Retail News Magazine November 2022

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Yule be busy!

ONCE Halloween is out of the way, the retail sector gets into gear for the festive season, the busiest period of the year for all grocery retailers. Indeed, Irish consumers spent a whopping €3.1 billion on groceries during the 12 weeks to December 26 last year, according to Kantar, with a new survey predicting that shoppers are not planning on cutting down their spending this year, despite the cost of living crisis.

With this in mind, we present our annual Retail News Christmas Stocking special report, where we examine the brands and products set to fly off your shelves in the coming weeks, from confectionery to wines, spirits to decorations (Page 30).

Cormac Healy, Director of Drinks Ireland in Ibec, reveals the challenges and opportunities facing both drinks producers and retailers in the months ahead (Page 26), explaining the trends driving change in our domestic market, including how younger consumers are changing Ireland’s attitude to alcohol.

Also inside, we report from the Blas na hÉireann awards, which returned to an in-person event in Dingle for the first time in three years (Page 16), we explain how the results of the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index reveal that so many Irish companies continue to struggle to have their sustainability strategies understood (Page 24) and advise SMEs on how best to prepare for a cyber-attack (Page 70).

News

2 Retailers appeal to Government over spiralling business costs. 3

Communication breakdown over ‘latte levy’. 4

Tesco opens new store in Athenry; €25 million expansion at Ballymaguire Foods.  5

Musgrave announce acquisition of Italicatessen; Recycling and waste management champions rewarded at Pakman Awards. 6 Grocery inflation in Ireland hits record high. 7

Aldi survey highlights food waste in Ireland; Centra raise €50,000 for Irish Cancer Society.

Shop Profile

12 Mark and Anne Finn’s newly revamped Daybreak forecourt store in Portumna, Co. Galway, has truly become a destination shop and a hub of the local community.

GS1

Ireland

The move to digitising paper records delivers added efficiency benefits, writes Maria Svejdar, Head of Marketing, Communications and CX, GS1 Ireland.

Blas na hÉireann 2022

16 The Blas na hÉireann awards were back in their spiritual home of Dingle, Co. Kerry for the first time in three years.

Sustainability

24

Sustainability is hugely important to an organisation’s reputation, but only if its sustainability strategies have been absorbed and understood by the public, a fact highlighted by the results of the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2022.

Retail News Interview

26 Cormac Healy, Director of Drinks Ireland in Ibec, discusses the triple whammy of Covid, Brexit and the War in Ukraine in terms of their impact on the market, and reveals the trends that continue to drive growth across the Irish drinks market.

Christmas Stocking

30 The annual Retail News Christmas Stocking special report, focusing on the hottest products for the festive season, from chocolates to cocktails, gins to gift cards, and wreaths to wine.

Retail Ireland: Monthly Update

57 Hot cup levy to be introduced; Energy crisis and supports for the retail sector.

Irish Wine Show Star Awards

58 The National OffLicence Association presented their annual Irish Wine Show Star Awards at Dublin’s Morrison Hotel, recently.

Business Insight

68 Irish entrepreneur and retail expert, Andrew Thornton, identifies the 10 components to a heart-centred business and how to measure their effectiveness and their impact on your bottom line.

Cyber-Security

70 With cybercrime constantly evolving, how can Irish business prepare for the worst and meet their legal obligations? Matheson’s annual October Cyber and Data Protection Conference looked to a panel of experts for answers.

Employment Law

72 Laura Ensor and Linda Hynes of Lewis Silkin Ireland report on legal and practical issues relating to the menopause that are relevant to employers in the retail sector. Regulars & Reports

Forecourt Focus: News

Shelf Life

Kathleen Belton

Retailers appeal to Government over spiralling business costs

RETAILERS are experiencing what some describe as an unprecedented hike in costs and have appealed to Government for additional supports.

“We feel that a lot of people are going to get into trouble,” Colin Fee, a Louth-based retailer and President of RGDATA, told Retail News. “I’ve lived through foot and mouth, Covid, people going up north to get their petrol. I came through the recession of 2008 and 2009. I’ve never had such a bleak outlook on the business as I do now.”

Fee has four sites in Dundalk: three forecourts and a standalone shop. Between 2019 and 2022, insurance costs have doubled for the retailer. Rates on one of the sites have “gone up fourfold” and products have seen an unprecedented hike.

“Raw chicken, one of our biggest ingredients in the shop, has increased 70% over the last two years. Bread and dairy prices have soared,” said Fee. “We are afraid it’s going to get worse. We’re even noticing that refuse collection companies are starting to put their prices up. All these overheads are wiping out whatever profit we made in the past. We’re getting close to where shops are becoming non-profitable.”

In Budget 2023, Government introduced an Energy Support Scheme, which offers assistance for retailers who have experienced a 40% hike in the increase of their electricity or gas bills, up to a maximum of €10,000 per month. Fee, however, said his energy costs have gone up 80%. Will the Energy Support Scheme be enough to bail out all retailers?

“While the 40% [grant] is welcome, if you take the total amount of increase in energy and then add in all the other things that have gone up – rates, insurance, and everything else, it’s not enough,” he argued. “If it’s only a temporary thing and things relax next year, that might be fine, but if this continues, you’ll find a lot of people going out of business.”

Last month, Colin Fee led a delegation to meet Retail Minister Damien English TD, alongside other Directors of RGDATA. The retail group called for an extension of the Energy Support Scheme and additional financial support. This request has been echoed across all retail representative organisations.

Arnold Dillon, Retail Ireland Director, said: “While the €30,000 monthly cap in energy supports is significant, for many businesses managing unprecedented energy costs across numerous sites, it will not be enough to ease the pressure. The cap should be raised and additional support offered to businesses where their viability is under threat.

“Designing and tailoring an energy support package for the wide range of businesses across the economy is not straightforward, but it must be far-reaching and equitable, given the scale of the challenges that many companies, large and small, are now facing. Each individual shop should have equitable access to government support packages.”

Retailers now face additional costs of employment. The National Minimum Wage of €10.50 an hour is set to increase to €11.30 at the start of January, 2023. The Living Wage Technical Group has suggested the hourly living wage for 2023 should be €13.85. The Statutory Sick Pay Scheme and Auto Enrolment Scheme will also add to the costs of business.

“Without a doubt, our biggest expense by far is payroll,” said Vincent Jennings of CSNA. “It’s 65% and higher, as a percentage of costs. Every [additional] percentage that is visited upon wages is proportionally large for our business.”

Concurrently, retailers are facing staff shortages. “Because of the housing and

rental market situation, we can’t attract people,” said Fee. The disparity between demand and supply is in turn putting upward pressure on wages.

Minister English reassured the RGDATA delegation that possible changes to employer PRSI contributions will not take place in the short term. Government has also pledged to review the Energy Support Scheme when it concludes early 2023.

“I think he was genuinely concerned,” concluded Fee. “That would be my overriding view leaving the meeting. I think he’s afraid there will be a raft of closures. If you throw all the price hikes into the mix and there’s no improvement from the current situation, my businesses will become unviable. We will not be able to open the door.”

Arnold Dillon, Director, Retail Ireland.

RGDATA President and retailer, Colin Fee.

Communication breakdown over ‘latte levy’

RETAILERS are claiming that a central concern surrounding the looming “latte levy” – the lack of incentive toward providing compostable, biodegradable or recyclable cups – is not up for debate in the final round of consultations before regulations are introduced.

The retailer consultation, which closes on November 25 in tandem with other stakeholder engagement, targets businesses impacted by the levy.

A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications told Retail News that the levy, which will charge a flat rate of 20 cent to all single-use disposable cups, will include “compostable, biodegradable or recyclable… The overall aim is to move away from single-use towards reuse. These cups do not minimise the use of resources and, if not disposed of correctly, add to waste for disposal.”

Without any incentive to invest in compostable cups, retailers fear that some coffee providers may opt for cheaper plastic variants. Vincent Jennings, Chief Executive of the CSNA, decried the consultation as a governmental box-ticking exercise “to suggest they have communicated with stakeholders”.

The coffee cup levy was initiated last July as part of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022. Under the regulations, customers who purchase a coffee in a single-use cup will be charged an additional 20 cents at the point of sale, which will show as a separate charge on a receipt.

Proceeds from the levy will go toward a Circular Economy Fund for environmental and climate action projects.

Ossian Smyth TD, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, with responsibility for the Circular Economy, stated the initiative has a long-term goal of outright banning coffee cups and other single use items.

Ennis-based company Cup Print, which supplies retailers with custom-branded coffee cups, and specialises in certified compostable and certified recyclable paper cups, urged the Government to “invest in improving the recycling infrastructure to enhance recycling rates of on-the-go packaging, as well as making composting bins in public areas more readily available,” according to Terry Fox, General Manager.

“Banning compostable and recyclable paper-based cups in favour of 100% plastic reusable cups isn’t the way to go about it,” he argued. “The market will be driven towards cheap and low-quality items made entirely of plastics, with limited reuse potential.” Fox called on Government to “exempt certified recyclable and compostable products from this punitive levy and not stand in the way of further progress in the development of renewable fibre cups in Ireland.”

Retailers have also questioned the environmental impact, through water and energy usage, required to clean reusable cups. A Department of Environment spokesperson told Retail News there are “no provisions” in the proposed regulations that

will oblige businesses to wash reusable containers for customers.

“The use of reusable cups and containers is not new and many businesses have been accepting reusables for some time now. As is currently the case, each individual business will need to assess the safety and hygiene implications before deciding whether or not they will accept reusables from customers. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has issued guidance for businesses on accepting reusable cups and containers from customers,” they said.

Government has set December 2022 as the target date for the creation of the regulations. After that, “at least three months will be provided to allow appropriate preparation and transitional arrangements to be made before the levy is applied.”

Vincent Jennings, CEO, CSNA.

Tesco opens new store in Athenry

TESCO recently opened a new 40,000 square feet store in Athenry, their sixth store in Galway. “We’re very excited to open the doors of our new Athenry store, here in County Galway,” said Rosemary Garth, Communications Director, Tesco Ireland. “We are committed to ensuring that Athenry and all our new stores play an important role in local communities, and we’re looking forward to providing support to local groups and organisations through our Community Fund for many years to come.”

Tesco Athenry will offer customers an extensive range of quality fresh Irish foods and will also feature produce from several local Galway suppliers, including Bowes Bakery, Divilly Brothers and Galway Bay Seafood.

The store was officially opened by Store Manager, Seán Mulhern, who will lead a team of local colleagues. Sean added: “We are delighted to be open for business after a busy period of preparations, and it’s great to see customers coming through the doors. We’re really looking forward to meeting local groups and projects who need our support through the Community Fund over the coming months; where we’re always looking for new projects to support.”

The Tesco Ireland Community Fund is set to play an increasing role in supporting local community groups across Galway. When all nine new stores are up and running, Community Fund donations of €84,000 per year will be used to support more than 100 projects across the county. This funding comes on top of donations of over €200,000 to more than 700 community projects in Galway, since 2014.

The Athenry store Community Fund will immediately support the

local area with donations to three local causes in its first campaign; these include Blood Bike West, Athenry Brothers of Charity, and Adult Mental Health Services Athenry.

Now in its eighth year, the Community Fund continues to provide vital support to community groups across Ireland, and regularly welcomes applications from new groups.

Anne Rabbitte TD, Minister of State for Disability in the Dept of Health & Dept of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, opens the Tesco Athenry store, alongside Rosemary Garth, Communications Director, Tesco Ireland, Sean Mulhern, store manager, and colleagues Memba Doggett and Jackie Haverty.

€25 million expansion at Ballymaguire Foods

TWO agri-food businesses, Country Crest and Ballymaguire Foods, have announced a €25 million expansion of their food production facilities in Lusk, Co. Dublin, that will create over 200 jobs over the next five years.

Recruitment will start straight away and the new roles will consist of management positions, R&D, quality control, technicians, engineering, cooks and general operatives. Construction of the first phase of the expansion is underway and is expected to be completed and in operation by the summer of next year.

“This is an exciting time for our convenience food business here in Lusk, North County Dublin,” said Michael Hoey, Managing Director of Country Crest. “This is a vote of confidence in the Irish food industry, an industry that continues to thrive despite the tough economic conditions we are all experiencing at present.”

Making the announcement, Managing Director and Co-owner of Ballymaguire Foods, Ed Spelman, said: “We are delighted to be making this investment in our business as we continue to grow and expand our reach from our Lusk base. Our production capability will be greatly increased and will be mainly used to fuel the opportunities we see in both this country and mainland Europe. Our customers appreciate our agility and ability to adapt to new trends and tastes whilst using the best Irish ingredients where possible. Our Irish suppliers will also benefit in the future, as many of our ingredients are sourced on the island of Ireland from chicken to beef and fresh vegetables.”

Founded in 2008, Ballymaguire Foods, a sister company to Country Crest, is the largest fresh prepared meals producer in the island of Ireland. The investment in the food production

capabilities will underpin the company’s future capacity needs and support its customer growth plans over the next five years.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, said, “This announcement is a brilliant example of pure quality and excellence in a sector where Ireland excels and especially around sustainability and producing quality clean food.”

Pictured are (l-r): Ballymaguire Foods co-owners Gabriel Hoey, Edward Spelman and Michael Hoey.

Musgrave announce acquisition of Italicatessen

MUSGRAVE have announced the acquisition of Italicatessen for an undisclosed sum, subject to approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Italicatessen are a leading importer and distributor of premium quality, authentic Italian food and wines directly from Italy. Based in Wicklow, the company, which employs 75 people, was founded in 2002 as a small family-run business and has since grown to service over 900 customers, and also distributes to the UK from a site in Brentford.

The acquisition is part of Musgrave’s wider strategy to grow a world class food and beverage business with particular focus on foodservice and wholesale. Italicatessen will enable Musgrave to meet growing consumer demand for authentic, high-quality fresh and ambient products imported directly from their country of origin.

“The acquisition of Italicatessen is an excellent strategic fit for our business which enhances our market-leading foodservice and retail offer,” noted Noel Keeley, CEO, Musgrave. “Whether it’s Italian, French, Spanish or Mexican food, consumers now expect the quality and taste to match the experience they have when eating in these countries. Italicatessen brings that authenticity to customers looking for locally sourced Italian products.”

Also commenting on the acquisition, Christian Reolon, MD, Italicatessen, said: “This is a positive milestone and great opportunity for our company. Musgrave are a family business and Ireland’s leading food retail, wholesale and foodservice company. Musgrave

Noel Keeley, Musgrave CEO.

will open access to the largest wholesale and foodservice distribution network in Ireland. This will enable us to grow, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of our business.”

Italicatessen will continue to operate as a standalone business with the existing management team and staff working within the broader Musgrave wholesale business.

Recycling and waste management champions rewarded at Pakman Awards

THE eighth annual Pakman Awards took place recently at the Marker Hotel, where representatives from leading businesses and community groups come together to recognise excellence in recycling and waste management.

The Pakman Awards, powered by Repak, are held annually and seek to find and celebrate Ireland’s recycling and waste management champions. Winning a Pakman Award is one of the highest accolades an organisation, company, community group or individual can receive for their environmental and sustainability efforts.

Repak members Coca Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard and Lidl Ireland were announced as Gold Winners of the ‘Plastic Pledge’ award for their commitment to increasing the recyclability of packaging.

Limerick Polymers Production were named the winner of the Overall Pakman Award, sponsored by Repak, while other winners included Currys Ireland in the ‘Battery and WEEE Champion’ category, Palm Free (Zero Waste) Irish Soap Ltd in the ‘Waste Prevention Award’ category, and Rebox in the ‘Innovation in Waste Resources Products or Service’ category.

“The Pakman awards don’t just recognise the marvellous achievements of individual companies but will further inspire and energise us all to reach Ireland’s potential to become a leader in the circular economy,” noted Minister of State for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Public Procurement, eGovernment with special responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy Ossian Smyth TD.

Séamus Clancy, CEO of Repak, said, “We are delighted to be celebrating many environmental champions at this year’s awards, who are leading by example in implementing excellent recycling and waste management practices over the last 12 months. This year saw some of the highest entries from companies, businesses, community groups and individuals to the Pakman Awards, a reflection of the commitment of many industries in Ireland to help reach our future EU recycling targets and protect our planet for future generations. The standard of this year’s entries was not only exceptional but served as inspiration for others in how to deliver exemplary environmental practices.”

Pictured at the 2022 Pakman Awards are (l-r): Séamus Clancy, CEO of Repak; Tom Burke, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director at Coca Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland; and Minister Ossian Smyth TD, Minister of State for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Public Procurement, eGovernment with special responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy.

Grocery inflation in Ireland hits record high

of this year. The average annual grocery bill will go from €6,999 to €7,867 if consumers don’t make any changes to what they buy and how they shop to cut costs. This means the average annual shop is set to rise by €868 a year. At a basket level, that’s an extra €3.36 per trip.”

As consumers change their shopping behaviour to deal with the extra pressures on household budgets, supermarket own-label ranges are benefitting. The sales of retailer own-label lines jumped 7.2% in the latest 12 weeks, with shoppers spending an additional €88.3 million year-on-year. Value own-label ranges saw the strongest growth, up 23.5% yearon-year, with shoppers spending an additional €11.3 million.

5.4%, 10.9% and 6.5% respectively. Overall branded goods saw slight growth in the same period, up 0.7% with shoppers spending an additional €9.2 million.

As ‘trick or treat’ season approaches, shoppers prepared for Halloween festivities, with sales of pumpkins soaring 24% year-on-year, while shoppers spent an additional €1.3 million on sugar confectionery and €816,000 on chocolate confectionery.

Retailers continue to respond to consumer demand for value with strong loyalty card or voucher offers and increased emphasis on own-label ranges.

Dunnes maintained the highest market share, with 22.7% and growth of 8.2% year-on-year. This growth stems from an influx of new shoppers, up 5.3%, which contributed an additional €32.3 million to their performance.

THE latest figures from Kantar show that take-home grocery sales in Ireland increased by 3.6% in the 12 weeks to October 3, 2022, as grocery price inflation hit a record high of 12.4%.

In the latest 12 weeks, an 8.6% increase in price per pack saw shoppers spend an additional €99.1 million compared to the same period last year, while the number of shopping trips increased by 3.8%. Over the last four weeks, the average price per pack increased by 8.7%. The rising cost of everyday essentials is hitting shoppers particularly hard, with the average price of staples like butter, milk and bread now 28% higher than this time last year.

“Grocery price inflation is the highest level seen since Kantar started tracking the data,” revealed Emer Healy, Senior Retail Analyst at Kantar. “As food and drink prices continue to climb alongside other financial pressures, 32% of shoppers in Ireland admit they are ‘struggling’ to make ends meet, a figure that has increased from 23% in March

In contrast, online sales saw a decline for the first time since March 2022, with shoppers decreasing their trips online by 5.5% and replacing that with trips to physical stores instead (+5.5%). In the last four weeks, online visits were down 3% and volumes fell by 6.4% with 1.8% of shoppers leaving the online platform in October.

As household budgets tighten, shoppers are looking to their food and drink spend for small luxuries to enjoy at home. As a result, in the last 12 weeks, sales of branded take-home soft drinks, chocolate biscuit bars and crisps jumped

Tesco hold 21.8% of the market, with growth of 5.2% year-on-year thanks to an 8.9% increase in shoppers returning to store more often. SuperValu claim 21.2% of the market and continue to see shoppers make the most trips in-store when compared to all retailers, with an average of 21.2 trips per year, up 3.5% year-on-year.

Lidl claim 13.1% share, with growth of 5.6% year-on-year. New shoppers contributed an additional €11.8 million to their performance, alongside existing shoppers returning more often. Aldi holds 12.7% of the market with growth of 2.4% year-on-year.

Emer Healy, Senior Retail Analyst at Kantar.

Aldi survey highlights food waste in Ireland

NEW research commissioned by Aldi Ireland has highlighted the amount of food wasted by Irish households as almost half of those surveyed reported throwing out food every week.

The research was launched as part of Aldi’s Food for Good campaign, in partnership with FoodCloud. The campaign, now in its fifth year, works to ensure voluntary and community groups across the country have access to food to support those who need it most.

Food waste is still a challenge for

Irish households, despite the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Almost half (47%) say that they typically throw food out every week, but the majority of people (65%) are uncomfortable with the amount of food being discarded by their households each week.

According to the study, which was conducted by Coyne Research, food being past its use by date is the most common reason it is thrown out (48%), followed by people not getting around to using it (43%). Over one-third (35%) say they disposed of food because it was past the best before date, while nearly one-in-five (18%) said they simply bought too much.

while over a quarter of people (27%) threw away fresh meat every week. Just 8% said that they threw away fresh fish.

The research also shows that more than half of people sometimes or always plan their meals. Almost half (49%) say that they are actively taking steps to reduce their food waste by cooking and preparing the food before it goes off to avoid wasting it.

Aldi partnered again with FoodCloud on their annual Food for Good campaign, from October 14-24, where Aldi shoppers could buy and donate non-perishable food items at one of the Food for Good drop-off points across the retailer’s 153 stores nationwide. All donated food is then collected and donated to local charities by FoodCloud.

“We know that food waste is still a problem, and we are delighted to work with FoodCloud again this year to highlight this important issue and the essential service that FoodCloud provides,” said Niall O’Connor, Aldi Group Managing Director. “By making small changes to how we plan and prepare meals at home, we can all help reduce food waste, which, in turn, will have a bigger impact on the environment and wider society. We’re proud to continue our support of FoodCloud and its excellent work.”

