my fingertips. The objective was to increase sales of fuels and car washes, as well as increasing the volume of trade in the shop. Everybody involved knew that was what we were about and we pursued that objective relentlessly.

“We fitted new pumps, invested in an absolutely state of the art car wash and created a shop that has surpassed even my expectations,” he continues. “The SPAR image in the shop is inviting and modern. In practical terms, the shop is laid out for ease of use and to encourage impulse buying. Given the fact that this is a forecourt, a key objective is to get fuel purchases cleared quickly so cars are cleared from the pumps. Therefore, the shop had to be easi-

ly navigable and function efficiently because Irish people do abhor queuing during convenience top-up trips.”

Tremendous Support It has been a steep learning curve for Declan and his staff.

Signature Selection sandwiches, a Treehouse Juice and Smoothie Bar and a whole new deli are completely new elements to the shop. However, throughout the development process, he received tremendous training support from SPAR in terms of designing and implementing HACCP systems for food preparation and storage. Staff at the tills must be every bit as well trained as their deli counterparts: with up to 60% of Declan’s sales involving Chip & PIN credit cards or Laser cards, staff must be absolutely au fait with procedures to avoid those unsightly till queues at peak trading times.

“Not only are we committed to fast and efficient service, we also have to go the extra mile,” Declan boasts proudly.

“For instance, a lady arrived here recently after leaving two other forecourt sites because they had no one to check her oil or her tyre pressure. Those are easy things for forecourt staff to do but the emphasis on most forecourts is self-service. The staff here, however, are always ready to help customers with anything that they are able to.”

In closing, Declan says, “I would just like to thank all my staff, the people at Texaco and in particular everyone at SPAR who has worked so hard to make my ideas for this site become reality.”

Declan Cronin’s SPAR Express and Texaco forecourt have been serving the community around Blackrock for 20 years. The last year has seen the most radical transformation of the site in its two decades of operation. Everything on the site is cutting FA C T F I L E edge, from the car wash to the digiOwner: Declan Cronin tal deli displays.

Location: Newtownpark Avenue, With the right Blackrock, Dublin attitude and Size: 1,500 square feet right equipNumber of ment. it really is Staff: 25, full time & part time, inc. putting the servforecourt staff ice back into servOpening ice station. hours: 24 hours, Monday - Sunday 87

RN July/August07Paper Products ●

Paper Perfection The development of super premium and luxury products ensures continued growth in the paper products and tissues market.

opment of added value super premium products, such as toilet tissue with added aloe vera. In general, toilet tissue offerings are now thicker, stronger, moister, quilted, fragranced, skin friendlier, coloured, embossed, branded ... than the standard category products, and consumers appreciate the wide range of comfort and style they find in the category. They use more of the products, are willing to spend more money for a higher quality toilet tissue, and are more loyal to these differentiated products.

Georgia Pacific Ireland

Irish made KittenSoft Bathroom Tissue is one of Ireland’s biggest total of 84,751 toilet rolls are sold bathroom tissue brands. It has in Ireland every day, or 3,531 rolls per New KittenSoft Sensitive carries a gentle recently been re-launched with new hour. In Europe, every citizen uses 11 cleansing balm enriched with camomile. softer cushions, making KittenSoft kilos of tissue yearly, according to inforvery popular with consumers. The thicker, stronger and softer than ever, mation from the European Tissue attractively priced 8-roll pack and 16while KittenSoft packaging has been Symposium. Indeed, the European tisroll family pack will remain part of redesigned with a new cuter kitten sue market is worth approximately the KittenSoft portfolio due to their and softer cushions, which communi€10 billion per annum and is growing continued success on-shelf to date. cates the luxurious softness of the at a rate of 3% p.a. 75% of this is sold Georgia Pacific Ireland recently new embossed tissue. through the retail sector (with the othlaunched new KittenSoft Sensitive, KittenSoft have introduced two er quarter of the market going to the which carries a gentle cleansing balm new pack sizes, which are proving ‘Away From Home’ or business-to-busienriched with camomile. ness sector, including This launch is being supthe hospitality indusported ATL on TV with a try). newly created Irish ad, entiHowever, European tled ‘Fireman’, which carries consumers lag behind the tagline ‘Because we all their American counterhave our sensitive side’. The parts when it comes to launch will also be supporttissue use: US coned with strong in-store prosumers use up to three motions and PR activities. times (33kg) of tissue KittenSoft Thirst per year, giving scope Pockets Household Towels for continued growth remain one of Ireland’s throughout Europe and leading household towel Ireland. Premium prodbrands. KittenSoft Thirst ucts (particularly the Pockets combine unique widespread growth of 3designs with outstanding ply toilet tissue) are KittenSoft Bathroom Tissue is one of Ireland’s biggest bathroom strength and absorbency. helping to grow the martissue brands.