Centra raise €50,000 for Irish Cancer Society

STAFF and customers from leading Irish convenience retailer Centra have raised €50,000 in support of the Irish Cancer Society’s 2022 Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.

For the 13th year, Centra have partnered with the Irish Cancer Society to help support breast cancer patients and their families in communities across Ireland. Continuing on the success of last years ‘Care For Your Pair’ campaign, this year's contributions were raised as a result of combined efforts by communities and Centra stores nationwide.

This year, 149 Centra stores across Ireland participated in a variety of fundraising activities, such as an in-store tap to donate initiative, cake sales and community walks, as well as highlighting the importance of early detection of breast cancer in stores and across social media.

“We are delighted to support the Irish Cancer Society for over a decade now and each year, we are blown away by the combined efforts from our Centra retailers' stores and customers in the surrounding communities,” said Ian Allen, Managing Director, Centra. “The funds raised will positively impact people across Ireland affected by breast cancer and we are extremely proud to partner with this charity.”

Rosemary Simmons, Head of Fundraising at the Irish Cancer Society, said, “The Irish Cancer Society is delighted to mark the 13th year of our partnership with Centra. The outpouring of

Fresh food makes up the majority of people’s grocery spending (49%) and is the food most frequently discarded by people. Bread (62%) is the most common item that households throw out each week, followed by fresh vegetables (55%) and fresh fruit (52%). Dairy was next with 31%, support from staff and customers in Centra stores across Ireland has been incredible. Each year we are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm which is displayed throughout the partnership. The funds raised this year will play a vital role in providing free support services and care to people affected by breast cancer, while also helping to develop ground-breaking breast cancer research.”

50,000

Louise McSharry and Claire Bowman, Irish Cancer Society Corporate Partnerships Manager, pictured outside Centra Ballsbridge to announce the €

raised by Centra, in support of The Irish Cancer Society.

Pictured are FoodCloud Chef, Colm Burke, and Rachel Nugent, Corporate Responsibility Manager, Aldi Ireland.

Four Star Pizza partner with BWG Foodservice

FOUR Star Pizza have partnered with BWG Foodservice in a multimillion euro deal over the next five years for the exclusive supply of all food ingredients to the expansive Irish-owned pizza group. The new contract will see BWG Foodservice deliver an end-to-end supply solution across all categories, spanning fresh food, ambient grocery, chilled and frozen products, packaging and other catering supplies. Four Star Pizza currently operates 56 stores on the island of Ireland but only recently announced plans to increase that number to more than 100 over the next three years. “This contract with Four Star Pizza represents a very significant and unique addition to our business and we are delighted to have been selected as the company’s exclusive supplier,” noted Ricky O’Brien, BWG Foodservice Director, pictured (second

Wheels are turning for Sicín Sásta

Eggciting news from Bord Bia

TO celebrate World Egg Day 2022 on October 14, Bord Bia teamed up with Irish athlete Sharlene Mawdsley and TV chef extraordinaire Daniel Lambert, in a bid to encourage Irish consumers to ‘Crack On’ and choose Bord Bia Quality Assured eggs. New figures from Kantar Worldpanel have revealed that consumers in Ireland purchased over 638 million eggs, proving that Ireland is still cracked about eggs. Despite changes in shopping and eating habits, volume sales of eggs remain 7% higher than they were prepandemic in this country. To coincide with World Egg Day, Sharlene and Daniel traded their knowledge in their respective fields, showcasing how eating healthy and nutritious dishes involving eggs can feed into a busy and active lifestyle.

THE Sicín Sásta Family Bikes promotion was a great success in retail throughout September and October. The theme of the promotion, encouraging customers to move in a more eco-friendly way, aligns with Sicín Sásta’s sustainability values, while rewarding loyal Sicín Sásta customers with the opportunity to win almost 100 bicycles from Eurocycles. Sicín Sásta are planning lots more retail great giveaways in 2023. Pictured are (l-r): Gavin Guildford, SuperValu Blackrock, and Brendan Nolan, Marketing Manager, Sicín Sásta.

Kellogg Ireland stepping up efforts on food waste

IN recognition of World Food Day on October 16, Kellogg Ireland are stepping up their efforts to fight food waste with the help of their partner, FoodCloud. Kellogg have been working with FoodCloud since 2020 and have donated the equivalent of 310,810 meals to date to FoodCloud’s network of community groups across the country. Kellogg have also announced the addition of the ‘Look, Smell, Taste’ label and initiative from Too Good To Go, the app that fights food waste. The label will appear on all Special K Original flakes cereal packs across Ireland. This label will encourage consumers to check the quality of the food before throwing it out, simply because it has passed its best before date. This move is in addition to the Kellogg Company food waste commitment of halving food waste by the end of 2030, which is in line with both the EU and UN goals. The Too Good To Go label will appear on Kellogg’s Special K Flakes cereal packs across Ireland from January 2023. Kellogg have also committed to donating €100,000 to breakfast clubs across the country in 2023.

Millionaire made in Mount Merrion

A SMALL newsagent located at the heart of a residential community in Mount Merrion has been revealed as the selling location for the October 12 Lotto jackpot winning ticket worth an astonishing €2,310,972. XL on The Rise in Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin, sold the winning Quick Pick ticket on the day of the draw. “This is our first big Jackpot win. We’re open since 1973, so next year we’ll be 50 years in business. We’re a small family run, local shop in the heart of Mount Merrion. We’re surrounded by a cluster of shops like the local hairdresser and chemist. It was great to get the phone call that we’d sold the winning ticket. In these current times, it’s nice to get a bit of positive news,” enthused Adrian and Renée Peters, store owners, pictured celebrating the win.

from left), with Ciara Kellett, Director of Operations, Four Star Pizza; Colin Hughes, Chief Executive Officer, Four Star Pizza; and Jenny Egan, Wholesale Marketing Manager, BWG Foods.

Aldi remove 5.5 tonnes of plastic packaging from seasonal range

ALDI are removing all plastic packaging from their entire seasonal wooden toy and plush range this year. The SpecialBuy toy range is currently available in stores while stocks last and includes 26 different kids’ favourites, such as wooden toy kitchens and pirate ships. The changes in packaging of wooden toys will result in Aldi achieving a 5.5-tonne reduction in plastic packaging every year; this has been achieved through a number of measures, including substituting plastic tape for paper and replacing bubble wrap with paper wrap. The range’s packaging is now made from 93% recyclable materials.

Tesco partner with McCann Orchards

TESCO Ireland recently announced a new and novel ‘modern orchard’ partnership which sees previously international varieties of apples and pears, grown and sourced in the first ‘modern orchard’ in Ireland. In a new two-year deal, worth €2.5 million, Tesco have partnered with established orchard growers, the McCann family from County Armagh, and will be their anchor customer for the innovative new 130-acre Tullyallen ‘modern orchard’, based in the Boyne Valley near the Louth-Meath border. Over 100,000 trees have been planted and novel new fruit growing techniques deployed to cultivate popular modern varieties of apples and pears – including gala and golden delicious apples, conference and QTee pears. Pictured are (l-r): John Brennan, Fresh Category Director, Tesco Ireland; Lorcan Bourke, Sector Manager, Bord Bia; and Oliver McCann, Managing Director, McCann Orchards.

Olympic hero opens Lidl’s Mallow store

OLYMPIC gold medallist and world champion rower, Fintan McCarthy, joined the team at Lidl Mallow recently to officially opened the new store. Lidl have created six new jobs at the store, bringing the Mallow team to 28 employees. “We are delighted to finally open the doors of our new Mallow store and welcome customers to experience the new features of the store, including larger aisles, higher ceilings and a bakery area with freshly baked breads and pastries, one of Lidl’s most popular features,” noted Store Manager, David Duffy, pictured (left) with Fintan McCarthy and Stephen Hegarty, Lidl Sales Operations Manager (right).

Purina’s global search for innovative pet care start-ups

UNLEASHED, powered by Nestlé Purina, have launched the fourth iteration of their leading accelerator programme calling for the next generation of pet-care businesses to apply. Now open to new entries from Ireland, as well as across the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Middle East, the 2023 programme is designed to drive the growth of participants, supporting the development of innovative new pet-care products, in particular data-enabled pet owner and vet services, sustainable novel nutrition and well-being technologies. By the end of the 2023 application process, up to nine chosen start-ups will be accelerated for 20 weeks by Unleashed Champions and industry experts. This will include a thorough and structured, fully funded mutually agreed project up to €51,000 which will help to drive growth. Participants on the 2022 Unleashed programme are pictured in Barcelona. To apply, simply go to www.unleashedbypurina.com

ticket

A BUSY service station shop in the Gorey area has been revealed as the selling location for the October 15 Lotto jackpot winning ticket worth an astonishing €2,000,000. Canavan’s Londis in Gorey, Co. Wexford, sold the winning quick pick ticket on the day of the draw. “We’ve been running the service station 16 years and most of our staff have been with us since the very first day,” revealed owner Catherine Canavan. “We’ve been kept going over the years by our amazing local customers. They are fantastic to us, and I’m so delighted someone has won this life-changing amount of money.” Pictured are Nora Cousins; store owner Catherine Canavan; Simon Reenan, Regional Manager, National Lottery; and Caroline Cousins, Store Manager.

Gorey forecourt sells €2 million Lotto

Spar launch € 1.2 million Christmas Ad

Pilot for reusable takeaway packaging launched in Dublin

SPAR have launched their brand new Christmas advert ahead of the 2022 festive season. The new advert is very much a sequel to Spar’s previous global award winning and now iconic Christmas advert and actually revisits some of the same characters 10 years after the original ad aired. The new Spar advertising campaign, entitled Finding Christmas, represents a significant €1.2 million investment from the retail group, and will run until Christmas Day across TV and Video on Demand, with key programming secured throughout this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament and during The Late Late Toy Show on November 25. The advert continues with the warm message from Spar’s 2012 advert that ‘wherever you find the tree, we hope you like what’s under it’, reflecting Spar’s famous ‘under the tree’ tagline. “This quirky but warm advert is a celebration of Spar’s love for the annual festive period and also our connectedness with the many wonderful communities that we serve throughout Ireland,” noted Suzanne Weldon, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at BWG Foods.

Pringles partner with Movember

PRINGLES are supporting leading men’s health charity, Movember, for the second year in Ireland and will donate a minimum of €50,000. The brand is encouraging shoppers to start open and honest conversations over a can of Pringles through an exclusive partnership with Tesco. Since November 1, impactful POS displays have taken over selected Tesco stores nationwide, as well as Tesco.ie. The branding, which includes aisle fins, floor stickers, headboards, shelf talkers and website banners, includes questions people can use to start conversations on mental health such as, ‘Shall I come round for a chat?’ The Pringles moustachioed mascot is also joining the cause this year for the first time since his new look was unveiled last year. Mr. P will shave down his moustache and start afresh for the month of growing through social posts.

VYTAL - The Reuse System, Ireland’s first digital reusable platform will be piloted for takeaway food and beverage packaging. Customers of participating cafés and restaurants in north Co. Dublin can order takeaway coffee and soups, as well as several other food items, in specially produced packaging, which can be reused again and again, reducing the number of single-use containers in circulation. Three state-of the-art reverse-vending machines will allow for the easy return of takeaway food packaging to its point of origin seven days a week. Supported by Dublin City Council, Eastern Midlands Waste Region (EMWR) and Canada Life Reinsurance, the pilot is being rolled out in St Anne’s Park, on Bull Island and in surrounding areas in Dublin 3 and 5. Pictured at the launch are (l-r): Richard Bruton TD; Michelle Moloughney, cofounder of Vytal Ireland, and Fabian Barthel, founder of Vytal Global.

Tesco raise €12,000 for Irish Red Cross

ROSEMARY Garth, Communications Director, Tesco Ireland is pictured presenting a cheque to the value of over €12,000 to Frank Phelan, Corporate Partnerships and Philanthropy Manager, Irish Red Cross. This donation was made possible thanks to the Tesco Community Fund, which, including this cheque amount, has donated over €32,000 to the Irish Red Cross since 2014. As well as that, Tesco donated €500,000 to support the Irish Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal, earlier this year. In response to the work the Irish Red Cross have been doing to support displaced Ukrainian refugees now living in Ireland, 24 stores across the country selected them to be one of the three causes to receive a donation from the Community Fund in their store, resulting in a total donation of €12,144.

SMA Pro Follow-on Milk wins Gold at National Parenting Product Awards

SMA Pro Follow-on-Milk has received a Gold Award at the ninth annual National Product Awards (NPPAs) at a ceremony hosted by Ireland’s specialist parenting publisher and content agency, Zahra. SMA PRO Follow-on Milk’s win in the highly competitive ‘Best Follow-on Formula’ category is in recognition of the brand's robust commitment to research and development in achieving the highest standards in baby nutritional products. “This award is particularly special for us as a team, given that it has been voted for by parents, which shows that SMA Pro Follow-on Milk is not only highly-regarded within the industry, but is also a trusted product among our most important critics; Irish parents and their babies,” noted Catherine O’Connor, Senior Brand Manager at Nestlé Nutrition Ireland. Breast milk is best for babies and breastfeeding should continue for as long as possible. SMA Pro Follow-on Milk is for babies over 6 months, as part of a varied weaning diet. Not intended to replace breastfeeding.

Daybreak dawns anew in Portumna

Mark and Anne Finn’s newly revamped Daybreak forecourt store in Portumna, Co. Galway, has truly become a destination shop and a hub of the local community.

to improve the shop and increase the amount of retail space.”

The lockdown affected Finn’s, as it did the entire nation, but like so many local shops, Finn’s played a hugely important role in the local Portumna community during the pandemic and after restrictions eased, demand in the business quickly returned.

“We had been engaged in a planning process for a number of years and after restrictions lifted, we were still in a position where the shop was restricting our ability to take advantage of all the demand that existed,” Mark explains. “The old shop had a fine deli and we had a strong food-to-go offering, but the scale was too small. The deli needing expanding and rest of the food-to-go offering needed to be increased. We were outperforming for our size but our potential was being limited.”

Ambitious redevelopment

THE owners of the Daybreak store and Top forecourt in Portumna, Co. Galway, have recently made a significant investment in their business, one which is already proving a shrewd move. Mark and Anne Finn tell Retail News about their retail journey, including their 10-year working relationship with Daybreak.

Mark and Anne Finn first took over the forecourt and shop in Portumna back in 2010 in the middle of the global financial crisis. “2010 was a very difficult time to open a business,” Anne recalls. “Ireland had experienced a very challenging financial crisis and trading conditions were very difficult. At the time, neither of us had any experience in grocery retail but we both felt that we wanted to run our own business and that, with a lot of hard work, we could make it work.”

In order to help them run their new business, they chose to work with a symbol group partner, to take advantage of the support that can offer. They began their

retailing life with a different group, but after two years, they switched to Daybreak and they haven’t looked back since.

“We were very impressed with the Daybreak Group and felt changing symbol group partner could help the business,” Mark reveals. “We loved the look of Daybreak stores and the people we met who worked with Daybreak. We were also keen to take advantage of working with an organisation of the size of Musgrave.”

In the 10 years since 2012, Mark, Anne, their staff and the Daybreak team have worked together to grow the business significantly. It came to the point where the size of the old forecourt was limiting the ability of the business to continue to grow.

A great relationship “We have always had a great relationship with Daybreak and we worked hard over the course of a decade to grow our business,” Anne notes. “However, prior to lockdown, we had come to the conclusion that we needed

July of this year saw the Finns embark on an ambitious redevelopment project, which was completed in September. Working closely with the Daybreak development team, Mark and Anne have used this investment to fully unlock the fresh food and food-to-go potential of the shop. Their store now offers 100 square metres of retail space that contains a huge variety of fresh food-togo elements, including the improved Munch & Co deli, 9 Grams coffee offering, Wing Bar, Juices, and Lickety Split ice cream, as well as a sit-down area, while still maintaining a sizeable ambient grocery offering.

The Portumna Daybreak store has enjoyed a significant increase in sales since the revamp.

Mark and Anne Finn, pictured outside their Portumna store.

Anne is delighted with the results: “First impressions really count in retail and although the shop is not much larger than the old building, we totally redesigned the layout and the focus of the shop and it is now much brighter and better looking than it was, with much more natural light and a much fresher feel. We wanted a ‘wow’ effect for our customers when they walked in and we have managed to get it. We did have to close the shop for nine weeks as part of the project but when we opened and the old customers got the see the place, they were really delighted by what they saw, which is exactly what we wanted.”

Dramatic increase in sales

At the time we spoke to the Finns, the new store had been trading for just five weeks but the investment was already paying dividends, as Mark explains: “The difference is dramatic. We have seen very significant increases in our fresh food trade, which is exactly what we wanted. We have also noticed new people coming to the shop and making it a regular visit. We offer far more than we had been able to and along with the forecourt offering, we can meet a wide variety of needs, giving people multiple reasons to choose to shop with us.”

In closing, Mark and Anne pay particular tribute to the advice and support they receive from their symbol group partner: “We have always had fantastic support from Daybreak and the group has been wonderful during this project. We have great staff and a really strong team but it is the extra support from the Daybreak Fresh Food advisor for HACCP issues and the online My Staff portal from Daybreak that allows our already excellent staff to improve their skills even more at their own convenience. We would like to thank everyone involved in this project, all our customers and staff and everyone in Daybreak who help us grow our business every day.”

Mark, Anne and Daybreak have used this investment to unlock the full potential of the Portumna forecourt. The shop now offers far more options to potential customers, making it much more of a destination than the old shop. The business has hit the ground running since reopening and the return on the investment that Mark and Anne made has been significant and immediate.

The Munch & Co deli has proved to be hugely popular with consumers since its introduction.

The Portumna store has a well-stocked off licence area.

newly revamped store has a sit-down area for shoppers to enjoy their food in-store.

GS1 Ireland

Making a business case for digitising records

AS Irish food and beverage producers move to digitise their paper-based processes and records, in particular for areas such as HACCP management or product recall, additional benefits accrue within the organisation in terms of time and cost savings.

Upgrading legacy systems and shifting ‘from paper to glass’ has a renewed focus for many businesses as the recovery continues from the Covid lockdowns experienced throughout 2020 and 2021.

Case study: Glenaine Foods

With advances in systems and technology, it is easier today to adopt automatic data capture systems and to share information on a much more granular level than ever before. Newer systems offer speed, agility and efficiency in accessing digitally-stored information for recall and traceability purposes, meaning information can be found in seconds or minutes, rather than the hours or days required to sort through filed paper

records; time which can be critical in the event of a recall or audit. GS1 Ireland have recently worked with member company Glenaine Foods to help modernise their systems.

“Following the recent upgrade and digitising of our production, traceability and recall system, we are now in a position to view and report on every box of product that we have shipped to our customers,” explains Ray Connolly, Commercial Manager, Glenaine Foods, Limerick. “The level of detail and real-time access to that data means we can even print batch and expiry information on the delivery docket for our customers. Our production performance reports, audit records and product recall data can be retrieved at the touch of a button.

“We’ve adopted GS1 standards right throughout our data management and logistics processes,” Ray continues. “We’re also ready for the next wave of digital product data sharing with our implementation of the GS1 Data Matrix

barcode on all our shipping units. The advice and support from the traceability team in GS1 Ireland have been invaluable in ensuring that we now benefit from having state-of-the-art, seamless and intuitive processes which are far more efficient than the old paper-based processes.”

Increasing importance of sustainability and traceability

While traceability and sustainability may have taken a step back from consumers’ minds during the Covid-19 pandemic, the latest data from the Irish Grocery Shopper Insights Research, conducted by Shopper Intelligence, shows a marked increase in the importance of delivering on both traceability and sustainability criteria.

In the 2022 data, the indicators for ‘environment’ and ‘sustainability’ are up

“

+2% on two years ago and the importance of traceability is up +4% vs 2020 (Interviews conducted with almost 30,000 shoppers between November 2021 and March 2022). Understandably, sustainability and traceability are core to the Chilled and Fresh Foods categories, moreso than categories such as non-edible grocery, general merchandise and toiletries.

In terms of the ways in which consumers relate to sustainability, recyclable packaging, less packaging, the manufacturing process, and reducing food waste rank as the most important areas for producers/brands to consider and deliver on.

The Shopper Intelligence data also demonstrates the increasing importance of traceability to the Irish grocery shopper, with an increasingly upward trend in the percentage of shoppers that rate traceability as important, and furthermore the commercial value of that shopper to the sector.

Fresh and frozen meat, poultry and seafood, plus eggs, milk and baby food/milk, continue to dominate the top 10 categories where traceability is deemed as most important to shoppers.

The business case for traceability Research supports the business case for traceability, which delivers high value, loyal consumers. When looking at the cohort of shoppers that deem traceability as important, the data revealed that those shoppers are also key for traffic driving, spend and in-store engagement metrics. The retailers and brands that satisfy these shoppers are winning the battle to attract a more loyal shopper, with a larger basket.

Consumer demand for data and transparency is a primary driver for

The advice and support from the traceability team in GS1 Ireland have been invaluable in ensuring that we now benefit from having state-of-the-art, seamless and intuitive processes which are far more efficient than the old paper-based processes.

Ray Connolly, Commercial Manager, Glenaine Foods, Limerick.

traceability, which is about accurately and efficiently recording the identity of ingredients and products as they flow into, through and back out of your business.