Each sheet traps moisture ket, alongside the devel-

A

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From the same company, Inversoft bathroom tissue is available in a handy 8-pack, a family 12-pack and a bumper 16-pack, as well as in standard 2 and 4 roll packs. Also part of the Inversoft portfolio are Inversoft Household Towels, which are made from 100% recycled paper and come in a wide range of pack formats.

Posies have a wide range of facial tissues, including floral-design packaging so consumers can co-ordiKittenSoft Ultra Wipe is the ultra strong nate their favourite tisdisposable cloth on a roll. sues with their favourite room. The Posies brand will continue to benefit from a strong supin microscopic pockets of air between port campaign in 2007. layers of strong absorbent tissue.

During 2007, KittenSoft Thirst Pockets will be supported with strong Kimberly-Clark promotional activity.

Andrex claims leadership of the bathKittenSoft Ultra Wipe is the room tissue market in Ireland, with a ultra strong disposable cloth on a roll.

14.9% volume share and 20.6% value Designed for tougher kitchen jobs, share of the toilet tissue category KittenSoft Ultra Wipe can be used, (Source: ACNielsen MAT WE 12/5/07). rinsed and re-used to complete the New innovations, continued promotion cleaning job. KittenSoft Ultra Wipe is packs combined with price promotion, being supported in 2007 in-store with supported by ongoing TV spend, will see strong consumer promotions, includAndrex continue to go from strength to ing a sampling door drop promotion strength during 2007. Total TV spend which took place in May. for 2007 will be €630,000 approx.

Inversoft bathroom tissue is available in a handy 8-pack, a family 12-pack and a bumper 16-pack, as well as in standard 2 and 4 roll packs.

New Andrex Longer Lasting contains 50% more Andrex sheets on every roll.

Promotions are available across the entire range, including, 4-for-3, 12-for-9, and 24-for-18, as well as a two-roll case deal of 20-for-15.

The Andrex portfolio also includes Puppies on a Roll, Aloe Vera and Quilts, as well as the mainstream range (White, Natural, Aqua, Pink).

Andrex Quilts has three plush white layers made into light and airy quilts and will be heavily supported throughout 2007, including TV, PR, point of sale, price promotions and promotion packs, direct mail, email campaigns, in-store events etc.

New Andrex Long Roll is the longest Andrex yet, providing more Andrex in less space! It has the same base-sheet as Mainstream Andrex with 50% more sheets and a 10% wider roll. The 2007 support plan will include TV advertising, in-store promotions, PR launch stunts and online promotional activity.

Kimberly-Clark recently celebrated the launch of new Andrex Longer Lasting with the help of children from Rutland Street National School, who created the longest paper chain in Ireland, at over 1,000 metres. Kimberly-Clark have made a donation of €5,000 to the Rutland Street School to reward the children’s efforts.

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which is now the largest seller in the range.

The paper range, which includes a variety of 3-ply toilet rolls, kitchen towels and man-size tissues, is produced to the highest quality using 100% virgin pulp paper. The selection rivals any market leader while remaining well priced in order to compete successfully in the private label market.

Janice Gibney, Group Retail Coordinator, noted, “Constant innovation of the Homestead paper range has enabled its continued growth, while ensuring continued customer satisfaction again and again.”

SCA Hygiene Products

Homestead’s paper range, which includes a variety of 3-ply toilet rolls, kitchen towels and man-size tissues, is produced to the highest quality using 100% virgin pulp paper.

Homestead In recent years, paper products from the Homestead range have emerged as one of the strongest categories within the portfolio. With sales amounting to almost €4.2 million in 2006, the Homestead paper range continues to grow at a rate of 20% year on year in 2007. The rationalisation of the economy products from the range, trading to larger packs and focusing on the premium end of the tissue market has become a key factor in enabling this level of growth and is evident with the new Soft 12-pack,

Launched last year by SCA Hygiene products, Triple Velvet keeps going from strength to strength, supported by a heavyweight marketing campaign. In 2007, this will include sampling events nationwide and a high profile TV campaign, starring Baby MD, the Velvet brand icon. Velvet has also signed a fantastic deal to sponsor the last series of ‘Supernanny’ on Channel 4 and E4, while there is also a website dedicated to Baby MD: www.velvetbabymd.ie.

Triple Velvet is available in 2, 4, 9 and 16 roll sizes.

Quilted Velvet, the original Quilted Velvet Tissue, is following the path of Triple Velvet and has been upgraded to a 3-ply toilet tissue. In conjunction with the upgrade of the product, the packaging has also undergone a major makeover in

Consumers appreciate the wide range of comfort and style they find in this category. They use more of the products, are willing to spend more money for a higher quality toilet tissue. order to give the brand a fresh and attractive new persona.

Quilted velvet is available in standard 4 and 9 roll packs, as well as promotional extra fill packs.

MERCHANDISING TIPS IN a fully penetrated category like toilet tissue, the demand for luxury toilet papers continues to increase steadily. In order to maximise the opportunity, it is critical to: - Help consumers navigate the fixture; - Make new products visible and easy to shop; - Try merchandising efforts between manufacturers and retailers,which bring added performance to the category.

Baby MD, the Velvet brand icon, pictured with the Quilted Velvet and Triple Velvet brands.

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Martini Shakes Up Premiere MARTINI sponsored the after show party for the premiere screening of Steven Soderberg’s ‘Ocean’s 13’ recently, at The Front Lounge in Dublin. Among those trying their hand at Blackjack and enjoying Martini Cocktails on the night and included TV producer Bill Hughes, Bianca Luykx, Veronica Moore, and socialite and designer Virginia Macari. Martini, the No.1 vermouth brand in Ireland have adopted a new refreshing look as the official drink to Ocean's 13. The Martini promotional pack contains a 75cl bottle of Martini Bianco, along with complimentary Martini – Ocean’s 13 playing cards and dice. Pictured are (l-r): Suzie Cunningham, Paul Carton and Ruth Kearley.

The Paper Chain KIMBERLY-CLARK is celebrating the launch of its new variant Andrex Longer Lasting with the help of children from Rutland Street National School, who have made the longest paper chain in Ireland. Kimberly-Clark have made a donation of €5,000 to the Rutland Street School to reward the children’s efforts. Measuring 1000 meters, the paper chain involved 48 pupils who linked the chain over a twoweek period to help meet the challenge. Sharon Burke, Sales Manager, Andrex Brand Management for Allegro, presents a €5,000 euro cheque to children from Rutland Street National School, Dublin.

Appointments at Storefit Shopfitters PADRAIG Nolan has been promoted to Sales Manager with Storefit Shopfitters Ltd. Padraig has been with Storefit since 1996, and will, in his new position, have overall responsibility for the sales function within the company.

Meanwhile, Dan Morris has been appointed to the position of Sales Executive with Storefit Shopfitters Ltd. Dan has extensive sales and marketing experience and is also experienced in overseeing shopfitting installations.

Dan will be working mainly with symbol groups and independent retailers.