“Traceability is a complex metric and business driver to navigate,” explains Denis O’Brien, Director of Standards and Solutions, GS1 Ireland. “It comprises, on the one hand, a detailed amount of internal inventory and production data, and on the other, sharing and communicating that data in a way that is meaningful to consumers. That’s the real data challenge for most organisations that we deal with on a day-to-day basis.”

Barcodes for traceability

The compact size of the GS1 DataMatrix symbol, combined with its greater data capacity, supports both commercial teams and consumers with their demands for extended product information, such as food provenance, allergens, organic and other certification criteria, best before and expiry dates or product recall notices. GS1 DataMatrix offers all stakeholders across the supply chain,

The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) encoded in a barcode symbol operates as a type of unique licence plate for a product, enabling it to pass through the supply chain, through the checkout of a store or online marketplace, and into the end-consumer’s hands.

GS1 solutions for traceability

GS1 standards can help organisations to build efficient processes to identify, track and manage their ingredients, raw materials and finished goods. Barcode scanning boosts data input accuracy and automation, while reducing manual effort and error rates.

In addition to the traditional linear EAN barcodes commonly found on retail products, there are a number of other barcode symbol types that can help with sharing information across the supply chain. These symbols include GS1 128 for outer cases and pallets and the (newer) Data Matrix barcodes that are approved for use in both logistics applications as well as at retail point-of-sale.

GS1 barcodes, which are based on open, global standards, can be used and read by all parties across the supply chain. This overcomes the issues and costs created by internal, company-specific or proprietary numbering systems and barcode symbols.

a unique opportunity to encode and share product and asset information quickly, accurately and efficiently

“Consumers want to know everything about a product they buy or a service they experience: where it comes from, if it is good for their health, if it is safe for the environment,” reveals Mike Byrne, CEO, GS1 Ireland. “To strengthen the trust of consumers, we must offer increased transparency by providing more and more trusted, accurate information. Thanks to the combination of GS1 standard barcodes and data services such as ‘Verified by GS1’, retailers, manufacturers and e-retailers can provide the right data to enable the transparency demanded by consumers.”

For help on identifying the opportunities for your business and the steps to get started, contact one of our industry experts today. Email ask@gs1ie.org or visit our online resource centre at www.gs1ie.org/datamatrix.

Blas na hÉireann 2022

Quality shines at Blas na hÉireann awards

Back in their spiritual home of Dingle, Blas na hÉireann 2022, the Irish food awards, celebrate a bumper year and announce this year’s Supreme Champion as Arán Bakery & Bistro for Arán spelt sourdough, with Ten Watch Chocolates announced as Best Artisan Product for their PB&J Bar.

BLAS na hÉireann, the Irish food awards, have announced this year’s winners, with the awards presentation returning to Dingle for the first time in three years. Arán Bakery & Bistro were crowned Supreme Champion for their Arán spelt sourdough, while Ten Watch Chocolates were revealed as Best Artisan Product for their PB&J Bar.

A previous finalist and gold medal winner at the Blas na hÉireann awards for their sensational breads and pastries, Arán Bakery & Bistro took home the Supreme Champion Award for their Arán spelt sourdough, a loaf that uses 80% local spelt flour from Kells Wholemeal. With a lovely, slightly nutty flavour, the bread is finished with sesame seeds to accentuate the flavours that this unique grain maintains.

Based in their bakery and bistro in Kilkenny City, winners Nicole Server-Pawlukojc and Bart Pawlukojc met while doing a stage in Noma in Copenhagen, married and moved to Ireland and opened Arán. Although they come from different chef backgrounds, Arán Bakery & Bistro brings their two influences to bear with a taste of what they’ve learnt from cooking all over the world.

Winner of Best Artisan Product for their PB&J Bar, Ten Watch Chocolates are producers of handmade, artisan chocolates using single origin Madagascar chocolate and the best local and seasonal ingredients, made with great care by Lawri Dowie in Randalstown, Co. Antrim. An experienced chef and sourdough bread baker by trade, Lawri set up the small enterprise at his family home in Randalstown in late 2019 and has been selling

his exquisite range of bonbons and bars successfully at food markets around Northern Ireland ever since, as well as featuring on shortlists and winning awards, such as at the London-based Academy of Chocolate. The name Ten Watch Chocolates comes from Lawri’s love of the movie Casablanca, which features a jokey reference to a ‘ten watch’ in the film, and his Best Artisan Product award-winning PB&J Bar is made using his own in-house peanut butter and raspberry jam.

The Blas Village

This year’s finalists and winners got to experience the new Blas Village for the first time. Set in the heart of Dingle, the popup village was built for producers across the country to come together and celebrate the very best of Irish food and drink for the first Blas in-person event in three years. As well as the awards being held here, finalists and winners have had the opportunity to showcase their products, engage with customers and meet key industry buyers.

The finalists displayed their produce in four pagoda-style tents, each highlighting a province in Ireland, also a new addition to the festival. Suitably named Eat Ireland in a Day, visitors were able to enjoy the high-calibre quality of food & drinks that reached the finalist stage.

“After a three-year hiatus from an in-person event, having a three-day event with the addition of the Blas Village and Eat Ireland in a Day has been worth the wait,” said Artie Clifford, Chairperson and founder of Blas na hÉireann. “I am really proud

food accessible to everyone. Our aim is to make simple but delicious food from great ingredients that everyone can enjoy, while supporting and showcasing our local suppliers and producers.”

Lawri Dowie, the chocolatier and baker behind Ten Watch Chocolates, described winning Best Artisan Product for their PB&J Bar as “the most prestigious and significant award yet and I am absolutely thrilled. Chocolate making really is a labour of love but there’s huge pleasure to be had from coming up with new flavour combinations and working on them until they really tick all the boxes. I’m so happy with the response to our PB&J bar — people do seem to love it, and that’s a great vote of confidence in Ten Watch Chocolates.”

of what we hosted online but one thing that was repeated over and over was that people missed being in Dingle. It has been an intense and fantastic few days of focused networking, catch-ups and creating new connections. Our winners and finalists have been of exceptional talent this year and I am delighted that we have been able to showcase their produce to both regular visitors and industry experts in such an approachable and enjoyable way. This year, it was not just the exceptional food and drink that has been celebrated but the people themselves, our passionate and resilient producers. It has been quite a homecoming to our Blas family home and we are looking forward already to doing it all over again next year.”

Huge increase in entries

Now in their 15th year, Blas na hÉireann saw a huge increase in entries this year, with almost 3,000 products and many new producers entering the awards for the first time. Products from every county in Ireland were entered to win bronze, silver or gold awards in over 150 food and drink categories, as well as the key awards like Supreme Champion and Best Artisan Producer.

“We have had great success previously in the Blas na hÉireann awards but winning Supreme Champion is wonderful news for us all at Arán Bakery & Bistro,” says co-owner Bart Pawlukojc. “We’re a small, hard-working team that really believes in what we’re doing in Arán, our creative outlet where we make top-quality

Winner of the inaugural Love Irish Food Bursary 2022 announced

LOVE Irish Food have announced the winner of the inaugural Love Irish Food Blas na hÉireann Bursary 2022.

Zingibeer, Ireland’s first and only Ginger Beer, was awarded the €4,000 prize, at the Blas na hÉireann food awards.

The Bursary will encompass a one-year free membership to Love Irish Food, together with promotional support.

Zingibeer is the latest brand to become a member of Love Irish Food, whose brands employ over 12,000 people in the food, drink and support industries, throughout the Republic of Ireland.

Love Irish Food launched the Bursary award earlier this year with Blas na hÉireann to help promote new and emerging Irish produced brands.

“At a time of great challenge for Irish SME food brands, Love Irish Food is delighted to present this award and to welcome a new member brand into the association,” said Kieran Rumley, Executive Director, Love Irish Food. “As a new member, Zingibeer will share the many advantages of Love Irish Food membership in joining with over 100 other Irish produced food and drink brands. By partnering with Blas an hÉireann to create this Bursary award, we hope to bring opportunities to new and emerging brands.”

Bartlomiej Pawlukojc of Arán Bakery & Bistro, Kilkenny, who won Supreme Champion at this year’s Blas na hÉireann for their Arán spelt sourdough.

Pictured at the Blas na hÉireann food awards are Love Irish Food’s Executive Director, Kieran Rumley, with the winner of the Love Irish Food Bursary, Rachel Walsh of Zingibeer.

Blas na hÉireann 2022

SuperValu

Producers for SuperValu enjoyed huge success at this year’s Blás na hÉireann awards, taking home an impressive 119 awards. These included SuperValu Own Brand and its Irish brand producers winning 46 awards, made up of 13 gold, 18 silver and 14 bronze. A special prize for best new product was awarded to Kepak for their SuperValu Irish Beef Dry Aged Striploin.

SuperValu’s Food Academy food and drink producers picked up a total of 73 awards, made up of 19 gold, 19 silver and 24 bronze, as well as five Chef's Larder's, five best in county and the Rogha na Gaeltachta award.

These wins included gold and best in county for Clare Jam’s new product Doolin Mustard, while newcomer Zingibeer, run by father and daughter Kevin and Rachel Byrne, won gold for their Ginger Beer. Zingibeer is made from all natural ingredients, including lemon zest and champagne yeast, which make the ginger beer sophisticated, zingy and refreshing.

New producers who started with Food Academy in May this year won 13 awards. This is an endorsement of the quality and innovation of Food Academy’s emerging food and drink brands, which form a major part of SuperValu’s support of indigenous food producers.

“This year SuperValu producers took home a total of 119 awards, including 73

awards for our outstanding Food Academy producers,” noted Ian Allen, Managing Director, SuperValu. “At SuperValu we are committed to supporting more Irish food producers than any other retailer and in delivering both the best quality and value for our customers. Working with more than 1,800 Irish food producers, we are immensely proud of our award-winning brands and it’s wonderful to see the local suppliers and producers receive the recognition they richly deserve.”

Some of the worthy winners from the SuperValu Own Brand range included:

Kepak, who won best new product for their SuperValu Irish Beef Dry Aged Striploin, gold for their SuperValu Signature Tastes Hereford Irish Fillet Steak, and silver for their SuperValu T-Bone Steak.

Based in north County Dublin, Ballymaguire Foods won gold for their SuperValu Signature Tastes Moroccan Inspired Irish Lamb Tagine and silver for SuperValu Freshly Prepared Potato Gratin.

Some of the worthy winners from SuperValu’s Food Academy producers included Clonakilty Gluten Free Kitchen, who won gold for their Gluten Free Multigrain Loaf, silver for their Gluten Free White Bread Rolls, and bronze for their Gluten Free White Loaf, while On the Pig’s Back won gold for their Duck Live Pâté, silver for their Pork & Plum Terrine, and bronze for their Chicken Liver Pâté with Garlic & Brandy and their Chicken Live Pâté with Smoked Bacon & Port, and Killua Castle Foods won gold for their Killua Castle Signature Venison Sausages.

Aldi Ireland Aldi and their network of remarkable Irish food producers brought home a total of 41 awards, including 11 gold medals, 15 silver medals and 15 bronze medals.

Aldi’s gold medal-winning products

Niamh Scally, Clonakilty Gluten Free Kitchen, one of the worthy winners from the SuperValu Food Academy programme.

Aldi’s Specially Selected West of Ireland Lamb Guard of Honour, from Dawn Meats, was a gold award winner.

Blas na hÉireann 2022

were produced by ABP Meats, Alltech Beverage Division, Armagh Cider, Dawn Meats, Donegal Rapeseed Oil, IGWT Poultry, Kestrel Foods, Lir Chocolates, Loughnane's of Galway, Silver Hill Duck and Vanilla Bean Patisserie.

“At Aldi, we consider quality and provenance to be the cornerstones of our success,” noted John Curtin, Group Buying Director at Aldi Ireland. “We pride ourselves on working closely with local suppliers to offer our customers only the finest of Irish produce at affordable prices. That’s why we are so thrilled to have enjoyed yet another successful year at the Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards, which set the standard for quality Irish food and drink. We wish to congratulate our producers and the buying teams for this richly deserved recognition.”

Aldi’s gold winners included: Butcher's Selection Irish Beef Quarter pounder with Smokey Bacon Seasoning (ABP Cahir); Specially Selected West of Ireland Lamb Guard of Honour (Dawn Meats), Duck Breast Fillets (Silver Hill Duck), Armagh Craft Cider Dry (Armagh Cider) and Roisin's Salted Caramel Crunch Egg (Lir Chocolates).

Bantry Bay win Seafood Innovation Award

BANTRY Bay Premium Seafood was revealed as the winner of the 2022 Blas na hÉireann Seafood Innovation Award, an award category sponsored by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s seafood development agency.

Bantry Bay Premium Seafood is a family run seafood processing business, established in 1991, who process mussels sourced from their own farms in Bantry Bay.

“We are honoured to receive this award,” revealed Damian Connolly, Operations Manager at Bantry Bay Premium Seafoods. “I would like to take the opportunity to thank the team in Bantry Bay who have worked so hard and to BIM who have worked closely with us and been hugely supportive of our business. At Bantry Bay, we strive to continuously improve all areas

Tesco Ireland

of

Tesco Ireland received 25 rewards at this year’s Blas na hÉireann awards across several medal classes, including beef, lamb and bacon, cured meats, ready meals, prepared foods, soups, ice cream, dairy, cheese, breakfast cereal and preserves categories. Tesco was awarded 11 gold medals, including the newly launched Tesco Finest blackcurrant conserve, produced by Folláin in Cork.

Tesco’s gold winners included: Tesco Finest honey and mustard ham; Tesco Finest Certified Irish Angus Beef Short Ribs with Honey, Soya and Sesame Sauce; Tesco Raspberry Yogurt 150g; Tesco Moroccan inspired salad; Tesco Finest Tomato with Mascarpone & Fresh Basil Soup 400g; Tesco Finest Red Cabbage with Port & Cranberries 400g; Tesco Finest Mashed Potato 400g (Bronze 2021); Tesco Finest Italian Meats Pizza; Tesco Finest Buffalo Mozzarella & Semi Dried Tomatoes Wood Fired pizza; Tesco Finest Cranberry, Apricot & Clementine stuffing; and Tesco Finest blackcurrant conserve.

“It’s great to be back at the Blas na hÉireann awards in person this year, and we’re proud to have come home with 25 awards for Tesco own label and Finest products,” said Joe Manning, Commercial Director, Tesco Ireland. “We are delighted to have the quality of our Irish produced products recognised at such a prestigious event, and to have received 11 gold medals, as well as nine silver and five bronze is an achievement that we are all extremely proud of. This is all made possible thanks to the relationships we have with our dedicated suppliers, some of which we’ve worked with for 25 years now, who provide the best quality products for our customers. Congratulations to all involved.”

Tesco Finest Blackcurrant Conserve, a gold award winner at Blas na hÉireann.

Pictured are (l-r): Artie Clifford, Blas na hÉireann; Seamas Roiste, Quality Manager, Bantry Bay Premium Seafoods; Paul Ward, Manager, BIM Seafood Innovation Hub; and Damian Connolly, Sales Manager, Bantry Bay Premium Seafoods.

the business to ensure sustainability and innovation is at the forefront, allowing us to continue to work hard to bring Irish Mussels to the world’s tables.”

Available in the majority of larger stores. Serving suggestion.

Sweet, sweet joy.

Blas na hÉireann 2022

Centra

Convenience retailer Centra’s Irish producers claimed 22 awards at this year’s Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards, including six gold, nine silver and seven bronze awards. The big wins include five products from the premium Inspired by Centra range, expertly created to bring consumers a range loaded with value, without compromising on taste or quality.

Award winners within the Inspired by Centra range include Inspired by Centra Angus Sirloin Steak with Peppercorn Butter (Kepak), Inspired by Centra Salmon Sensation (Dunn’s of Dublin), Inspired by Centra Lamb Tagine (Ballymaguire Foods), Inspired by Centra Mexican Style Sweet Potato and Bean Salad (Wonderfoods) and Inspired by Centra Cold Pressed Ginger Shot (Sunshine Juice Ltd).

Other key award winners from the Centra range include Centra Crème Fraiche (Clona Dairy Products), Centra Chicken with Garam Masala Soup 400g (Ballymaguire Foods) and Centra Gold Blend Tea Bags (Bewley’s).

“Blas na hÉireann are the largest food awards on the island and we’re very proud to have taken 22 accolades at the 2022 awards,” revealed Ian Allen, Managing Director, Centra. “We work closely with our high-quality Irish suppliers, and we are delighted that so many of our local producers and their products have received the recognition they deserve at these esteemed awards. We’re delighted to see five winners from our Inspired by Centra range, which uses the highest quality home grown ingredients to deliver the very best tasting products to our customers at stores nationwide.”

Hot stuff from Little Red’s LITTLE Red’s Hot Sauce was crowned Ireland’s best hot sauce at this year’s prestigious Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards. The Dublinbased company claimed gold in the ‘Savoury Sauces’ category for their signature Everyday Hot Sauce, which utilises an innovative cooking process using naturally fermented chillies and garlic, slowly matured to achieve a unique flavour synonymous with Little Red’s sauces.

Originally established in 2020 and recently a successful member of SuperValu’s Food Academy programme, Little Red’s are committed to using locally sourced, natural ingredients with no added sugar and free from chemical additives. “It’s a great achievement

to be recognised at the most prestigious Irish food awards and we are honoured to be named ‘Best Savoury Hot Sauce’ in Ireland,” noted Shane Doherty, Owner, Little Red’s Sauces. “Winning this award is a testament to our hard work and dedication in delivering a truly unique, Irish hot sauce which we look forward to offering customers around the country.”

Centra took 22 awards at Blas na hÉireann. Pictured with Centra products are: (back row, l-r) Majella Moynihan, Andrew O'Donnell, Sarah Donnelly, Dermot Skehan, Edward Spelman, Jack Rogers, Gerry Sheridan, Abigail Collins, Niamh Barber, Louise Welland; (front row, l-r) Liz Skehan, Ciara O'Gorman, Gillian McGowan and Lisa Clarke.

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Sustainability Are you getting your sustainability story across?

Sustainability is hugely important to an organisation’s reputation, but only if its sustainability strategies have been absorbed and understood by the public. The results of the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2022 reveal that many companies are struggling to achieve this.

SUSTAINABILITY drives over 50% (51%) of an organisation’s reputation, according to the results of the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2022 study.

Out of 100 organisations measured, Credit Unions emerged with the best sustainability reputation in Ireland, followed by some familiar names: Glanbia (second), Fáilte Ireland (third), Lidl Ireland (fourth) and An Post (fifth), with Aldi at number 8 and Bord Bia at 10.

The Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index ranks 100 of the largest, most familiar, and most important organisations in Ireland by the public’s perceptions of their performance across social performance, ethical standards, workplace, and environmental impact. The independent study was carried out by The Reputations Agency and is based

on the views of over 6,500 members of the public in the Republic of Ireland who participated in an online survey for over two months from January 3 to March 14, 2022. This is the eleventh year of this study, which has developed in rigour and depth over those years.

Revealing Irish results, trends and insights at a breakfast webinar for 200 guests, The Reputations Agency examined Ireland’s top performing organisations across 13 key sustainability drivers, analysing what is resonating with the public and driving this success. This study measures the public’s perception, drawn from both their experiences and many communications touchpoints they have had with each of these 100 organisations. This is not a measurement of the sustainability

strategies underway or their direct impacts but of how well, or not, these have been absorbed and understood by the public.

For the last 10 years, The Reputations Agency has calculated sustainability rankings using nine factors or indicators of sustainability. This year, the Sustainability/ ESG model has been augmented to introduce four new factors, bringing it to 13 sustainability factors across environmental impact, social performance, conduct and workplace. Taking the average score across the 100 organisations studied, of the 13 factors that help to build a reputation in sustainability, 11 of those factors received a weak to mediocre score and just two received a strong score: ‘Positive influence on society’ and ‘Rewards employees fairly’.

To win support, organisations need their

sustainability strategies and initiatives to touch, impact and influence the public across multiple touchpoints – direct experiences, communications channels, and positive word of mouth. As the end users in many environmentally sustainable product offerings, for example, consumers’ selection of these products above other choices is vital to the success of those offerings in the market, helping consumers to play their role in making a difference.

Struggling to achieve cut-through “Society expects organisations to play their part in the community, economy, environment, dealing with the big issues that we face today, not just in Ireland but globally,” noted Niamh Boyle, Managing Director, The Reputations Agency. “The results of the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2022 show us that the Irish public perceive over half of the 100 organisations studied to be doing either an inadequate (9%) or fairly mediocre (47%) job in sustainability, while the remaining 43% are perceived to have robust sustainability strategies in play. We know that many organisations are working hard and investing more each year in their sustainability agendas, but they continue to struggle to achieve cut-through and to really embed themselves in consumers’ minds as leaders in sustainability.

“Organisations are widely scrutinised on their alignment with social causes, their

environmental impact, their behaviour, their values, and the internal culture they create,” Niamh continued. “The public are more attuned to the reputation of an organisation than ever before, and for the public, actions speak louder than words. We know that sustainability, which in our study comprises environmental impact, social performance, conduct, and workplace, drives 51% of an organisation’s reputation but for many, their sustainability reputation is holding their overall corporate reputation back. These more intangible drivers and factors are now more important to an organisation’s reputation than the products or services an organisation sells.”

Purpose the key to sustainability strategy According to Niamh, the key learning from this year’s study was that a clear sense of purpose should be at the core of any organisation’s sustainability strategy. “Leaders have a key role to play in guiding their organisations towards that sense of purpose,” she revealed. “Understanding the big drivers of building a reputation in sustainability is crucial to build trust and win support from your stakeholders.”

The Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2022 highlights how ‘Being a Positive influence on Society’, ‘Improving the lives of others’ and ‘Being Fair, Ethical, Open and Transparent in the way you run your business’ are the most important sustainability factors in driving corporate reputation.

Niamh believes that “it is critical to have a strategic communications process that links purpose, sustainability and reputation together, while creating real value across all key stakeholders, to help build sustainable, profitable, and valuable businesses.”

None of the 100 companies in the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2022 have a poor score, but nine have a weak score, 47 an average tier score, while 43 have a strong tier score and just one receives an excellent score in sustainability this year, the Credit Unions.

Investing in communications strategy

The Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2022 data highlights that investments in sustainability communication strategies make solid business sense. The public is 2.3 times more likely to purchase from an organisation in the strong tier than from one in the weak tier and nearly three times more likely to purchase from an organisation with an excellent sustainability score. Likewise, the public is more than twice as likely to trust an organisation in the strong tier than one in the weak tier and nearly three times more likely to trust an organisation with an excellent sustainability score. The study also highlights the correlation between sustainability and willingness to work for an organisation.

The top 10 most reputed Irish organisations in the Ireland RepTrak Sustainability Index 2022 are:

Drinks market expecting strong festive season

UP until early 2020, the Irish drinks sector was enjoying a hugely positive spell, both at home and abroad. Irish whiskey was making strides right across the world, with new distilleries opening regularly as the industry returned to levels not seen in over a century, while Irish cream liqueur, poitín, Irish gin and even indigenous vodka brands were regular winners at international competitions. Brewers too were reaping the benefits of an increasingly knowledgeable consumer, with craft beers and ciders enjoying strengthening sales. The future looked very bright indeed, and then Covid hit.

“Ours was one of the sectors most affected by Covid,” explains Cormac Healy, Director of Drinks Ireland, the Ibec association that represents some of Ireland’s best-loved drinks brands across spirits, wine, beer and cider. “The on-trade was particularly affected, as pubs, restaurants and hotels were faced with mandated closures that here in Ireland ran for longer than any of our counterparts across Europe, while we had similar issues in all of our export markets. Our industry had to contend with big shifts in a very short space of time in terms of the marketplace and particularly our route to market.

“The retail sector and the off-trade has always been a valued partner of the drinks industry,” Cormac continues. “It’s a place where consumers can explore the wide range of offerings and brands available, both established and new entrants to the market. And that became even more important throughout the pandemic.”

Beer and cider

The pandemic impacted all drinks categories, with overall consumption of alcohol in Ireland falling by 9.6% from 2019 to 2021, but beer and cider were hit hardest, due to their popularity in the on-trade in ‘normal’ times, as Cormac explains: “For context, prior to Covid, just over 60% of beer sales were in

Ireland’s pubs, restaurants, and hotels. Last year, 53.6% of sales were in the off-trade and 46.4% were in the on-trade.”

In terms of hard numbers, the pandemic resulted in a 46% fall in beer production between 2020 and 2021, with sales down by 1.3% and per capita consumption down by 2.3%. Last year, domestic sales of cider declined by 4.2%. In total, they were down by 15.1% since 2019. In the second half of 2021, however, we saw the beginning of recovery in the beer and cider categories as venues reopened.

Wine

Wine sales increased during lockdowns in 2020, despite overall alcohol consumption declining during this time, as consumers moved away from categories that are popular in pubs. However, in 2021, overall wine sales were down by 13%, to their lowest level since 2015.

White wine remains the most popular in Ireland with a 48% market share, with red wine holding a 45% share, both unchanged from 2020. Rosé has become increasingly popular in Ireland in recent years, particularly during summer months. While its market share remained static in 2021, it has grown from 3% in 2016 to 7% in 2021.

Spirits

The spirits category remained resilient throughout Covid, Cormac reveals, and domestic sales rebounded as hospitality venues reopened in the second half of 2021, up by 8%.

Key trends include the consumer shift to ‘premium’ and ‘super premium’ in domestic and international markets. Irish Whiskey’s spectacular growth was notable once again last year, with global sales reaching 14 million cases, while domestic sales were up by just under 5% between 2020 and 2021. Meanwhile, the huge growth in the gin market continues, with sales up by 13% last year.

Cormac Healy, Director of Drinks Ireland in Ibec, discusses the triple whammy of Covid, Brexit and the War in Ukraine in terms of their impact on the market, the trends that continue to drive growth in the drinks category, and the challenges and opportunities facing both producers and retailers in the months ahead.

Irish Cream’s global sales followed a similarly strong trajectory, Cormac notes, with domestic sales up by 25%. “This was an extremely positive development,” Cormac says, “and this year, the industry is planning to run a campaign in the lead-up to Christmas to promote the category.”

The Ready to Drink (RTD) category continued to emerge in Ireland, mirroring the global trend. “The retail sector is obviously key to drive this,” Cormac explains. “Last year, sales of cocktails and long drinks in Ireland grew by 60%, while hard seltzers were up by 46% and flavoured alcoholic beverages rose by 27%.” He points out that a number of local producers have entered the RTD market, with sales of Irish RTD brands up by 7.4% between 2020 and 2021.

Brexit still an issue

The impacts of Britain’s exit from the European Union are still being felt, according to the Drinks Ireland chief, who stresses that Drinks Ireland is an all-island trade association, representing members on both sides of the border.

“Brexit, unfortunately, is still something of a work in progress in terms of its continued effects on the market,” he explains. “While we in Drinks Ireland were cognisant of the need to recognise and protect our all-island Geographic Indications (GI) status for Irish whiskey, Irish cream liqueurs and poitín, which was secured in the early part of the negotiations, we are continuing to monitor supply chain challenges post-Brexit. The other big area of concern for us is the legislation around rules of origin post-Brexit; this can become quite technical, if, for example, products produced in Northern Ireland use inputs from the Republic. We want to monitor how these will fare in trade deals, either made by the UK or the European Union, in terms of rules of origin.”

Cormac Healy, Director, Drinks Ireland.

Of course the situation hasn’t been helped by the continued turmoil within the UK government, the lack of a sitting government at Stormont, and issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol: “All of that uncertainty is unhelpful to business. What businesses, including drinks manufacturers, want is a degree of certainty again. We feel that the Protocol works for our members and we need to try to ensure that this and other issues are dealt with in the near future and not the distant future.”

Cost increases

This year started with the return to something approaching normality across the drinks market, until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine set commodity prices soaring, with unprecedented hikes in energy prices.

“Just as we were starting to work our way towards some kind of normality, we have been hit with major inflation across business,” Cormac explains. “Energy costs are being talked about a lot, and that impacts on costs right across the business. It’s not just your immediate energy bill, although we are seeing two- and three-fold increases in those, but it also impacts on the cost of inputs and of distribution. So businesses, including drinks manufacturers, are being hit with alarming cost increases right along the supply chain. Our raw materials, like grain, have increased significantly in price. And we also have to see the impact of inflation on consumer purchasing decisions as well.”

Positive outlook

However, despite the increased costs of doing business, the drinks industry remains cautiously optimistic as we approach the traditional busy period for both the on- and off-trade.

Throughout the pandemic, consumers utilised their local off-licences more, as they tried to recreate the pub experience in their own homes, with huge growth in cocktail ingredients, for example. This is a trend that Cormac can see sticking around, as consumers embrace the range and quality on offer in their local off-licence, across beer, cider, spirits and wines.

The beer sector was one of the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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“Across all categories, we are seeing constant innovation, from beers and ciders to gin, poitín and Irish whiskey, with new expressions and new cask finishes being introduced to the market,” Cormac notes. “There is a depth of quality that is being produced, which is what ensures the longevity of these brands.”

Cormac points in particular to the phenomenal rise of hard seltzers and other flavoured alcohol products, with some new indigenous brands making an impact.

In beer and cider, craft has gone mainstream, as he explains: “The depth and breadth of offering available now is phenomenal. There are new Irish brands popping up all the time across beer and cider; the homegrown brands are really developing and strengthening in the marketplace.”

The consumer has become far more knowledgeable too, across categories, and Cormac believes that it is up to the drinks industry, both suppliers and retailers, to ensure we develop that level of education and knowledge around the categories, in terms not just of the brands and flavours available but of matching products.

“In Drinks Ireland, we have run some workshops on pairings, both pairing drinks with food and also with other drink categories, like beer and whiskey pairings for example,” he reveals.

Changing attitudes to alcohol Ireland’s attitude to alcohol consumption is changing – indeed, there has been a fall in alcohol consumption of approximately 33% since the peak in 2001. “There is now strong evidence Ireland’s drinking habits are changing for the better, and people of all ages are drinking more moderately and less,” Cormac reveals. “The clear trend we’re seeing is of people choosing moderation and quality over quantity, which is positive for the industry and for consumers. Emerging signals actually show that younger people may in fact be leading this trend.”

Drinks Ireland recently undertook independent research with cultural insights agency, Bricolage, examining

Ireland’s Gen Z and millennial populations to understand their relationship with alcohol.

“The research aimed to do a qualitative deep dive into how Gen Z over the legal drinking age in Ireland, as well as young millennials, socialise and view their relationship with drinking,” Cormac reveals. “The younger generation have a very different relationship with alcohol than older generations. Their socialising isn’t necessarily centred around alcohol, for example; things like experience, conviviality and quality are very important to them.”

Speaking to a range of young people and experts, it found a growing trend among Gen Zs around being more mindful about how they socialise with alcohol, something the researchers call a desire

for “better socialising”, which leads to a “better drinking” culture.

“They are a lot more conscious of how they socialise, and social media has a role in that,” Cormac reveals. “This generation don’t think of social media as something separate but almost an extension of their arm, and they are very conscious of it while they are socialising in terms of how they are perceived. So it’s about quality rather than quantity and it’s about the overall experience rather than just the alcohol.”

Drinks Ireland see this trend reflected in other research/expert analysis globally, while the trends towards premiumisation, no/low alcohol, hard seltzers etc all dovetail with the research findings.

Driven by innovation among producers the growth of no/low alcohol products has

We are seeing a return to normality, and we all expect to see a more normal festive season this year compared to the last few years.

“ ”

Image from rawpixel.com

Irish whiskey continues to enjoy phenomenal growth both domestically and

worldwide.

been nothing short of incredible in recent years, albeit from a small base. “In terms of alcohol-free, 0% beers, we have gone from sales of 1.79 million litres in 2017 to 5.5 million litres in 2021,” Cormac reveals. “The general international feeling is that this is a market that will continue to grow, with annual global growth rates of 8-9% predicted for the coming years.”

Cormac reveals that it is not just in beers that growth is happening, with similar green shoots across other categories, including cider and spirits. “Consumer demand is driving this market and it’s being met by industry investing in the development of no and low alcohol products that deliver on taste and quality,” Cormac explains.

Minimum Unit Pricing and excise duties January 4, 2022, saw the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol in Ireland, under section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act of 2018, which set a floor price below which a unit (10g) of alcohol cannot be sold.

The Drinks Ireland Director believes that it is still too early to judge its overall impact. Drinks Ireland has always maintained the position that it is against the sale of cheap alcohol, but the fact that the legislation was introduced in the Republic of Ireland without similar legislation in Northern Ireland brought the potential for increased cross-border trade. This, married with other cost of living pressures, means there is a risk that cross-border shopping will become a “more significant” factor over the festive season.

Drinks Ireland and other representative bodies, as part of DIGI (Drinks Industry Group of Ireland) called for excise to be reduced this year, given the various business and consumer pressures at play and Ireland’s disproportionately high rate by EU standards.

“Ireland has the second highest excise levels on alcohol overall within the EU,” Cormac highlights. “We have the highest excise duties on wine, the second highest on beer, and the third highest on spirits. We are out of line with the EU and our neighbours. Drinks Ireland will continue to work with the off licences and the ontrade to campaign for a reduction in excise levels. Working with our partners in DIGI, we had been looking for a 7.5% decrease in excise duties in this year’s Budget, and another similar reduction in 2023, but on this occasion it was left unchanged. It is something we will continue to work on.”

The Irish wine market enjoyed a strong 2020 but last year saw

decline in volume sales.

Looking to the future

Despite what he terms the “headwinds of energy cost increases and general inflation”, Cormac believes that the drinks industry is approaching the future with a sense of cautious optimism.

“We are seeing a return to normality, and we all expect to see a more normal festive season this year compared to the last few years. This will impact on both the off-trade and on-trade,” Cormac notes. “Everyone has concerns about the ongoing energy cost hikes, which are expected to continue into 2023, and we have to be conscious of that.”

He points to the drinks industry’s impressive export performance, which is expected to exceed €2 billion this year, which “underlines the importance of the drinks sector to economic activity right across the island.”

“There are plenty of challenges ahead, not least the issues of inflation and rising energy costs,” he concludes. “Nevertheless, from meeting with members, I see a huge positivity and ambition to grow the sector both here in Ireland and in terms of exports, and it’s exciting to be part of that.”

The pandemic resulted in a 46% fall in beer production between 2020 and 2021.

a significant

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Christmas Stocking: Essentials Festive favourites

We focus on the products guaranteed to fly off your shelves this Yuletide, as Irish consumers plan to celebrate in style.

CHRISTMAS 2022 will be our first in three years free of Covid-19 restrictions, as the festive season gets back to some kind of normality, and consumers want to celebrate.

Irish consumers spent €3.1 billion on groceries during the 12 weeks to December 26 last year (Source: Kantar). €1.1 billion went through tills during December alone, just 0.6% lower than 2020’s record-breaking figure, and an increase of €141 million compared with 2019, equivalent to an extra €65 per household. December 23 was the busiest shopping day of the year with people spending a combined €81.6 million on their final shop before Christmas.

An extra €3.1 million was spent on Christmas dinner, with whole turkey sales up by €1.9 million as the public splashed out on a showstopping centrepiece. Sales of other festive foods, including Christmas biscuits, cheese and confectionery, were €10.5 million higher than the previous year, with homegrown brands performing extremely strongly, along with premium own label sales.

Despite the cost-of-living crisis intensifying and rising inflation rates, new research has revealed almost three quarters (73%) of Irish shoppers plan on spending more money or the same as they did last year for Christmas.

The consumer survey from Talon Ireland, a leading, independent, out-of-home agency, conducted by their research partners Spark Market Research, also revealed that shoppers began their shopping early, with 24% starting in September, 23% in October, and 22% planning to start in November.

When looking at the differences between spending power this year, versus last year, research suggests 26% have more disposable income than the previous year, with 35% expecting to spend more than they did last year.

Amidst the financial uncertainty, many Irish consumers are still craving acts of kindness and instances of connection. The research indicates that the Irish public is geared up for a larger Christmas this year, with 33% planning more family gatherings. More guests means more food and 53% plan on trading up to a more premium retailer, with only one in five (20%) shoppers staying loyal and sticking with their usual store.

For many, shopping for the Christmas season is all part of getting into the festive spirit. When looking at the in-store versus online shopping patterns, the research revealed a stark difference from last year. In 2021, 45% of shoppers planned on doing all of their Christmas shopping online, while this year that figure is expected to decrease

by 31% to 14%. 38% of Irish shoppers plan on doing a mix of in-store and online.

There are also Irish consumers that still plan to buy their gifts in person, with 47% planning to visit shopping centres, 24% visiting the high-street, and 30% doing a mixture of both.

“It’s really interesting to see that, despite growing financial concerns, people are getting into the festive spirit earlier and excited to celebrate together with friends and family without Covid restrictions,” revealed Caroline Decourcy, Research & Insights Director at Talon Ireland. “The mood feels optimistic - but brands must consider the wider context and remain sensitive in their approach, with adapted strategies that strike the right balance between festive and considerate.”

Pringles

Pringles are getting ready to launch their 2022 festive campaign, which encapsulates the up-and-coming winter celebration season. As the ultimate celebration snack, Pringles have combined their festive and football campaigns, a first for the brand, to show consumers how they can make the most of all the winter celebrations.

The campaign sees a soon to be launched advert showcasing scenes from both

Christmas Stocking: Essentials

and delight your shoppers. This Christmas, experience bliss with the most indulgent addition to the Lindor range: Double Chocolate.

The Lindt Master Chocolatiers combine expertise and the finest ingredients to create the perfectly round milk chocolate truffles with an irresistibly smooth melting filling with dark chocolate; Double Chocolate, double bliss.

Christmas and football coming together in a fast-paced and mind-popping way. OOH, digital, social, print and in-store will position Pringles as the perfect snack for the upcoming season of celebrations. Impactful and eye-catching POS materials will take over retailers across Ireland, proudly displaying Pringles in a festive and football theme. The brand will also partner with retailers for online activations, ensuring the snack is top of mind on festive shopping lists.

With a variety of flavours and formats, Pringles are sure to satisfy all occasions this festive season, whether fans are celebrating football or the most wonderful time of the year. The campaign kicks off in midNovember and will run through December.

Lindt Lindor

Lindt Lindor have strengthened their position as the number one boxed chocolate brand in the Irish market. €1 in every €5 spent on a box of chocolates in Ireland is spent on a Lindor box, proving that Lindt Lindor continues to be a must stock for retailers in 2022 (Source: AC Nielsen Scantrack total market excl. Discounters, MAT latest 52 weeks to September 11, 2022).

Lindor’s success comes not only from the much-loved classic Lindor milk recipe but also through their continual innovations to the market that are guaranteed to excite

As market leaders, Lindt will deliver a massively upweighted national support plan this Christmas behind the Lindor brand, with Lindor TV advertising returning to your screens from October and a strong push in-store with premium point of sale and display.

Mondelēz International

Christmas can be the most magical time of year for retailers’ seasonal sales, and Mondelēz International will be helping them to make the most of it with treats from iconic brands such as Cadbury, Oreo, Maynards Bassetts and Green & Black’s.

Mondelēz International are central to Christmas confectionery, leading the market, and are number one in five sub-categories, including advent calendars, selection boxes and pouches. It’s clear that shoppers trust Mondelēz to bring them the products they love come Christmas-time, with total seasonal sales growing over 11.8% last year (Source: NielsenIQ, Total Scantrack (excl. Dunnes & Discounters), Christmas Choc, Value sales, 17 w/e December 26, 2021). In seasonal biscuits, Mondelēz also has a strong presence, growing at 6% last year, with top-performing products from Cadbury Biscuits and Oreo seasonal biscuits (Source: Scantrack excluding Dunnes and Discounters to MAT to January 2, 2022).

This year, they have rolled out a broad redesign across their seasonal range, which sees many products with new, eye-catching, and elevated packaging. This new look will help to drive further value for retailer and shoppers as their festive favourites will have a new touch of Christmas magic, and they’re sure to create excitement in-store.

With a format for every occasion, give your shoppers the gift of bliss this Christmas: Lindor from Lindt.

Cadbury Puds made a much-anticipated return last year, and were quickly a huge hit with shoppers, cementing

their place in the Cadbury Christmas portfolio. This year, they’re back and sure to delight Puds fans once again in 2022.

One in every two advent Calendars purchased is a Cadbury’s Advent calendar, with the Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar consistently coming out as Ireland’s favourite year after year (Source: NielsenIQ, Total Scantrack (excl. Dunnes & Discounters), Christmas Choc, Value sales, 17 w/e December 26, 2021).

This year, Mondelēz International are rolling out a brand new treat for all to enjoy: the Cadbury Chunk Collection. The collection includes individually wrapped delicious chunks of various Cadbury chocolate, including Cadbury White, Cadbury Dairy Milk, and Cadbury Dairy Milk Wholenut. This collection’s elegant packaging stands out on-shelf, but also has an aspect of versatility which allows retailers to tap into various seasonal shopper gifting occasions. The Chunk Collection is available in a 243g Carton format, with an eye-catching design that is sure to stand out on-shelf.

The iconic Cadbury Heroes Tin will also be available in an exciting new game edition that is sure to bring the entire family together. Cadbury Heroes Who Am I? features all of the

With a variety of flavours and formats, Pringles are sure to satisfy all occasions this festive season.

Cadbury Chocolate Santas are a musthave for chocolate lovers when it comes to the festive season.

Cadbury Puds are back and sure to delight fans once again in 2022.

Master Chocolatier since 1845

Christmas Stocking: Essentials

Conor Browne Wreaths sign Lidl deal

LIDL Ireland have announced a brandnew deal with local producer of fresh Christmas wreaths, Conor Browne Wreaths & Mountain View Christmas Tree Farm, based in Co. Wicklow. The deal will see the business supply a selection of fresh Christmas wreaths to Lidl’s 217 stores throughout Ireland. With the new investment by Lidl, the Wicklow business will create more than 20 new jobs.

The partnership will see the fresh wreath provider supply Lidl stores across the island of Ireland with Deluxe Christmas Wreaths, uniting fresh Noble Fir foliage, a combination of gold and white tipped natural Austriaca pinecones and luxury tartan pullbows, alongside a budget friendly Christmas Wreath combining Noble Fir foliage, Austriaca pinecones and plain red pullbows.

“We are thrilled to sign this brand-new deal with

treat-sized shopper favourites you’d expect, but with a brand-new in-built game for all to enjoy while they share and indulge in their treats.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Winter Mint Crisp will be available in a 360g block format this Christmas, making it the perfect small gift for Cadbury lovers. What’s more, it’ll be rolled out with a new and impactful gifting design that is sure to stand out on-shelf, driving incremental sales and encouraging shoppers to ‘trade-up’.