Insomnia Launch Gourment Range MODEL Jenny Lee Masterson is pictured at the launch of Insomnia Coffee Company’s new range of healthy salads, sandwiches and frappes. These innovative new additions to the Insomnia range provide customers with a wider choice of exciting lunchtime options than ever before. The new range includes five salad bowls (including Crayfish Noodle Salad and Smoked Turkey Salad), gourmet sandwiches (including Prawn & Avocado and Chicken Satay Wrap) and IceCap-blended Frappes (including Carrot & Ginger).

Insomnia also announced that their

Garden Salad Wrap has received acknowledgement from The Irish Heart Foundation and has been stamped with their healthy heart seal of approval.

Ireland Wins Special Olympics Triple Crown THE Irish Golf Team has won the Topaz Golf Triple Crown at a unique Special Olympics Event. Four Special Olympics Golf Teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales represented their countries in the Triple Crown Event which took place at Hollystown Golf Club in Dublin, the first time that all four teams have come together for a competitive tournament that organisers Special Olympics Ireland have deemed “a momentous occasion in the calendar of Special Olympics Athletes”.

Pictured with Danny Murray, Topaz Energy, and Mary Davis, Special

Olympics, are the winning Irish team: Gary Fleming, Michael Murphy, Sarah Hyland, Rita Dunne, Robert Slevin, Barry McGuiness and Joe Fulton. The event was sponsored by Topaz Energy, owners of Shell and Statoil licences in Ireland.

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Walkers €500,000 Summer Campaign THROUGHOUT August and September, Walkers’ €500,000 ‘More Flavours To Savour’ campaign is targeting Irish workers in key urban centres with heavyweight radio and outdoor advertising, press and sampling campaigns, with opportunities to win fabulous holidays, lunch in superb city destinations and plenty of their favourite flavours for everyone in the office. Delivering 10.9% MAT volume growth versus category growth of 4.9% (ACNielsen Scantrack, June 17, 2007), the campaign objective is to deliver continued brand success and category growth.

Limited Edition Torres Salmos TORRES, one of the world’s most distinguished wine brands, has just unveiled the first Torres wine from the prestigious Priorat region of Spain – Salmos.

The product of 11 years development and with a limited availability of only 6,000 cases worldwide (and Spain claiming half of these), it is priced at €24.99.

For its launch, Torres has joined forces with the mystery novelist Javier Sierra, author of ‘The Secret Supper’, one of the best-selling books of this genre in the United States. The result is that Salmos is not only a Priorat wine but also a gateway to a real journey, full of secrets hidden by the novelist in various places in Catalonia related to the culture of wine. Clues to the journey can be found on the back of the bottle’s label.

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Ready Filled Wine ‘Glass’ THE new Tulipak, a non-shattering pre-filled wine ‘glass’, is now available in Ireland, from Al Fresco, for the impulse purchase market in a take-home twin pack format. Each Tulipak comes pre-filled with quality wine, has a revolutionary high-strength design, is heat-sealed with an easypeel foil lid and is fully recyclable. The Tulipak twin pack contains two Tulipaks of either Australian Chardonnay, Shiraz or rosé wine, each holding 18.75cl equivalent to a quarter of a standard bottle.

Healthy Future for Unilever Ice Cream UNILEVER Ice Cream want consumers to enjoy some pleasure and make their day a Happy HB Day, whatever the weather.The maker of HB’s Magnum, Frusi and Wibbly Wobbly Wonder, has announced a number of measures to make its ice cream range across Europe healthier, including only developing new ice creams for children which are 100% free from artificial colours and flavours; focusing direct advertising to kids aged between 6 and 11, on products that meet the criteria of the ‘Choices’ logo; providing consumers with more nutritional information and continuing to make further improvements to its current portfolio, by lowering fat and added sugar levels and increasing the use of wholesome ingredients.