Chocolate Santas are a must-have for chocolate lovers when it comes to the festive season, making them a fundamental part of any retailer’s Christmas confectionery offering. Mondelēz International will be returning with their two Hollow Santa Offerings, 50g and 100g version, the perfect self-treat or small gift to engage your shoppers.

Tins are a growing category in Christmas confectionery, which drives value and offers shoppers the opportunity to trade up. This year, Cadbury are launching two new beautifully designed tins filled with delicious Cadbury Chunks. Tins make a great gifting proposition for the festive season, and these new additions will give shoppers two different sizes to choose from for their recipient, 396g or 850g.

Toblerone is popular with premium

Conor Browne Wreaths,” noted Ian Mourão, Senior Buyer - Plants & Flowers, Lidl Ireland & Northern Ireland. “This will be the first year we will be offering their fresh wreaths in our stores. At Lidl, our team thrive off working with Irish suppliers and are constantly looking for standout locally sourced products that our customers will love as much as us.”

Classic 262g are ideal offerings that make it easier for customers to trade up to these premium brands and support retailers in driving bigger basket sales,” Jason revealed.

Ferrero expanded their boxed chocolate range in August 2021 with the launch of Thorntons Pearls in two deliciously premium flavours - Hazelnut Delight and Salted Caramel Sensation; the range is perfect to enjoy while sharing moments of delight with loved ones. “Developed using Thorntons expertise in caramel and Ferrero expertise in hazelnut, the two flavours, with a fine chocolate shell and delicious centre of taste and texture, are well placed to give consumers a quality sharing chocolate experience,” according to Jason.

Ferrero’s diverse portfolio contains a wide range of confectionery options that cover different occasions. Ferrero Rocher is now available in a 90g tablet bar with three delicious chocolate varieties to choose from: white chocolate, milk chocolate and a dark chocolate variety. As a well-known and instantly recognisable brand, Ferrero Rocher is perfectly placed to bring a premium chocolate tablet bar to the market, encouraging lovers of the brand to try the chocolate in a different way, and tempting traditional chocolate tablet bar shoppers to trade up to something special.

chocolate shoppers, and Mondelēz International have developed a new Toblerone Selection Box, filled with three 100g bars and 14 treat-sized Tinies in delicious milk, white, and dark flavours.

Finally, the brand new Cadbury Favourites selection box is ideal for seasonal indulgence, offering shoppers several of their favourite Cadbury Dairy Milk treats in one, including a sharing bag of Buttons, a box of Fingers, a Twirl bar and 100g tablet. The impactful design sets out the product proposition clearly for the shopper, and includes the label “for someone special”, making it a perfect personalised gift for any festive occasions.

Ferrero

Premium boxed confectionery will continue to play an important role for retailers wanting to drive confectionery sales, so it’s key that the right pack formats are offered in-store, according to Jason Sutherland, UK & Ireland Sales Director, Ferrero.

“For example, Ferrero Rocher 300g and Thorntons

“The launch of both our Ferrero Rocher tablet bars and Thorntons Pearls into the market allows consumers to enjoy the taste of Ferrero and Thorntons in a new way,” notes Jason. “By offering multiple formats, retailers can offer their shoppers a variety of products to suit every need. Ahead of gifting and sharing occasions, shoppers are likely to turn to brands they know and love, so we would encourage retailers to stock up on those lines to ensure the range appeals to a wide range of shoppers.”

Ferrero Rocher: hugely popular with Irish consumers.

Pictured are (l-r): Ian Mourão, Senior BuyerPlants & Flowers, Lidl Ireland & Northern Ireland, and Conor Browne, Owner and Operator, Conor Browne Wreaths & Mountain View Christmas Tree Farm.

Christmas Stocking: Essentials

Nivea

Nivea have an array of festive gift sets available this season, with a selection of indulgent gifts to ensure there is something special for everyone in the family.

The Nivea Rainbow Soft Skin gift set includes four must-have products in rainbow hues, leaving skin fruity, fresh and ready to tackle those post-Christmas party antics. The set includes Nivea Fresh Blends Fresh Cherry Anti-Perspirant Spray, Nivea Love Fun Times Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel, Nivea Soft Moisturising Cream and Nivea Gentle Cleansing Cream Wash, in a fun re-usable rainbow box.

The Nivea Natural Indulgence gift set includes Nivea Naturally Good Honeysuckle Scent Organic Oil Infused Shower Gel, Nivea Naturally Good Organic Aloe Vera Body Lotion, Nivea Naturally Good Aloe Vera Sheet Mask, Nivea Naturally Good Organic Aloe

Green Gifting is made easy with GIY GIY has come up with a genius solution for all budding food growers this Christmas. The gift of growing your own food is the gift of a life skill for young and old alike. GIY’s GrowBox range is the perfect place to look for a practical, sustainable gift for a friend or family member, and is also an ideal choice for corporate teams. Each one comes with seeds, dehydrated compost discs (just add water!) and pots to get each veg going, plus growing guides to bring them all the way to

Smooth Body Lotion and Nivea Soft Moisturising Cream.

The Nivea Luxurious Lips collection features four of the brand’s iconic lip balms: Hydro Care, Soft Rose, Original Care and Pearly Shine, for a perfect lastminute stocking filler or a secret Santa gift.

harvest. To give growers the best chance of success GIY is now making its range of online courses free to anyone. All GIY GrowBoxes, courses and gifts are available for delivery nationwide and order at www.giy.ie

Shower Gel, Nivea Men Sensitive Protect Anti-Perspirant Roll-on, Nivea Men Crème and Nivea Men Sensitive Face Wash in a practical and understated wash bag.

The Nivea Men Top Tier Gift Set includes Nivea Men Sport Shower Gel 400ml, Nivea Men Dry Impact Anti-Perspirant Spray 150ml and Nivea Men Protect & Care Deep Cleaning Face Wash 100ml.

Vera Micellar Face Wash and Nivea Soft Moisturising Cream and a bamboo face cloth.

The Nivea Pampering Indulgence collection is perfect for those in need of a little luxury and at-home pampering. It contains Nivea Cashmere & Cotton Seed Oil Shower Cream, Nivea Smooth Hands & Nail Care Hand Cream, Nivea Refreshing Moisturising Day Cream SPG15, Nivea Moisturising Night Cream, Nivea Irresistibly

The Nivea Men range includes the Nivea Men Sensitive Pro Ultra-Calming Shower & Shave Care Kit, including Nivea Men Sensitive Pro Ultra-Calming Liquid Shaving Cream 200ml, Nivea Men Sensitive Pro UltraCalming Facial Balm 150ml and Nivea Men Sensitive Pro UltraCalming Shower Gel 400ml, as well as a bamboo razor.

The Nivea Men Top Tier Gift Set includes Nivea Men Sport Shower Gel 400ml, Nivea Men Dry Impact Anti-Perspirant Spray 150ml and Nivea Men Protect & Care Deep Cleaning Face Wash 100ml.

The Nivea Men Sensitive pack includes Nivea Men Sensitive

Delight in the details with Avoca

THIS Christmas, Avoca are celebrating the delight in the details that makes the festive season so special. From every hand-cut star on top of mince pies, each carefully curated hamper, down to perfected festive recipes and ribbon-tied cakes, the retailer has thought of every little thing, so shoppers don't have to.

Festive entertaining and hosting is made easy and at the focus with the Avoca Christmas Feast menu. Among the delights are crowd-pleaser starters and nibbles, Christmas

The Full Works gift set has all the sensitive skincare essentials men need for a complete grooming routine, including Nivea Men Sensitive Shower Gel, Nivea Men Sensitive Protect Anti-Perspirant Roll-on, Nivea Men Sensitive Face Wash, Nivea Men

dinner favourites and all the trimmings, including their synonymous, sell-out ham and paté. New dishes have been welcomed this year which cater for guests who love to graze and share food, as well as the vegetarians among us. These include dishes such as Mac & Cheese, Bread & Butter Pudding, Baileys Tiramisu Truffle, Pear, Blue Cheese, Walnut & Chard Tartlet, White Chocolate & Macadamia Rocky Road, and Roast Squash & Sage Risotto. Explore Avoca’s range of festive food and gifting online at www.avoca.com

Sensitive Shaving Foam and Nivea Men Sensitive Moisturiser.

The Nivea Rainbow Soft Skin gift set includes four must-have products in rainbow hues, leaving skin fruity, fresh and ready to tackle those postChristmas party antics.

Christmas Stocking: One4All

BIK limit increase good news for gift cards

RECENT research carried out by One4all echoes recent media coverage, demonstrating how the cost of living is very much top of mind in the Irish psyche. Results show 55% of people said they are highly impacted with the rising costs of living in Ireland, with 53% worried they won’t be able to pay for gas, oil or electricity bills (Source: Blackhawk Network research carried out with a panel of 1007 participants aged 18-65 in June 2022).

Interestingly, 51% are changing their food shopping habits to help with paying utility bills and 82% said they would use a gift card to pay for utility bills if it was an option.

As we move into the winter months, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about how to optimise your employee engagement strategy as employees continue to go the extra mile to achieve business objectives after yet another extraordinary year. Showing appreciation for their efforts with rewards and recognition is crucial in maintaining high levels of satisfaction, motivation, and productivity.

BIK limit increases to €1,000 Minister Paschal Donohoe revealed in Budget 2023 that the BIK limit is increasing from €500 to €1,000. Businesses can now reward employees up to €1,000 per annum in One4all Gift Cards, free of tax, PRSI and USC charges, saving up to €1,313.54 (based on giving €1,000 net to an employee on the 40% tax band paying

full PRSI and USC). The maximum reward of €1,000 can be split across two payments in one financial year.

“Our latest research highlights the serious impact of the current economic climate on employees and it also presents a huge opportunity for employers to reduce their own costs by utilising the BIK exemption,” notes Terry Spence, Director of Sales for One4all Rewards. “Their staff can also reap the rewards of the full value of their bonus without having any tax applied; currently an employer can save up to €1,313.54 per employee. This is a huge boost for employers, employees and the Irish economy.”

The popular One4all Gift Card can be loaded from €15 to €150 and its digital counterpart can be tailored with a personalised video message from you on behalf of your business or customised with a photo of your company logo, easily sent by text or email.

Higher value loads

For higher value loads over €150, the One4all Chip & PIN option is available in physical, or digital reloadable format. EU Directives to protect Irish consumers means anonymous gift cards with a load value of over €150 currently require a simple photo verification process to help protect Irish consumers against online fraud.

Employees who received a Chip & PIN Gift Card last year benefit from previous photo verification through One4All’s technology partners, ID Pal, meaning the ID process is still valid, for a period of up to four years from initial verification.

For more information, email corpsales@one4all.ie or visit www.one4allrewards.ie to place your order today.

Businesses can now reward employees up to €1,000 per annum in One4all Gift Cards, free of tax, PRSI and USC charges, following changes in Budget 2023.

Terry Spence, Director of Sales for One4all Rewards.

Christmas Stocking: Spirits The spirit of Christmas

The spirits category looks set for a bumper festive season, as consumers stock up for gifting and home entertaining.

IRELAND’S spirits sector is in fine health, having proved the most resilient drinks category during the pandemic. Indeed, Irish consumers’ love affair with spirits is growing, as cocktail culture really takes hold and adult shoppers seek to recreate their favourite cocktails at home, with sales expected to soar over the festive season, both for gifting and home entertaining.

O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey New O’Driscoll’s Irish Whiskey is crafted by the direct descendants of the ancient O’Driscoll clan, a tribute to their famous pirate and smuggler ancestors from Baltimore, West Cork, who patrolled Ireland’s wild Atlantic coast.

The O’Driscolls were men of the sea, men of ships, boats and the wild Atlantic. They were pirates and smugglers who built castles and harbours and by the fifteenth century were one of the strongest clans in Ireland. The many different castles in the Baltimore area and surrounding islands provide a useful indicator of the extent of the O’Driscolls’ territories and wealth. But it was the Atlantic

ocean that was their real domain and few entered the O’Driscoll waters without an invitation.

O’Driscoll’s Irish Whiskey is a tribute to those famous men of the sea and encapsulates that wild Atlantic spirit of adventure, bravery and survival.

O’Driscoll’s Irish Whiskey is a challenger brand to the category leaders. The liquid is an exceptional mixture of malted barley and golden grain, triple-distilled and aged for at least three years in bourbon casks, giving the signature smoothness of Irish Whiskey. O'Driscoll's Irish Whiskey is distributed by Comans Beverages.

Cointreau Cointreau, distributed by Barry & Fitzwilliam, has launched a redesigned version of its liqueur bottles, which are now made from two-thirds recycled glass. Describing the brand refresh as the “most momentous of its kind in 140 years”, both the bottle and the label have been altered.

As well as looking to boost its sustainability credentials by using recycled glass, convenience and practicality was also a consideration when redesigning the bottle. The bottle has been made four millimetres taller to facilitate its grip and make it easier to hold. Similarly, the newly textured cap provides better grip for an easier twist-off, while simulating the skin of an orange.

However, the bottle still displays traditional design features such as the Cointreau medallion.

Spirit lovers, both past and present,

Cointreau has a new redesigned bottle, made from twothirds recycled glass.

New O’Driscoll’s Irish Whiskey: inspired by the pirate and smuggler ancestors of the O’Driscoll clan in West Cork.

Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Spirit

Inspired by History Crafted by Experts

Christmas Stocking: Spirits

Tia Maria

Tia Maria, distributed by Barry & Fitzwilliam, dates back to the mid-17th century when a beautiful young Spanish aristocrat fled the turmoil that colonial war brought to the island of Jamaica. Her maid saved one family treasure, a small jewellery box with black pearl earrings and an ancient manuscript with the recipe for a mysterious liqueur. The recipe was named after the courageous woman and Tia Maria was born. The recipe lay dormant for many years, before being rediscovered in the 1940s by Dr Kenneth Leigh Evans, who began to produce and market it. From this day forward, Tia Maria has been a favourite for coffee cocktail lovers the world over and it was even used in the very first Espresso Martini recipe over 40 years ago.

Bottled at 46% ABV, new Jameson Single Pot Still whiskey is priced at RRP € 60 per 700ml bottle.

expression with an innovative twist and bringing a new member into the Jameson family.”

Bottled at 46% ABV, Jameson Single Pot Still whiskey is priced at RRP €60 per 700ml bottle.

Teeling: Blackpitts Cask Strength

Teeling are delighted to announce the release of a new expression of Teeling Whiskey and their second release of Peated Single Malt, Blackpitts Cask Strength. Blackpitts Peated Single Malt is one of the very limited offerings of Peated Single Malt from Ireland and helps revive an ancient way of making Irish whiskey, using smoke created by burning peat or turf, as it is widely known, while malting the barley.

Tia Maria is a sweet liqueur with a strong coffee character and a complex aromatic structure. Made with Madagascan vanilla, Jamaican rum, and 100% Arabica coffee, Tia Maria has a classic roasted, full-bodied, and rich taste. An exclusive cold brew extraction process gives it its distinctive intense coffee aroma, which is followed by notes of chocolate and pipe tobacco, caramelised cane sugar and vanilla.

Tia Maria is the must-have ingredient for the Espresso Martini. The Tia Espresso Martini has been the classic evening pick-me-up since its creation in the 1980s and as delicious today as it’s always been.

Jameson Single Pot Still

Jameson, the world’s bestselling, and most awarded Irish Whiskey, have introduced their latest expression, Jameson Single Pot Still. Celebrating the traditional style of Irish whiskey after which it is named, Jameson Single Pot Still is a throwback to an era when Irish whiskey reigned supreme.

Skilfully created under the watchful eye of Master Distiller Kevin O’Gorman, Jameson Single Pot Still is crafted from a mashbill of malted and unmalted barley, before being triple distilled for a rich, unmistakable taste experience. The new Jameson Single Pot Still is then matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, while also introducing the subtle flavour contribution of three different types of Virgin oak casks: American, European, and Irish.

“We are delighted with the release of Jameson Single Pot Still,” noted Kevin O’Gorman, Master Distiller at Irish Distillers. “It has been an honour and a joy to work on rebuilding a traditional Jameson

New from Teeling Whiskey, Blackpitts Cask Strength is a special Cask Strength bottling of their award-winning Teeling Blackpitts Peated Single Malt.

Teeling have produced a special Cask Strength bottling of their award-winning Teeling Blackpitts Peated Single Malt. Double distilled from heavily peated malted barley and exclusively matured in exbourbon barrels, it is a very distinct, full flavour smoke experience which is very different to even the first Teeling Blackpitts bottling. This 56.5% ABV bottling is very limited, with only 8,400 bottles available in this first release.

Fercullen 21-Year-Old Single Malt

The Powerscourt Distillery have announced the launch of their oldest release of Fercullen whiskey to date. The inaugural 2022 release is a marriage of 21-Year-old Single Malt whiskey matured in ex-bourbon barrels, with a selection of Oloroso Sherry and Pedro Ximénez finished whiskeys.

John Cashman, Head of Whiskey for Powerscourt Distillery, said, “This is the oldest whiskey expression released by Powerscourt Distillery to date. This aged single malt will become an exclusive

recognise Cointreau as a core building block in premium cocktails creation. Cointreau is the cornerstone of more than 350 internationally renowned cocktails such as the Margarita, Sidecar and Cosmopolitan.

Tia Maria: a favourite for coffee cocktail lovers the world over.

New look for Club Mixers

ICONIC Irish mixer brand, Club Mixers have unveiled a new bold and vibrant design. The new design sees the brand move closer to the Club master brand, with the energy from the Club brand-mark echoed and built on by illustrations from their past that radiate out in a fun, playful and ownable style.

“We are very excited about our new Club Mixers’ design, as it is very important for us to keep such an iconic Irish brand contemporary and relevant to the modern consumer,” said Brian Greer, Marketing Manager, Britvic Ireland. “Not only has our focus over the years been on delivering a unique and superior taste experience, we want everyone to know we share a purpose of savouring every moment and living life to the full along with Club. We know Irish consumers are eager to buy local brands, especially ones that matter more to them. Our new modern Irish design, built on by illustrations of our rich and iconic history, is intended to appeal to a broader, younger audience, focusing on the attributes of heritage, quality, and reliability. We have big growth ambitions over the next five years and this next evolution of the brand has been designed to transform how we engage with consumers, while emphasising our Irish values through our unique history.”

Lyre’s non-alcoholic cocktails

LYRE’S, the world’s most awarded non-alcoholic spirits brand, have crafted the ultimate range of Dark Spirit cocktails to enjoy this autumn/winter.

Consumers can delight in the depth of flavours on offer across this tempting trio of spirits, including the full bodied Dark Cane Spirit with notes of caramel, fudge, and fig along with toasted nuts, the perfect accompaniment for chilly autumn evenings. Lyre’s Amaretti is beautifully balanced with a hint of seasonal spice and vanilla, capturing the essence of a traditional nutty amaretto liqueur. Finally, the American Malt offers a warming, malty, winter tipple, best enjoyed by a crackling open fire or with friends against a backdrop of pumpkins, sequins or sparkle!

“The Dark Spirits trio are blended to perfection with an array of seasonal notes that pay homage to traditional spirits,” noted Anita Osborne, Lyre’s Brand Ambassador. “The delicious cocktails we have created showcase the versatility, depth and incredible flavours of the Lyre’s non-alcoholic range.”

Meanwhile, Lyre’s have announced a new Highland Malt, a nonalcoholic whisky style beverage crafted to capture the essence of a blended malt whisky, one of the world’s most revered spirits, with flavours that are distinct and contemporary.

Club

Available as 6x330ml can pack and 850ml PET for the grocery channel, Club Mixers are the perfect accompaniment to spirits, expertly designed to blend deliciously with gins, vodkas and whiskeys.

Irish

Two Stacks, have come together to blend and bottle an exclusive poitín of only six bottles. Made from a century-old whiskey mashbill and matured in 100-yearold Oloroso casks for just under 10 weeks, five bottles of the unique spirit are up for grabs at Ireland’s first ever poitín conference and tasting event, Poitín Now, on November 20.

“The poitín is one of a kind, a single pot still spirit created using the same ingredients as Irish whiskeys produced in the 1920s and re-discovered by whiskey historian Fionnan O’Connor last year,” explained Michael Walsh, Head Distiller at Boann Distillery. “Working with Two Stacks in Co. Down, we have bottled six in total as a special commemorative bottling and a very special addition to the Poitín Now show.”

Filled with a mashbill from the 1920s, the spirit will mature at Two Stacks bonded warehouse in Co. Down to produce a new whiskey in 10-20 years. “This exclusive bottling at under 10 weeks is a unique opportunity for people to try the casks, which will not be bottled for many more years in the future,” said Shane McCarthy of Two Stacks.

annual release, with the vintage year prominent on the label. I believe this Single Malt is destined to become one of the great Irish whiskeys of the modern era.”

Fercullen 21-Year-Old Single Malt, the oldest release of Fercullen to date, has a limited release of just 8,000 bottles.

Boann Poitín

distillery Boann and bonding warehouse

Boann Distillery and Two Stacks bonding warehouse have blended an exclusive poitín of just six bottles.

Mixers have a new bold and vibrant look.

Lyre's Maple Coffee Cocktail is both seasonal and sophisticated.

Christmas wiiings from Red Bull Christmas wiiings from Red Bull

PROMISING to vitalise body and mind, Red Bull Energy Drink, alongside its expanding range of editions, will make for the ultimate Christmas 2022 party companion, with wiiings for every taste.