Wrigley’s Airwaves Extreme Sponsorship WRIGLEY’S Airwaves has become the principal sponsor of the Claygate Offshore Powerboat team. The exclusive sponsorship deal offers a host of benefits, including ITV 4 TV coverage, the chance to engage with 150,000 spectators every season, a PR platform and a fantastic corporate hospitality programme. The initial one-year deal marks the next phase in the Airwaves Pro campaign, which also includes the successful title sponsorship of the Airwaves Ducati Superbikes team.

New Weetabix Campaign WEETABIX launched its new multi-million euro advertising campaign recently, going live across TV, outdoor, press and online.

The ‘What’s on Weetabix TV?’ creative encourages consumers to experiment with toppings at different times of the day for healthy snacking as well as breakfast. There are eight TV treatments altogether, with two serving suggestions in each, plus additional support on the website: www.weetabix.tv. The website activity takes the form of a menu on a cable channel with TV Guide and a competition to win a 42” LCD TV, with a selection of serving suggestions available online.

RN July/August07What’s New ●

King Pita Bakes

Birds Eye’s Waffley Good Promotion

NEW to the Irish market, King Pita Bakes are authentic pita bread sprinkled with the finest ingredients and baked until crisp and golden brown. The range is aimed at a more mature, discerning consumer seeking some of life’s little indulgences. Also, King Pita Bakes are baked, not fried, so they’re lower in fat and low in saturated fat, without losing any of their irresistible taste. The range of is available in large 80g sharing packs in two delicious flavours Sundried Tomato & Mediterranean Herb and Parmesan & Italian Herb.

BIRDS Eye Ireland has launched a new marketing campaign for one of its most popular products, Birds Eye Potato Waffles. The campaign includes radio advertising and promotions, in-store activity, sampling, in-store promotions and competitions. To coincide with the new ATL campaign, Birds Eye launched National Waffle Week, which took place in June, for which they commissioned new light hearted research into Ireland’s waffling habits and how people dress their potato Waffles.

Lucozade on the Alert LUCOZADE Alert is a new energy drink, specifically formulated to provide mental alertness. Each conveniently sized 250ml serving contains glucose – the body and the brain’s naturally preferred energy source - combined with caffeine, ginseng and guarana, which are synonymous with revitalising properties and collectively deliver an impactful product proposition. Lucozade Alert has a striking pack design with bold and impactful branding, and a massive €1.5 million programme of integrated marketing support will accompany the launch over the coming months.

Lotus Kideez by KittenSoft LOTUS Kideez by KittenSoft has just been launched by Georgia Pacific Ireland. It’s the first bathroom tissue specially designed for kids that helps them use the right amount every time. Smaller than regular bathroom tissue rolls, each sheet is printed with a cool character on it so kids can easily count how much paper they need, and it also comes with a fruity scented core. The launch is being supported with a PR campaign, including a national radio promotion, as well as an in-store promotion whereby consumers can get a free dispenser with every purchase of a Lotus Kideez by KittenSoft 6 roll pack.

Lucozade Sport Plays to Win LUCOZADE Sport continues to set the pace with the launch of a major new on-pack promotion, destined to capture the imagination of sports fans around the country. ‘Who Plays Wins’ features the brand’s Irish heavyweights of sport, namely Damien Duff, Ronan O’Gara, Eoin Kelly and Colm Cooper, and offers the chance to win an incredible top prize of a €10,000 trip of a lifetime to a sports event anywhere in the world, and hundreds of LCD televisions complete with a Sky Sports package for a year. The new promotion will be fully supported by outdoor advertising, a promotion in association with The Star newspaper and novel viral activity online.

Yop Back on Screen YOP has returned to TV and cinema after a ten year absence. The irreverent creative animation brings to life a prehistoric setting BY (Before Yop) and uses the traditional survival of the fittest race to convey that Yop is a healthier choice than carbonated soft drinks. The new marketing campaign coincides with the launch of limited edition Yop Choc, a delicious mix of chocolate and drinkable yogurt, in 207g and 400g bottles. The Yop range is available in six variants - strawberry, raspberry, strawberry & vanilla, forest fruits, Yop Breakfast – a tasty mix of strawberry and cereal and Yop Choc.