Red Bull Sugar Free and Red Bull Zero serve the no sugar category trend, whilst the colourful editions including Tropical, Red (Watermelon), Green (Cactus Fruit) and Apricot provide wiiings for every taste. Red Bull Energy Drink is now also available in the super convenient four-pack, perfect for Christmas get-togethers.

Available in over 170 countries worldwide, with more than 7.8 billion cans of Red Bull consumed last year, its expanding range of editions and beyond the ordinary marketing strategy see Red Bull continue to wing its way into Irish consumers hearts, minds and shopping baskets this Christmas.

Revitalising body and mind since 1987

Founded in 1987, Red Bull established the energy drinks product category, promising to vitalise body and mind. It is appreciated worldwide by top athletes, students and in highly demanding professions, as well as during long drives.

Giving wings to people and ideas, Red Bull is official energy drinks partner to Connacht Rugby and the Irish Women’s Hockey Team, also supporting Irish athletes, hockey goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran, surfer Conor Maguire, downhill mountain bike athlete Greg Callaghan and drifter Conor Shanahan.

Visit www.redbull.ie for more inspiring content and follow @RedBullIre on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date with the latest action and events.

Red Bull is now available in a convenient four-pack.

Grape expectations

Smullen explores

WINE sales in Ireland fell by 13% in 2021, according to the Wine Market Report from Drinks Ireland – Wine, part of Ibec. “The first year of the Covid-19 pandemic saw record wine sales, as hospitality restrictions led consumers to purchase more beverages in retail outlets,” explained Jonathan McDade, Director of Drinks Ireland. “Wine was the primary beneficiary of this new reality, which saw over 10 million cases sold in 2020. However, all that changed in 2021, when wine sales fell by -13% compared to the previous year.

“With the opening of the on-trade, wine sales fell to their lowest level since 2015. While they held steady for the first quarter of the year, there were significant falls in sales for the rest of 2021. In terms of wine’s share of the alcohol market, 2020 saw a five-point increase in wine’s market share to 32.2%. In 2021, wine’s share fell by -2.9% to 29.3% with beer recovering its share from 38.9% to 40.2% in 2021. However, wine is still comfortably the nation’s second most popular alcohol beverage.”

According to Drinks Ireland data, Chile is still the most popular country of origin with Irish wine consumers, claiming a 24.3% market share, a decline from 25.8%

the previous year, which was largely due to global logistics issues. 2021 saw French wines retain their fourth place, though they did see a +0.7% increase in market share, primarily due to French wine being easier to import into Ireland compared to wine coming from other markets.

With Christmas fast approaching and a lot of belt-tightening in progress, the consumer will be looking for more value this Christmas. Retail News spoke

with a number of the key wine importers about their offers, and we now highlight a selection of the wines that will feature on our shelves, in the run-up to Christmas 2022.

Barry & Fitzwilliam

This year, one of the best-known names in the Irish drinks industry, Michael Barry of Barry & Fitzwilliam celebrates 40 years of business. In four decades, Michael has

Jean

the wines guaranteed to fly from shelves

this festive season.

The McGuigan Zero range of alcohol-free wines includes Shiraz, Chardonnay, Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc and Sparkling.

Christmas Stocking: Wine

Blanc and Sparkling, McGuigan Zero is created using state-of-the-art spinning cone technology. By drawing the wine into super fine layers for efficient vaporisation, alcohol may be removed at lower temperatures than ever before, thus resulting in a truly beautiful tasting product.

Villa Maria Wines are celebrating 60 years in business this year at the forefront of New Zealand's wine industry. In Ireland, the Private Bin range is best known for the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but also includes other varietals, such as Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling and Pinot Noir. Villa Maria wines have a fresh new look for the Private Bin range; the wine is the same outstanding quality, just in a new contemporary pack. The high tier Cellar Selection Pinot Noir and the Reserve Wairau Sauvignon Blanc are also available in the Irish market. The most recent launch from Villa Maria is the beautiful Sauvignon Blush, Sauvignon Blanc with a hint of Merlot for a beautiful ‘Provence-like’ blush: looks like rosé, tastes like Sauvignon Blanc.

seen his business grow to become one of the largest independent premium alcoholic drinks distributors on the Irish market. Today, Barry & Fitzwilliam represent over 120 wine, spirits and beer brands. They currently employ over 60 people at their extensive warehousing and administration facilities in Ballycurreen, Co. Cork, and at their sales office in Dublin.

As a family company, they are used to dealing with top names and distribute some of the best-known wine brands in the world. Their wine portfolio includes McGuigan, Villa Maria, Michel Lynch and Graham Norton.

McGuigan is the number one Australian brand in the off-trade, while their Chief Winemaker, Neil McGuigan, has been named the International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC) Best Winemaker in the World an unprecedented four times.

The Black Label range comprises of a Cabernet, Shiraz, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Rosé and Malbec. McGuigan Frizzante is a light style of sparkling, full of lively yet delicate bubbles that give a crisp and refreshing sparkle.

The latest addition to the McGuigan Portfolio is McGuigan Zero: unrivalled taste, zero alcohol. The range offers an unparalleled alcohol-free experience both on the nose and palate. Launching with Shiraz, Chardonnay, Rosé, Sauvignon

Barry & Fitzwilliam will have some of their best-selling wines on offer this Christmas. Look out for the Villa Maria Private Bin Range on offer at €11-12. The McGuigan Black Label Range will have an offer price of €9.50. Nothing says Christmas like a glass of Sherry and the popular Harveys Tio Pepe will be on offer at €14. These offers will be available to all retailers and independent off licences during November & December.

The Michel Lynch Bordeaux wines are always popular at Christmas, mostly due to their Irish connection. Michel Lynch was the grandson of an Irish immigrant, James Lynch, a colonel in the Irish army of James II, whom he followed to France. Michel Lynch was the owner of the Bages Estate in the 18th Century. Two centuries on, his name lives on in Chateau Lynch Bages. In 1986, the current owners of the estate, the Cazes family, created the Michel Lynch brand as a tribute to the estate’s historic Irish owner. The Michel Lynch AOP Bordeaux will be on offer at €12.49.

Barry & Fitzwilliam are enormously proud of their celebrity wine portfolio from the likes of Graham Norton, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kylie Minogue. Graham Norton entered the Top 20 Wine Brands this year, which was a testament to the popularity of the brand. The GN Sauvignon Blanc will be sourced from New Zealand for 2022 and will be on offer at €12.50, along with the rest of the range. Sarah Jessica Parker Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and South

of France Rosé will be on offer at €15. The Kylie Minogue range will retail at €10 in the run-up to Christmas.

Kylie Minogue has four rosés in her wine portfolio: Sparkling Prosecco Spumante, Sparkling Prosecco Frizzante, Cotes des Provence, and Signature Rosé. This Signature range comprises of three wines from France, including the delicate pale-dry rosé made from Cabernet and Carignan grapes, a light and zesty Sauvignon Blanc from Gascony and a smooth and juicy Merlot from the Pays d’Oc. The latest addition is the delicious Prosecco Frizzante produced in the heart of Veneto on the picturesque hills of Gambellara.

Villa Maria Private Bin wines have a fresh new look.

Kylie Minogue with her Prosecco Frizzante, produced in the heart of Veneto.

Christmas Stocking: Wine

Ampersand

Ampersand Wines are all set for the Christmas sell-in with a range of their award-winning wines on special offer for the period. Winner of the Wine of the Year Award at the NOffLA Irish Wine Show Star Awards, Rioja Vega Crianza is always popular at Christmas. An elegant wine, bursting with dark berry fruits, hints of liquorice and spice, it is luscious, rich and smooth. Rioja Vega Crianza regularly wins the title of Best Old-World Red Wine Under €15 at the Irish Wine Show Awards and continues to be a firm favourite with Irish wine lovers. Retailing at €14.95, it is expected to be a popular choice again this Christmas with its stunning packaging and award-winning wine offering superb quality and value for money.

The Rioja Vega Semi-Crianza won in the Best Old World Red Wine Under €12 at the same awards, making it a perfect wine to offer this Christmas. Rioja Vega SemiCrianza is exceptional value for money under €12 and winning the award for the second time is a testament to the qualitydriven winemaking. Rioja Vega is one of the few wine cellars whose winemaking tradition dates back to the dawn of wine culture in the Rioja region. The origins of the Rioja Vega wine cellar date back to before the Denominación de Origen guarantee of quality was created and this has allowed Rioja Vega to preserve the word Rioja in its trademark name.

Barefoot Barefoot is the top selling Californian brand in Ireland. This year, they moved up a position into sixth place in the Top 20 Wine Brand chart. Look out for their brandnew Barefoot Buttery Chardonnay, which

launched in October.

“Barefoot is all about creating wines that are fun, approachable and flavourful, and Barefoot Buttery Chardonnay ticks all those boxes” said Philip Lynch, Country Manager for Ireland at E&J Gallo Winery. “Buttery is an approachable and easy to understand term that nicely expresses the creamy notes of the wine and Barefoot Buttery Chardonnay’s success to date suggests that this is something that resonates with consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. We can’t wait to introduce this new style of Chardonnay to more consumers over the coming months.”

Since its launch in 2021, sales of Barefoot Buttery Chardonnay have grown enormously in the UK, with sales up 220% since being launched there 12 months ago. A similar performance in the US market saw sales of the Buttery Chardonnay grow by +12%. Barefoot Buttery Chardonnay has an ABV of 13.5% and an RRP of €10.

Blue Velvet, a seductive blend of Malbec, Pinot Noir and Bonarda, and the Estate Black Edition, which is a complex and full-bodied blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.

A single varietal Doña Paula Estate Sauvignon Blanc due in stores this autumn will complete the line-up.

Make sure you stock Santa Rita 120 Low and Nonalcoholic wines. With consumers more conscious of the negative effects of alcohol and regular wine drinkers reducing their alcohol intake over the last couple of years, the introduction of low and non-alcoholic

The Doña Paula Estate Malbec from Argentina is elegant and refined, yet very approachable.

wines to the Santa Rita 120 range could not have come at a better time.

New Barefoot Buttery has been a massive hit in both the UK and US, and is expected to replicate that success here in Ireland.

Bibendum Ireland

For those seeking the pleasure of a warming glass of red, the Doña Paula Estate Malbec from Argentina is a must. This elegant, refined yet very approachable Malbec is made by renowned winemaker Martin Kaiser using grapes grown at 1,350 metres in the foothills of the Andes. The range also includes Doña Paula Estate

Santa Rita 120 Dealcoholised Cabernet Sauvignon has proven very popular since its launch in March of this year.

Two nonalcoholic wines, a Santa Rita 120 De-alcoholised 0% Sauvignon Blanc and a 0% De-alcoholised Cabernet Sauvignon, were launched into the Irish market in March 2022. There are three new low alcohol wines also scheduled to launch on the market in the coming month, with an RRP of €12.50: a 120 Reserva Especial De-light Pinot Grigio at 9% alcohol and

Rioja Vega Crianza took the overall award for Wine of the Year 2022 at the NOffLA Irish Wine Show Star Awards

Christmas Stocking: Wine

qualities which still define the Champagne Palmer style today.

Bottega Prosecco gift packs are a sparkling addition to the Bibendum Christmas line-up, with three eyecatching seasonal packaging offers; Bottega Prosecco Spumante Gold, Bottega Spumante Rose Gold and Bottega snipe twin-pack, featuring both the Gold and Rose Gold.

Also from Bibendum Ireland, Pepperbox Shiraz is a newly launched red wine in Ireland by the Casella family.

Edward Dillon & Co. Ltd

80 calories per serving, a 120 De-light Moscato at 8% alcohol and a 120 De-light Cabernet Sauvignon at 9% alcohol and 80 calories per serving. Santa Rita have just released a six-pack for the upcoming Christmas season of De-Light Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio.

Another initiative with Santa Rita Estates is they will be showcasing the DP Estate Malbec 2021 with the triple medal shown on the label.

With Champagne always in demand, Bibendum also have Palmer & Co Champagne on offer; look out for the Brut Reserve & Rose Solera. Palmer & Co was established in 1947. Champagne Palmer is a Champagne house known for their passion for harmony, balance and the pursuit of excellence,

Moët Imperial EOY Gift Pack (€59), the signature expression of the housestyle, Moët Impérial, brings together an accomplished assemblage of the three main grape varieties of Champagne and the ancestral winemaking tradition that has made the global success of the Maison. The Moët Brut Imperial Brut Impérial duopack 75cl (€119.60) is also a must stock, a truly iconic champagne. Or why not stock the Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut Festive Minis Gift Box (€137)? This decorative box includes six mini bottles of Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut and six mini golden flutes.

The other important LVMH Champagne brand is Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Ice Jacket (€65.45). Consumers can keep their Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut cool in both senses of the word, with this stylish, reusable ice jacket, made sustainably from 100% recycled plastic using waste-free 3D knitting technology.

Founded in Cognac in 1765 by Richard Hennessy, one of the wine geese, Hennessy remains one of the best-known Cognacs on the Irish market thanks to its unique Irish heritage. This Christmas, Hennessy will offer the Hennessy VS Gift Box at €37.50.

Comans Beverages

Mionetto Prosecco is a brand that is going places. In Italy, it is the biggest selling Prosecco brand with a significant

following. Mionetto is a long-established winery, started in 1887 by master winemaker Francesco Mionetto, who opened his winery in Valdobbiadene, where the wine is still produced on the original site. With its distinctive premium labelling from the Prestige Selection, the range includes the Mionetto DOCG Spumante (fully sparkling) Prosecco as well as the Mionetto Frizzante Prosecco (lightly sparkling). Both punch above their weight in terms of price-quality ratio.

Look out for the brand-new Dada White Malbec in Dunnes Stores, SuperValu, Gala, Fine Wines, Next Door and Number 21 group. This wine style is brand new and was launched in Argentina in 2019. They make white wine from their most famous red grape, Malbec. The idea is to get the flavour character of the Malbec, without the colour, which comes from the skin of the grape. So they crush the red grapes and make it as a white wine. This wine has a hint of pink colour and aromas of peach and mango. It is when you taste, you notice the difference; gorgeous fresh acidity, with flavours of lemon and red apple.

New Dada White Malbec is white wine made from the famous red grape, Malbec.

Mionetto

Look out for the new labelling on the Dada Art Wine Range which includes Dada 1, Dada 2, Dada 3 and Dada 8. Dada 1, 2, 3 and 8 are on promotion in Dunnes Stores from now until Christmas. Dada 391 and Dada 8 are on offer in Tesco right through to the Christmas period.

Trapiche, another enormously popular

The Dada range enjoys new labelling.

Santa Rita have just released a sixpack for the upcoming Christmas season of De-Light Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio.

Bottega Prosecco gift packs are a sparkling addition to the Bibendum Christmas line-up from Bibendum Ireland.

Prosecco is the biggest selling Prosecco brand in Italy.

Christmas Stocking: Wine

Argentine wine range, have also launched new labels for the Trapiche varietal and Reserva range, with promotions available in Dunnes Stores and SuperValu.

Diablo

Consumers can make an impact at any festive gathering this Christmas with Diablo wines. Priced at €15 per bottle, Diablo Red and Diablo Golden Chardonnay are also the perfect wine to recommend as gifts. The Diablo Dark Red is a wine that blends the tradition of an acclaimed Maule terroir. This Christmas, why not recommend serving the Diablo Dark Red with a beef wellington and indulgent dauphinoise on Christmas day, or a tasty beef curry after Christmas?

Diablo Dark Red is priced at €15 and is available across retail and off-license stores nationwide.

produce fine, distinctively regional wines that are elegant and assertive with glorious fruit flavours. These are wines that drink well within a year or two of the vintages, yet possess the balance of structure to reward keeping. Oyster Bay New Zealand is owned by Delegat Limited, who for 60 years have been one of New Zealand's largest family-owned wine companies.

New Zealand wines are enormously popular and Oyster Bay, one of the world's most successful premium wine brands, is now the top selling New Zealand wine brand on the Irish market. Their wines are always a firm favourite at Christmas. The range includes Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and two sparkling wines.

The latest addition to the Diablo range is the Golden Chardonnay, with its marked aromatic expression of passion fruit and mango. During the festive season, you can recommend to serve it with something sumptuous such as lobster on Christmas day or a creamy seafood chowder. The Diablo Golden Chardonnay is also the perfect accompaniment to poultry and pork dishes, especially a Christmas turkey and ham. For the days over Christmas when customers entertain friends and family, it is the perfect wine to recommend with canapés including bellinis, sausage rolls and chicken and chorizo skewers.

The Diablo Golden Chardonnay is available to Tesco retailers nationwide.

Delegat

The philosophy of Oyster Bay, from New Zealand, is to

New

Oyster Bay, one of the world's most successful premium wine brands, is now the top selling New Zealand wine brand on the Irish market.

The 2021 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc €14.99 is the most popular of the range by a country mile. I tasted it again at the recent New Zealand wine fair last May and I can see why. It has all those gorgeous tomato leaf aromas and when tasted, lots and lots of zesty citrus fruit flavours and a lovely fresh acidity. This is the wine-style that wine snobs love to hate. I can’t see why though, because for me this has drinking appeal and is the ideal match for all kinds of food, but especially fish.

The popular Trapiche Reserva range from Argentina has new labels.

The latest addition to the Diablo range: Golden Chardonnay.

Diablo Dark Red will make an impact this Christmas.

The grapes for the 2020 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir (€14) come from New Zealand’s south island from the Marlborough region. Pinot Noir tends to make a lighter style of red wine; this one has tons of red cherry fruit and a lovely fresh acidity, well priced Pinot Noir to recommend to your customers to serve with turkey.

the ripe fruits and citrus give this wine a well-rounded feel, but one that is light with a fresh finish. This Christmas, why not recommend Lanson Black Label Brut to your customers, instead of Prosecco, when they are choosing a bottle to share the moments?

Look out for the Oyster Bay Sparkling wine range, guaranteed to be in demand at Christmas time. There are two in the range: Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée Rosé (€18-22) is a blend of 20% Pinot Noir and 80% Chardonnay, and Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée Brut (€18-22) is made from 100% Chardonnay. Both are worth stocking, good examples of good quality new world fizz.

Findlater & Co

A very popular Champagne is the Lanson Black Label (€49.95). Le Black Label Brut owes its iconic name to Victor Lanson who named it in 1937, as a tribute to the Royal Court of England, which Lanson has been supplying since 1900. The authentic style of Le Black Label Brut highlights the diversity of Champagne terroir. Their method stays true to the origins of Champagne, for the most part fermenting without malolactic fermentation to retain a unique freshness. The nose reveals subtle 'toasty' and honey notes. On the palate,

The authentic style of Le Black Label Brut highlights the diversity of Champagne terroir.

19 Crimes is the number one brand with the Millennial customers in both the UK and Ireland, and this year it entered the Top 20 Wine Brands in Ireland at No 19. Download the 19 Crimes app, point it at this label and you will hear the true story of Australia's Rum Rebellion of 1808. 19 Crimes The Uprising Red (€19) is made from a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache grapes aged for 30 days in rum barrels. This wine has aromas of blackcurrant with hints of smoke; when tasted, you get dark plum fruit and lots of vanilla and spice. Christmas is the season of piled up roasted meats, bacon studded veg, and crispskinned potatoes, so the 19 Crimes Uprising Red is perfect to recommend with all those the winter dishes served at this time of year.

19 Crimes The Uprising Red is made from a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache grapes aged for 30 days in rum barrels.

consumer. Findlater & Co have one of the best, Grahams LBV (€25). Established in 1820, W & J Graham’s is one of the most famous names in the port trade and has long been synonymous with the greatest vintage ports. The Symington family acquired the company from the Graham family in 1970, so today Graham’s remains a wholly family-owned firm. Producing wines which are renowned for their remarkable richness, concentration and firm tannic structure, Graham’s have a reputation as a producer of outstanding port, and has been making wines with impressive longevity for the last century.

Cassidy Wines

Earlier this year, Cassidy Wines announced that Maison E. Guigal from the Rhône Valley in France was joining their comprehensive portfolio. Neil Cassidy, Managing Director of Cassidy Wines, said that Cassidy Wines are “delighted to be adding such a prestigious range of wines to the company’s extensive portfolio, complementing the already extensive range of wines from France and worldwide.”

This Christmas, Cassidy Wines will offer promotional prices on a number of wines in the range, including Guigal Cotes du Rhône Rouge on offer at €17.99.

Port is a traditional wine style that is mainly bought at Christmas by the Irish

Earlier this year I attended an on-line tasting lead by Pierangelo Tomassi, the Executive Director of the Tomassi Estate. Their 2017 Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOCG (€50) is one of the great wines of the world. This is power in a bottle, hugely concentrated. The 2021 Tommasi Le Fornaci Lugana DOC (€17.99) is is the brand-new vintage of the Le Fornaci Lugana and the wine is aromatic with floral notes, lots of ripe melon fruit flavours and backed by a lively freshness.

Graham’s have a reputation as a producer of outstanding port, and has been making wines with impressive longevity for the last century.

Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée Brut is made from 100% Chardonnay.

APOTHIC: AMERICA’S NUMBER ONE PREMIUM WINE

Apothic’s award winning silky-smooth red wines are now available in Ireland. The number one premium wine brand in America (Source: IRI – Total US MULO + Conv; 52 WE 24/7/22; Dollar Sales and Volume Sales), the Apothic range include Apothic Red, Apothic Cab and Apothic Merlot.

Every glass of Apothic wine offers a depth of layers, each demonstrating intense fruit character supported by a round structure and signature smooth tannins.