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Shelf Life THREE-time All-Ireland winning hurling star Joe Deane launched the sixth annual Musgrave SuperValu Centra Triathlon, which takes place in Cork on Saturday, September 1, 2007. Since its inception in 2002, the Musgrave Triathlon (in conjunction with the Irish Examiner) has raised a whopping €2m in much-needed funds for two indispensable charities that touch every community throughout Ireland – Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, and the Irish Cancer Society.

Entry forms and training schedules for this fantastic event can be downloaded from www.msvc-triathlon.com or by contacting Musgrave SuperValu-Centra on 021 480 3000.

Pictured at the launch of the MSVC Triathlon are Joe Deane, Donal Horgan, MD, MSVC; Shirley O’Regan, Irish Examiner; and Edel O’Malley, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin.

ROSANNA Davison is the lady most Irish males would choose to bring more fun to their workplace at lunchtime, according to a recent survey by Walkers Crisps. The survey of 619 Irish workers also revealed that a whopping 82% of us are happy at work, with an overwhelming 75% of Irish workers claiming that money is not their only reason for working!

However, 72% of those surveyed do not take a full lunch hour and crave more fun at lunchtimes to help them destress. Rosanna is pictured sharing some lunchtime fun with Walkers Marketing Manager, Nicky Wells, and Darragh O’ Connell, employee of Irish International, Dublin.

NOW in its fifth year, Colgate Oral Health Month, in parthership with the Irish Dental Association, will continue to promote good oral hygiene in Ireland amongst the general public during the month of September.

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THE CSNA have welcomed the Clare People’s decision to compensate retailers for any drop in paper sales during the newspaper’s free distribution day on August 1st. Vincent Jennings, CEO, CSNA, praised the Clare People for accepting that promotions that hand out free papers have economic effects upon existing customers of the publication and called for a similar response from other local and national publishers.

DONNYBROOK Fair went international recently for their first International Beer Appreciation evening, hosted by Heineken Ireland’s Beer Ambassador, Dr George Philliskirk, Chief Executive of the Beer Academy in the UK, who is pictured with Aisling O’Brien, Brand Manager, Heineken Ireland. Dr Philliskirk took guests through a tasting of the range of international beers from Heineken Ireland by pairing them with the fantastic menu designed by Louis Casero, head chef at the Donnybrook Fair Café.

Each course was complemented by one of the five Heineken International Beers, including; Affligem, Moretti, Paulaner, Zywiec and Sol.

THE Subway chain, the world’s largest submarine sandwich franchise, has opened its 1,000th UK & Ireland store. Three stores opened up on the same day to take the Subway chain to the 1000-store mark! The three stores were in: Donegal; Southend on Sea, Essex; and Stalybridge, Greater Manchester.

BRAND Marketer Garrett Flynn has recently established a new business. The company, GFC Marketing, will focus on delivering brand and marketing advice and support to small and medium sized businesses, with a focus on the Irish food industry. Garrett has held senior marketing roles with Cuisine de France, Kelkin, Bewley’s and latterly Jacob Fruitfield. He can be contacted by email - garrett@gfcmarketing.ie.

TARA O’Connor, one of the leading consumer and event management specialists in the country, is set to join FD, the international communications consultancy that employs 20 staff in Ireland. FD, which recently rebranded from Financial Dynamics, represents some of the leading organisations in the country, including Vodafone, Setanta Sports, Coca-Cola, and Airtricity.

BULMERS is the new sponsor of Sportsline on Sky News in Ireland.

Produced by Sky Sports and broadcast five times each weekday, Sportsline is a comprehensive round-up of sports news from around the world, providing live news and footage of major sporting events such as Premier League, Champions League, Rugby World Cup, Six Nations Rugby, golf, darts and boxing. Pictured are (l-r): Conor Murphy, Director, Young Euro RSCG; Órlaith Fortune, Marketing Manager, Bulmers; and Malcolm Murray, Sales Manager, Sky Media Ireland.