Apothic wine begins its journey in carefully selected Californian vineyards, a journey that ends in a stylish and sophisticated bottle adorned with the iconic Apothic ‘A’.

Apothic is a true original. Named after the mysterious place, Apotheca, where vintners stored their most coveted concoctions in 13th century Europe, Apothic blends fuse Old World intrigue with modern sophistication. The winemaker lets the character and flavour of each variety guide the shape of these wines. Apothic offers enchanting blends that are bold in style and taste as well as expressive varietal wines.

Apothic’s wines are crafted to delight the palate and deliver a wine style that isn’t just smooth, it’s beyond smooth. This was demonstrated by Apothic Red winning Gold Medal at the 2022 Mundus Vini Grand International Wine Awards, as well as Apothic Cab winning a Bronze Medal at IWSC 2021.

Apothic Red

When it comes to smooth red wine, it doesn’t get any better than Apothic Red. Apothic’s winemaker’s have masterfully crafted a blend that delivers an intense burst of bold fruit on the palette - and each bottle takes your taste buds on an indulgent adventure.

Apothic Cab

Affectionately known by lovers of wine as 'Cab Sauv' or more simply ‘Cab’, Cabernet Sauvignon is a heavyweight of the red wine world –often referred to as the King of Red Grapes. At Apothic, they've ensured their very own variety lives up to this reputation with an unbeatable style that delivers the trademark silky-smooth style that is loved by legions of Apothic fans across the globe.

Apothic Merlot

Deep midnight blue in colour, the Merlot grape stands aloft as a firm favourite amongst wine fans around the globe. Apothic’s very own expression combines an alluring mix of dark fruit intensity with plush, velvety mouthfeel, making Apothic Merlot a feast for the senses. The indulgent red wine has been crafted by Apothic’s expert winemakers to be the perfect dinner party companion, as well as a faithful friend to cheese boards and charcuteries alike.

www.apothic.co.uk

Liquid gold

IRELAND’S beer and cider sectors were heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with production and domestic sales down between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to the closure of the ontrade.

However, the reopening of hospitality in 2021 saw the beginning of a return to normality for the sector. Last year saw beer’s share of the alcohol market increase from 38% in 2020 to 40%. As such, beer remains Ireland’s favourite alcoholic beverage. Prior to the pandemic, however, beer’s market share was 45%.

Cider sales declined by 4.2% in 2021 compared to 2020, which itself was 15.1% down compared to 2019, before the pandemic. Cider’s market share of the alcohol market has fallen by 1.1 points in a year to a share of 5.8%. In 2019, cider’s share of the alcohol market was 7.4%. In other words, this is a fall of 1.6 points in two years. In terms of per capita consumption, cider consumption has fallen by 5.6% in 2021 compared to the previous year, and per capita consumption is down by 16.8% since 2019. However, there was a 20% increase in cider sales in the second half in 2021 and a rise in sales by 12.5% in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2021.

Brewdog Punk IPA is the beer that kick-started the BrewDog revolution. This scene-stealing flagship is an India Pale Ale that has become a byword for craft beer rebellion;

Punk IPA: the beer that kick-started the BrewDog revolution.

synonymous with the insurgency against mass-produced, lowest common denominator beer. Punk IPA charges the barricades to fly its colours from the ramparts: full-on, full-flavour, at fullthrottle.

Layered with new world hops to create an explosion of tropical fruit and an all-out riot of grapefruit, pineapple and lychee before a spiky bitter finish, this is the perfect drink to quench your thirst.

This 5.6% trans-Atlantic fusion IPA is a tribute to the classic IPAs of yester-year. The post-modern twist is the addition of amazing fruity hops, giving an explosion of tropical fruit flavours and a sharp bitter finish.

Distributed by Barry & Fitzwilliam, sales are at an all-time high and they don’t see the rebellious Punk IPA slowing down anytime soon.

Obolon August 24 of this year, Ukraine’s independence day, saw Barry & Fitzwilliam agree a deal with the largest domestic Ukrainian drinks producer, Obolon, to bring their beer to Ireland.

Obolon was the first privatised brewery in a post-Soviet Ukraine. It became the nation’s household beer, synonymous with freedom and independence, two things that were taken away from all Ukrainians, the night their country was invaded. The company are auctioning off the last bottle of Obolon beer brewed in a peaceful Ukraine at a Christie’s auction in NYC,

Ukraine’s number one beer, Obolon, is now available in Ireland from Barry & Fitzwilliam.

Beer and cider sales are set for a seasonal surge, after a difficult couple of years.

Christmas Stocking: Beer & Cider

with bidding starting at $1 million, and proceeds will fund the free distribution of four million litres of water throughout Ukraine.

Barry & Fitzwilliam will be donating money to Obolon’s noble mission for every bottle sold in Ireland. “We are very proud to be associated with this venture and we look forward to a successful long-term relationship with Obolon,” noted Michael Barry, Managing Director. “We are delighted to be able to help the Ukrainian community indirectly.”

Bulmers

Bulmers, Ireland’s number one cider, is synonymous with drinking occasions celebrated in summer, over ice. To capitalise on this brand strength and positive position, Bulmers will drive consumption moments and relevance in the winter period with a Bulmers Mulled Cider Christmas campaign.

The campaign will kick off in December with full through-the-line support. Bulmers’ heart-warming

Christmas TV ad will be back on air ensuring the brand is top-ofmind and this will be amplified by a heavyweight social media and OOH plan. In the on-trade, a series of premium Bulmers Mulled Cider experiences will pop up in selected pubs throughout the country, giving the public the opportunity to sample Bulmers Mulled Cider in the run-up to Christmas.

In the off-trade, the Bulmers brand team recognise that consumers will be planning for hosting at home, seeking inspiration and easy ways to create special, seasonal experiences. With that in mind, Bulmers will be giving shoppers the chance to have the experience of hot Bulmers Mulled Cider at home. In selected outlets, shoppers will receive the gift of a Bulmers Mulled Cider kit, free with every purchase of Bulmers Original 20x300ml bottle or Bulmers Original 8x500ml can. The limited edition gift with purchase will be available while stocks last and will be signposted in stores by disruptive point of sale.

For a Bulmers Mulled Cider

The Bulmers Mulled Cider Christmas campaign will ensure the brand remains top-of-mind with consumers this festive season.

For a Bulmers Mulled Cider

FREE Mulled Cider Spice Mix

Retail Ireland: Monthly Update

HOT CUP LEVY TO BE INTRODUCED

Under the new regulations, customers who purchase a hot drink in a single-use disposable cup will be charged the levy at the point of sale, while those who purchase their hot drink in a reusable cup will not be charged the levy. The current proposal is for the levy to be €0.20 on each cup, which will be applicable to all single-use disposable cups containing a hot drink, including those described as compostable, biodegradable or recyclable. The Government has said it plans to ringfence the revenue raised in a Circular Economy Fund for projects relating to environmental and climate action objectives. Retailers of hot beverages will be required to register for the levy with the Collection Authority when appointed.

Retail Ireland has raised significant concerns about the tight timeline envisaged for the introduction of the levy and the requirement to phase out the use of single-use cups, which may not provide enough time for businesses and consumers to adapt.

In response to concerns raised by Retail Ireland, a plan to ban the use of disposable cups for customers that ‘dine in’ has been dropped at this time. This would have required many outlets, such as shops with seating areas and fast food restaurants, to install costly dishwashing facilities at short notice.

EARLIER this year, the Minister of State for Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth TD, announced plans to introduce an environmental levy on single-use cups for hot drinks. The levy is being introduced to reduce single-use waste and incentivise consumers to re-use, similar in approach to the legislation which introduced the plastic bag levy in 2002.

The Department is currently holding a public consultation on the issue until November 25, 2022. In addition to the challenging timelines and inflationary impact of the measure, at a time of rising costs, Retail Ireland will be highlighting the operational and logistical challenges the levy presents for retailers.

ENERGY CRISIS AND SUPPORTS FOR THE RETAIL SECTOR

RETAILERS in Ireland are reporting energy bills in recent weeks that are a multiple of what they were this time last year. The sector is already investing significantly in saving energy, and it can play a major role in reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels. However, in the short term, the sector is facing major cost pressures from the high cost of energy. Supporting the retail sector through this winter will be crucial.

Budget 2023 introduced a wide range of measures to help businesses offset the worst excesses of spiralling energy bills. One of these measures is the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS). The scheme is available to any retailer in the country who can show that the unit cost on their electricity or gas bills has gone up by 50% or more this year compared to the same period last year.

It will entitle qualifying businesses to 40% of the additional electricity or gas unit costs, up to €10,000 per month and will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners. The scheme will be backdated to September 2022 and will run until February of next year, with scope to potentially extend further.

The support scheme will offset the worst excesses of recent price hikes, but more help will be needed into next year. Without ongoing support, the energy crisis will push many vulnerable retail businesses to the wall.

Retail Ireland also welcomed measures in the Budget that would support consumers. Reducing personal tax and

childcare costs will help those struggling with bills and support consumer spending in the run-up to Christmas. It is crucial that people see a way through the current period of high inflation.

The plan to withdraw the reduced VAT rate for hospitality is, however, disappointing. The measure contributed to the development of vibrant town and city centres. The issue needs to be revisited in the New Year.

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Tel: 01-6051558 | www.retailireland.ie

Need more?

For more information about Retail Ireland and details of how your retail business can benefit from our unique services and supports, please visit us at www.retailireland.ie

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Irish Wine Show Star Awards

Irish Wine Show Star winners announced

The National Off-Licence Association presented their annual Irish Wine Show Star Awards at Dublin’s Morrison Hotel, recently.

THE National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) recently awarded their annual Irish Wine Show Star Awards to 48 wines. The annual event, now in its 22nd year, was hosted in-person for the first time in two years at the Morrison Hotel in Dublin. The winning wines from the Irish Wine Show Star Awards will be available to consumers from NOffLA outlets across Ireland.

Speaking at the Awards, Gary O’Donovan, Chairman of NOffLA, said: “We are delighted to celebrate the exceptional wines sold by NOffLA members around the country and enjoyed by our fantastic customers, and I want to congratulate all winners this evening and thank all those that made submissions this year.”

In excess of 600 wines were submitted to the Star Award adjudication panel of NOffLA judges and independent wine journalists. Points were awarded on the basis of appearance, smell, taste and value for money criteria, and the winning 16 were selected as the best wines from key suppliers across a number of price categories.

Each of the winning wines will be sold in NOffLA member outlets across the country and will be recognisable by distinctive Award symbols on each bottle. In the pre-Christmas period, NOffLA members will promote the Irish Wine Show Star Awards 2022-2023 Collection as ideal Christmas gifts, in a variety of special gift packs.

Challenging trading environment

At the event, NOffLA also expressed the disappointment of their members that an alcohol excise reduction was not considered as part of Budget 2023 and that Ireland continues to levy the highest excise on wine across the EU and UK.

NOffLA, along with the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), called for a 7.5% reduction in alcohol excise levels in Budget 2023, supported by a further 7.5% reduction next year to bring Ireland’s alcohol excise regime in line with European levels and to also help protect the commercial viability of businesses within the Irish drinks sector in an increasingly challenging trading environment.

All the 2022-2023 Gold Star Winners.

Philip Bargus and Willie Dardis from Ampersand Wines are pictured with the Awards for White Wine of the Year (LoLo Albariño DO) and Overall Wine of the Year (Rioja Vega Crianza DOC 2018).

Pictured accepting the Wine of the Year Award for Rioja Vega Crianza DOC 2018 are Willie Dardis, Sinead Smith and Luis Mareculeta from Ampersand Wines, with NOffLA Chair Gary O'Donovan.

Febvre Wines’ Rachel Coogan is pictured with the award for Sparkling/Champagne under € 60, won by Champagne Jean Reserve Brut Chardonnay grand Cru NV.

Punitive excise levels

Irish Wine Show Star Awards

“Unfortunately, Irish drinks sector businesses are burdened with the highest levels of alcohol excise in the EU and UK, and excise increases from a decade ago remain in place and continue to impact these small, independent businesses,” argued Gary O’Donovan. “It is disappointing that an excise reduction was not included in Budget 2023, given the increasingly uncertain economic conditions these businesses now face.

“It is also particularly disappointing given that with Minimum Unit Pricing coming into effect earlier this year, which now safeguards against the retailing of alcohol at dangerously low prices, Ireland’s punitively high excise levels are no longer justified from a public health perspective.”

About NOffLA

NOffLA was established in 1991 and represents independent specialist offlicences across Ireland, with the sector representing 5,900 jobs in 26 counties. NOffLA works to promote the responsible sale, marketing and consumption of alcohol and to share best practices with the entire trade. NOffLA’s members' outlets are specialist or pure off-licences and tend to be owner-operated, located in the heart of their communities and employ expertise in responsibly retailing many unique products. For more information, visit www.noffla.ie.

CATEGORY WINE

Old World White Under €12

Bren Smith from Mackenway Wines with the New World White Wine under € 20 Award, won by Salentein Barrel Selection Chardonnay 2021.

VINTAGE COMPANY

Giovinello Pinot Grigio 2021 Ampersand Wines

Old World White Under €15 Cantina di Custoza, Custoza Bianco 2021 Liberty Wines

Old World White Under €20 LoLo Albariño DO 2021 Ampersand Wines

New World White Under €12 Coral Reef Chardonnay Semillion 2021 Ampersand Wines

New World White Under €15 Nuevo Mundo Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Febvre Wines

New World White Under €20 Salentein “Barrel Selection” Chardonnay 2021 Mackenway Wines

Old World Red Under €12

Rioja Vega Semi Crianza 2020 Ampersand Wines

Old World Red Under €15 Rioja Vega Crianza DOC 2018 Ampersand Wines

Old World Red Under €20

Vale D. Maria Douro Superior 2020 Mackenway Wines

New World Red Under €12 Coral Reef Shiraz Cabernet 2019 Ampersand Wines

New World Red Under €15 Portillo Malbec 2020 Mackenway Wines

New World Red Under €20 d’Arenberg The High Trellis Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 Febvre Wines

Rosé Under €15

Domaine La Colombette 2021 Cassidy Wines

Sparkling Wine Under €25 Villa Conchi, Cava Brut NV Tindal Wine Merchants Champagne Under €60

Champagne Jean Pernet Réserve Brut Chardonnay Grand Cru NV Febvre Wines

Faber Sauvignon Blanc NV Ampersand Wines White Wine of the Year 2022-2023 LoLo Albariño DO 2021 Ampersand Wines

Non Alcoholic Under €15

Wine of the Year 2022-2023

Rioja Vega Crianza DOC 2018 Ampersand Wines

Tobacco Products

Retailers worried as tobacco seizures surge

A surge in tobacco seizures in the last month points to a booming illicit trade, as retailers face into an uncertain winter, according to Retailers Against Smuggling.

product from the black market for which there is a spiralling growth in demand. Not only are retailers losing out on tobacco sales, but more importantly they are hit by the lost sales of additional products consumers might purchase had they called into the store.”

Benny pointed out that the timing couldn’t be worse, as the retail sector “faces a challenging winter ahead to keep stores viable due to soaring energy prices and the general cost of doing business rapidly increasing”.

At the same time, he contends, organised crime gangs are making huge profits from the growth in demand for cheaper tobacco products: “We are seeing first-hand how large consignments of illicit cigarettes and tobacco are trickling their way down into communities across Ireland to small time criminals, who are often selling to minors.”

a full picture of illicit tobacco trade in Ireland,” Benny revealed. “This intel ensures Customs Officers can identify the supply lines between small time sellers and the major crime gangs bringing large consignments into the country, leading to the type of major seizures we’ve seen over the last month.”

Anyone with information on the sale or supply of illegal cigarettes and tobacco can contact Revenue’s confidential hotline. Freephone 1800 925 925.

For more information about RAS, visit: www.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie

Meanwhile, the country’s main tobacco suppliers have some new products available for adult smokers.

Silk Cut Purple 33s

A SIGNIFICANT spike in cigarette and tobacco seizures by Revenue during October signals the threat of smuggling activity is stronger than ever for registered and legitimate retailers, according to Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS), who called on business owners and the public to report suspicious trade of illicit cigarettes and tobacco in their locality.

The combined estimated retail value of cigarette and tobacco seizures announced by Revenue and An Garda Síochána last month was over €5.8 million.

“In 2021 the notional loss to the Exchequer on the 22.7 million illegal cigarette packs consumed in Ireland was €264 million, according to Revenue,” explained Benny Gilsenan, RAS national spokesperson. “However, retailers are bearing the greatest impact of this as consumers are forced to source cheaper

Retailers Against Smuggling are encouraging business owners and the public to play a role in tackling this criminality, protecting minors, and supporting local retail trade by reporting suspicious activity to Revenue. “Information on the ground like this is incredibly valuable to Revenue for building

JTI Ireland are introducing Silk Cut Purple’s biggest offering yet, new Silk Cut Purple 33s. Ireland’s number one cigarette brand (Source: Nielsen ROI Extended Scantrack, RMC SOM, YTD October 9, 2022) are continuing to expand their wide portfolio with the latest addition to their Silk Cut Purple family. With the trend moving towards bigger box formats, Silk Cut are delighted to add another premium product to the Big Box family.

New from JTI Ireland comes Silk Cut Purple’s biggest offering yet, Silk Cut Purple 33s.

Benny Gilsenan, national spokesperson, Retailers Against Smuggling.

Tobacco Products

New Silk Cut Purple’s “supersized” format consists of 33 King Size sticks and delivers extra value to adult smokers, but with the assurance of the same premium quality & taste they expect from the Silk Cut brand - always a cut above the rest! Stock up now on Silk Cut Purple 33s!

Amber Leaf 3-in-1 In what is undoubtedly great news from Ireland’s number one RYO brand (Source: Nielsen ROI Extended Scantrack, RMC SOM, YTD October 9, 2022), Amber Leaf 30g pouches have been upgraded and now include filters, meaning that each pouch now comes equipped with rolling papers, filters and 30g of tobacco in order to offer even more value and convenience.

Amber Leaf, from JTI Ireland, continue to roll out upgrades to their existing products, coming after the addition of ‘ZipSeal’ technology to all Amber Leaf 30g pouches to ensure that it’s the same high-quality blend and distinctive Amber Leaf taste that existing adult smokers expect, with quality sealed in.

Existing adult smokers can now craft their perfect moments with one simple, complete kit. It’s the small details that matter, and Amber Leaf are here to help facilitate these moments by combining craft and passion, with convenience and quality. Available across Amber Leaf Original and Blonde 30g pouches. Stock up now!

JTI Ireland Premium Bundles 2022 Christmas has come early this year with a

Amber Leaf 30g pouches have been upgraded and now include filters, meaning that each pouch now comes equipped with rolling papers, filters and 30g of tobacco.

JTI Ireland are offering retailers the chance to win instant prizes with JTI’s best-selling brands like Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut Purple 20s in Limited Edition outers.

Tobacco Products

premium offer like no other! JTI Ireland are offering retailers the chance to win more instant prizes than ever before with JTI’s best-selling brands.

Silk Cut and Benson and Hedges always offer an unforgettable experience that is worth the wait, and this year they are giving their customers more chances to win than ever before.

Silk Cut and B&H settle for only the very best, that’s why after many years of satisfying existing adult smokers, Silk Cut is still the number one cigarette brand and B&H Gold KS 20s is the number one SKU in Ireland (Source: Nielsen ROI Extended Scantrack RMC SOM YTD October 9, 2022).

To enter, simply stock up on the Limited Edition Silk Cut Purple 20s and B&H Gold 20s outers, scan the QR code on the outer and enter the unique code printed on the reverse to ‘Pull a Cracker’ and reveal if you’re one of their many lucky winners!

Pall Mall

Pall Mall is one of BAT’s most globally successful cigarette brands. The journey started in 1899 and since then, Pall Mall has never stood still. “We have accomplished success by providing great quality products made with passion,” notes a BAT Ireland spokesperson. “In Ireland, Pall Mall provides value with high quality and we can see how that resonates with the consumers. We want to make sure to deliver over and above competitors so that our consumer always gets the best. It’s our main motivation to keep the brand moving forward by regularly introducing relevant new products and solutions that are tailored to consumers’ needs.”

Over the years, Pall Mall in Ireland has always been the frontrunner of innovations, especially with menthol capsulated products and even when menthol ban was introduced, the brand managed to bring new innovations to ensure it remains the most innovative, modern, progressive and differentiated brand in the market.

Pall Mall provides consumers with the highest quality of blend and packaging elements, while offering a low RRP to keep the brand

affordable. Moreover, its differentiated portfolio includes all product formats: King Size, Super Kings, bigger content packs, Full Flavour, Non-Full Flavour.

“Pall Mall provides a high quality, diverse portfolio for an affordable price,”

the spokesperson concludes. “Retailers should work with us to answer today’s consumers’ needs; basically, high quality at affordable prices. Please contact your BAT Ireland rep if you have any questions.”

Pall Mall provides consumers with the highest quality of blend and packaging elements, while offering a low RRP to keep the brand affordable.

This year some of your customers may notice a small change in the appearance of their favourite Pall Mall and Vogue Essence Bleue cigarette. Until now, these cigarettes have been produced with a flow filter. However, henceforth Pall Mall will be equipped with the industry-standard cork mono acetate filter, while Vogue will move to a white tipped mono acetate filter, which has proven its high suitability for all tobacco blends.

The 10 components of a heart-centred business

I REALISED a number of years ago that my life’s purpose was to help ‘put the heart back into business’. At that stage in my career, I owned London-based independent retailer, Thornton’s Budgens, which we used as a laboratory to develop the idea, and earlier this year my partner and I published our book. All of these were steps in being really clear about what a heart-centred business looked like and how to develop one; and all of this was not some academic theory, it was based upon our real live experience of doing this in a supermarket!

We identified that there were 10 components to a heartful business :

1. Clear purpose: It all starts with the business having a clear purpose, a purpose related to being a force for good in society.

2. Personal purpose: It’s vital that the leaders (and people as deep into the organisation as possible) have a clear view of their personal purpose and that their purpose is aligned to that of the organisation.

3. Psychological safety: You need to create a safe environment to achieve any of this.

4. Authenticity: This will enable people to be authentically themselves.

5. Culture: With this in place, you can start to create the culture needed to deliver your purpose, which everything you do as an organisation must line up behind.

6. Ways of being: You can then define the ways of being that will deliver your purpose. For a company, it’s a collective process. A set of values is the most common method used by companies to describe how they want to operate.

7. Modelling behaviour: The leaders will need to model these ways of being through their behaviour, which needs to be authentic.

8. Habits: You need to anchor the ways of being with habits.

9. Self-awareness: To create a truly openhearted culture, you need a self-aware leadership team who can choose how to act effectively.

10. Win-win: All of the above will allow you to deliver a win-win, ‘I’m OK, you’re OK’ culture.

Measuring the impact of the changes

While it is great to be aware of these components, there is an old adage that ‘what gets measured gets done’. This is arguably truer today than ever. I knew that when we developed the idea of running a business heartfully, that we would need to be able to measure the impact of the changes we put in place. To do this, we partnered with an organisation called Being at Full Potential and used their Human Potential model to measure the impact of the changes we made at Thornton’s Budgens. As compared to a control store (a nearby Budgens), we were using 8% more of our Human Potential and our sales were 10% higher – a pretty direct correlation. This data was generated by everyone at the store (and the control store) taking an on-line questionnaire.

We have now deepened this process through the creation

of the Heart Culture Model (see Graph 1), which specifically measures these dimensions and groups them into three areas - a heart centred business needs to be a conscious organisation filled with conscious individuals and with habits to support it to deliver its purpose.

Let’s look at the definition of conscious - ‘aware of and responding to one's surroundings’; step one is to be aware of how you are and the impact this has on others. Step two is responding to what is presented to you, which is very different to reacting. The former is measured and considered, the latter without a pause. Alas, on the global political stage, we see far too much reaction and not much responding!

Irish entrepreneur and retail expert, Andrew Thornton, identifies the 10 components to a heart-centred business and how to measure their effectiveness and their impact on your bottom line.

Andrew Thornton, Irish entrepreneur and retail expert.

It is clear to us that the end game of a heartful business is the creation of a win-win culture. Well, I’d actually say it’s a winwin-win-win-win-win culture – with a win for each of the key stakeholders in your business: your team, your customers, your suppliers, your community, the environment and your shareholders. Graph 1 shows (with dummy data) how these three areas interact with each other and the specific dimensions that operate within each.

For example, one of the keys to a conscious organisation is psychological safety, as is having a clear organisational purpose; both are listed above and I wrote here last month about the importance of purpose. With the conscious individual, being clear on their own individual purpose is really important (particularly for people in leadership positions) as is being authentic. However, for people to be able to be authentic, they need to feel psychologically safe and trust the company culture – so you can start to see how the different dimensions interact with each other. The final area is habits; these are the things that an organisation encourages to deliver the culture it wants. It is

Graph 1: The Heart Culture Model measures the effectiveness of the elements of a heartcentred business and groups them into three areas - a heart-centred business needs to be a conscious organisation filled with conscious individuals and with habits to support it to deliver its purpose.

hardly rocket science to realise that if you want an open hearted culture with people being authentically themselves, it’s a good idea to encourage active listening and giving appreciation!

The power of this tool is two-fold. First off, you can use the data to help make decisions about how to proceed. Were Graph 1 to be a real organisation, I’d be concerned about the lack of a clear organisational purpose and values/principles to support one. I‘d be encouraged by the level of psychological safety, and suggest that the lower scores for trust and authenticity are impacted by the lack of a clear purpose. You get the general idea!

The second use for this data is in terms of on-going measurement. Say you had agreed to do some work on developing your clear purpose; post that work, you could measure how your scores have changed, both in that area and also the impact on other areas.

Used on an ongoing basis, the model also provides an early warning system of problems ahead and in my view, a much better measure of the health of an organisation that its P&L account.

We have retro-fitted this model with the data we have for Thornton’s Budgens and saw that gradually we increased our win-win culture score from 69 to 73, roughly one point increase a year. Now while that may not seem a lot, every step forward with this impacts the bottom line. And now that we’ve figured out the steps involved, I know we can shift these numbers much quicker as can you, if you focus on these 10 components!

now,

About the author IRISH entrepreneur Andrew Thornton was founder and CEO of award-winning independent supermarket, Thornton’s Budgens, which was the UK’s first supermarket with plastic free zones. They also implemented Andrew’s heart-centred way of doing business, which aimed to put people and planet first, while trusting that profit would still follow. In fact, his store sales increased by 4% over the market and he created an extraordinary team spirit. Andrew and his partner Eudora have co-authored ‘Putting the Heart Back into Business: How to place people, planet and purpose at the core of what you do’, which is out

available on Amazon.

Cyber-Security Ransoms, reporting and reputational risk: cybercrime and SMEs in 2022

With cybercrime constantly evolving, how can Irish businesses prepare for the worst and meet their legal obligations? Matheson’s annual October Cyber and Data Protection Conference looked to a panel of experts for answers. Morgan Stokes reports.

CYBERCRIME is evolving, and planning, people management and police cooperation are more important than ever. That’s the key take-away from legal firm Matheson’s annual Cyber and Data Protection Conference.

Moderated by Matheson partners AnneMarie Bohan and Deirdre Crowley against the backdrop of European Cyber Awareness Month, the event featured talks and discussion from Detective Brian Halligan of the Garda Cybercrime Bureau, Data Protection Commissioner Sandra Skehan and security expert Stuart McKenzie of cyber-security experts Mandiant Consulting.

The conference also polled attendees on their experience and defences. Somewhat alarmingly, 35% of those who took part had suffered a cyber-attack in the last year. Building on the theme of last year’s conference, which advised businesses to treat a cyber-attack as not a threat but an inevitability, the panellists focused on developments in how attackers are operating, and how organisations can put their plans in place.

All businesses are under threat – but SMEs are most exposed

While Detective Halligan is keen to emphasise that all businesses are a target for cybercriminals, he sounds a special note of caution for the SME sector.

“SMEs may not have big IT security budgets, and they may not be as secure [as larger enterprises]. Cybercriminals are aware of this,” he says, noting an upsurge in attacks in the SME sector since 2021.

McKenzie has some valuable insight to share on the way cybercriminals operate behind the scenes, and once again the news isn't good for SMEs. Vulnerabilities, he claims, are often found by freelance criminals, who trawl the web looking for breaches in security. This information is then sold to an access broker, who will pass the details on to the hackers themselves. In other words, if you were hoping to hide below the radar, don't count on it; there's someone out there whose job it is to find you. Organising in this way, he says “means that they are operating with essentially limitless resources”. While phishing and other human methods of gaining access to

systems remain the main way in, even with a perfect team, you may not be safe.

Reporting is essential – but businesses are falling short

If your organisation is hacked or otherwise compromised, you have 72 hours to report the event to An Garda Síochána and the Data Protection Commission, including holidays and weekends, and a failure to do so is punishable by anything from an unlimited fine to five years in prison.

Detective Halligan also points out that every piece of information the Gardaí receive forms part of a puzzle that can prevent further crimes. The primary aim of traditional policing may be to bring the perpetrator to justice, but when it comes to cybercrime, the picture is far more nuanced. Halligan points out that while the actual culprit might not be prosecuted, “every cybercrime reported is a piece of the puzzle that can lead to the capture of key servers” and other infrastructure that organised gangs use to carry out attacks.

However, Skehan is concerned that businesses are not meeting their

Image from rawpixel.com

obligations. Though incidents have risen since 2020, she states that “we’ve actually seen a drop of 50% in reporting [of customer data breaches]”

With the appointment of two new data commissioners in Ireland and the organisation moving into an enforcement phase, this might see some businesses in hot water. However, she is keen to stress that the DPC are also available to help with the difficult process of disclosure: “It's not all about the fines, there's a lot of other steps that we can take to assist.”

The ransom demand – to pay or not to pay?

According to a recent survey from IT service provider Typetec, around 25% of Irish SMEs have paid a ransomware demand. While the decision not to pay may seem like an obvious one, McKenzie points out that in the heat of the moment, it may be tempting: “the business comes to a shuddering halt very quickly”. He also notes that attackers are now leveraging the reputational risk to the business to get victims to pay up, threatening ‘we'll publish your data on the dark-web or somewhere public; we're going to embarrass you’. Attackers may move on a Friday or on a bank holiday weekend, to apply further pressure.

Skehan notes that although there is currently no Irish or EU law in place to prevent the paying of ransoms, handing over the money often doesn’t solve the problem: “From our experience, especially when you look at numbers of organisations who have paid the ransom, they receive the encryption key but a further ransom is requested.”

Preparing for the worst – the do’s and don’ts

If McKenzie had to point out one mistake organisations made when preparing for a cyber-attack, it would be throwing more technology at the problem, which he believes overloads teams and often doesn’t work. Instead, he suggests, organisations may be better to served by simply running updates on the systems they have. “Most of the attackers get in through unpatched software or other vulnerabilities,” he claims. In other words, it’s well worth

taking the time to get IT to run that software update.

The importance of having a well-oiled team to handle security, reporting and customer disclosure was also highlighted, with Deirdre Crowley pointing out the importance of the people element: “you don’t want to get the team working together for the first time during a cyberattack”. While ‘wargaming’, or running a simulation of an attack, has gained popularity as a technical tactic, it should also be a human resources operation.

Disclosure is also something that should be planned out well in advance. McKenzie points out that a quick disclosure can be essential for reputation and to remove ransom leverage, but “you need to be honest without telling everything”, which is not exactly an easy thing to do at the last minute

Skehan insists that a breach should be communicated as soon as the risk is assessed. “If necessary, do it through a public campaign and follow up with individuals that need to be contacted,” she says, pointing to the guidance materials on the DPC website.

The takeaway

Alarming as it may sound, any assumption of safety is out the window for SMEs. While it’s necessary to keep systems secure and ticking over, in 2022, having a process in place for when the worst happens may be even more important than prevention.

If your organisation is hacked or otherwise compromised, you have 72 hours to report the event to An Garda Síochána and the Data Protection Commission.

All businesses are a target for cybercriminals, with 35% of attendees having suffered a cyber-attack within the last year.

Image from rawpixel.com.

Employment Law

Menopause at work

NEARLY 600,000 women in Ireland are affected by the perimenopause or menopause at any one time.

The menopause typically affects women between 45 and 55 years of age who are often reaching senior positions or are well established in their careers. The perimenopause can last four to six years before menopause, meaning a significant number of employees can be impacted at any one time.

Given the number of employees impacted, retail employers need to be aware of the issues and how to best provide support. Retail employers should also be aware that the group of employees impacted is wider than those experiencing menopausal symptoms. Colleagues, friends and family members of those experiencing symptoms can also be impacted, so consideration should be given as to how support them as well.

As World Menopause Day was observed on October 18, 2022, many employers reiterated the support they provide or took the opportunity to start raising menopause awareness for their employees.

How are employees impacted?

Menopause symptoms can impact an employee’s day-to-day work and may also lead to employees needing to take

time off from work to help manage their symptoms. These symptoms could include difficulty concentrating, memory issues, feelings of depression, mood swings and lowered employee confidence, as well as physical symptoms such as heavy and/or irregular periods, hot flushes, migraines, fatigue and sleeping difficulties.

How are retail employers impacted?

An employee’s menopausal symptoms can impact employee performance and productivity in the workplace. In 2019, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development surveyed 1,409 women in the UK who were experiencing menopause symptoms. Three out of five (59%) said that menopause was having a negative impact on them at work. Of those who were affected negatively at work, they reported the following issues:

• More than half (52%) said they felt less patient with clients and colleagues;

• More than half (58%) said they experienced more stress;

• Nearly two-thirds (65%) said they were less able to concentrate.

Given the nature of the roles in the retail sector, with many being customerfacing and requiring employees to be on

their feet for long periods of time, the negative impact menopausal symptoms could have on employees at work is likely to be heightened.

Last year, the Menopause Hub, a dedicated menopause clinic in Ireland, published the results of a survey they had undertaken to understand the scale of the issue in Irish workplaces. That survey revealed that 42% of those surveyed said their ‘symptoms affected them a lot at work’, while 31% said their ‘performance was affected a lot at work’. 39% of those surveyed said they had to take time off work due to their symptoms, and 43%

Laura Ensor and Linda Hynes of Lewis Silkin Ireland report on legal

and practical issues relating to the menopause that are relevant to employers in the retail sector.

Offering menopause support is an important strand of a strong well-being culture and can help attract good candidates who may be comparing the culture and benefits offered by competing organisations in the retail sector.

“

Employment Law

actually considered giving up work due to symptoms. This highlights the importance of the issue, particularly for employers in the retail sector who are already experiencing staff shortages.

Employees may also feel embarrassed about their symptoms and afraid to speak to their manager about the issue, which could create further challenges for retail employers in retaining talented employees and general employee wellbeing.

What legal issues are relevant to the menopause?

Issues connected to menopause can lead to claims of gender, age and/or disability discrimination. While there has been limited case law around the issue of menopause in Ireland, with growing awareness and publicity of the issue, it is possible that claims could increase.

Gender discrimination

Women who are treated less favourably than men can bring a claim of direct gender discrimination. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) may find discrimination if menopause symptoms are treated differently from other medical conditions. For example, an Employment Tribunal in the UK found there was direct gender discrimination in a case where the employer did not consider whether menopausal symptoms were the reason for an employee’s poor performance, when a condition that affected both genders (or

a man suffering similar symptoms) would not have been ignored in the same way.

Employers should also ensure that any policies or practices do not indirectly discriminate against women who may be suffering from menopause symptoms. Indirect discrimination arises where particular practices or policies which appear neutral, in fact result in a discriminatory impact on people who fall under the grounds protected by employment equality legislation (in this case, gender). For example, an employee who is finding it difficult to concentrate as a symptom of the menopause may not be able to meet certain performance targets as easily as her colleagues.

Jokes and commentary around menopause could fall under the definition of sexual harassment under employment equality legislation. This means employers could be vicariously liable for this conduct where they have not taken steps to prevent the conduct from happening or don’t deal with complaints properly.

harassment to target unfair treatment at employees because they are of menopausal age. Similarly, it may be indirect age discrimination to have a policy or practice which disadvantages people who are going through the menopause.

It is also possible to bring an age discrimination claim based on a perception, whether that is correct or not. For example, someone could claim that they were treated unfairly because of a perception that they belong to the age group most affected by the menopause (this is known as discrimination by imputation).

Awareness of the symptoms of menopause and their impact on the workplace is increasing and there is much that retail employers can do to proactively support employees who are going through this process.

Age discrimination

Given that perimenopause and menopause are typically age-related, retail employers also need to be aware of age discrimination risks affecting this group. It may be direct age discrimination or

In the case of Ann O'Kane v Health Service Executive West, Ann O’Kane was asked whether she was suffering from the menopause in an interview and claimed that she was discriminated against on age grounds when she was unsuccessful in the interview. The Labour Court was not, in the circumstances of that case, convinced that this question represented convincing evidence of discrimination; however, this gives an indication of the types of claims that could be brought.

Disability discrimination

Whether or not menopause amounts to a disability will depend upon the individual’s particular circumstances. Some may only

Employers should ensure that any policies or practices do not directly or indirectly discriminate against women who may be suffering from menopause symptoms.

Employment Law

experience minor symptoms, while others can be more severely affected. The legal definition of a disability in Ireland is extremely broad, so disabilities that are temporary in nature may come within the protection of the legislation. Retail employers should treat all absences due to illness carefully and, if there is any doubt, treat them as a disability.

Duty to make reasonable accommodation. The employment equality legislation obliges employers to make reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities. An employer must take “appropriate measures” to meet the needs of disabled people in the workforce. For example, the obligation to make reasonable accommodation could be triggered by an employee requiring menopause-related sickness absence, or by a review of an employee’s performance through a performancemanagement process. An employer’s usual policies on sickness absence or performance may need adjusting to take account of the effects of the menopause. The physical features of the workplace, including a retail space, may also require some adjustment for those who are suffering from severe menopause symptoms. Discrimination arising from disability. There are two types of disability discrimination that could arise – direct and indirect (as mentioned above). The potential for discrimination is especially relevant for employees with menopausal symptoms severe enough to meet the definition of a disability under the legislation. The perimenopause and menopause may cause many symptoms which could affect performance or conduct in the workplace. An employer who dismisses or sanctions an employee for poor performance or conduct without exploring whether there is any underlying cause could easily fall foul of this provision.

What practical steps and support can retail employers offer?

Positive messaging and information: A good first step can be creating a safe space for employees to talk about the impact the menopause is having on them and to learn from other employees. Some employers have set up menopause clubs and groups to help raise awareness

among employees and provide an open and respectful space for employees to speak of their experiences and to learn about the supports that are available. Some employers have appointed wellbeing champions who, among other well-being initiatives, help to raise awareness and start the conversation. This could also be a good contact point for employees who need information and support and who feel uncomfortable discussing the topic with their manager. Many employee assistance programmes and health insurance providers have started to provide menopause support for employees so highlighting any existing support that might be available is a strong, low-cost start.

Training:

Store managers should be trained to understand the impact that the menopause can have on work and what adjustments may be necessary to support those affected. Some managers may have their own experience of the menopause or of others going through it but should be aware that not everyone experiences the menopause in the same way.

Flexibility:

Working arrangements should be flexible enough to ensure they meet the needs of menopausal employees, who may need to leave the workplace suddenly if they feel unwell. They may also need more breaks during the day. Sickness absence procedures should also be sufficiently flexible to cater for menopause-related sickness absence.

Menopause policy:

Employers should consider implementing a menopause policy. This helps show the employer’s commitment to supporting employees and can also be a helpful way of raising awareness of the topic across the employee population. This could be as simple as adapting existing policies and bringing information together on any existing supports that are available through health insurance providers and employee assistance programmes. Having a policy also demonstrates to potential candidates that the organisation has strong well-being initiatives and cares for its employees. This could assist in both attracting and retaining talent, particularly in retail sectors where this is a current issue. This could also assist with retaining experienced female employees.

Health and safety:

Risk assessments should also take into account the specific needs of menopausal workers and ensure that factors that could exacerbate employee symptoms are reduced. This could address issues such as temperature settings and ventilation, particularly on a shop floor, but will depend on the specific workplace. Examples of how employers have adapted to the needs of staff with menopausal symptoms include taking the menopause into account in absence policies, providing electric fans, relaxing uniform rules, providing cold drinking water and allowing time off to attend medical appointments during working hours.

Supporting employees

In conclusion, awareness of the symptoms of menopause and their impact on the workplace is increasing and there is much that retail employers can do to proactively support employees who are going through this process.

Offering menopause support is an important strand of a strong wellbeing culture and can help attract good candidates who may be comparing the culture and benefits offered by competing organisations in the retail sector. Failing to have this support in place could result in publicity risk, brand damage or the undermining of wider diversity initiatives and commitments. Retail employers may also risk legal claims if they fail to manage menopause in the workplace with appropriate care and sensitivity.

About the authors:

FOR further information on this topic, please contact Linda Hynes (Linda. Hynes@lewissilkin.com), Partner, or Laura Ensor (laura.ensor@lewissiklin.com), Senior Associate, on the Employment, Immigration and Reward team at Lewis Silkin Ireland. This article is for general guidance and does not constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be sought in any given set of circumstances.

Circle K launch Christmas Cards for Jack and Jill

WITH Christmas approaching, Circle K have launched an exclusive range of Christmas cards, beautifully illustrated by renowned Irish designer Laura Dempsey (AKA ‘Pickled Pom Pom’), which are now are available to buy in stores nationwide, excluding Circle K Express.

All proceeds from the sale of the special home-themed Christmas cards will go towards the retailer’s charity partner, the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation, and for every pack sold in a Circle K store, the retailer will donate an extra €1 to Jack and Jill. The cards will also be available to purchase in Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation Charity Boutiques nationwide and on jackandjill.ie.

This is the first time that Circle K has collaborated with an illustrator on a product in Ireland and the cards will be available in a pack of 12 for €7. Co. Kildare illustrator, Laura Dempsey launched Pickled Pom Pom in 2018, and designs, illustrates, and prints her range of cards and prints in her small home studio.

“We are delighted to once again support our charity partner, the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation, and help raise vital funds to support Jack and Jill families in communities across Ireland,” noted Judy Glover, Senior Market Director at Circle K Ireland.

Carmel Doyle, CEO of the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation, added, “By purchasing this pack of beautifully illustrated Christmas cards, you are directly supporting 400 families currently under our care and helping us to keep children with highly complex medical conditions home for Christmas, where they belong.”

Food range wins at the 2022 Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards

CIRCLE K were delighted when four products within their in-store food and drinks range were named amongst Ireland’s best at the 2022 Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards.

Alongside supplier partners Around Noon and Brambles, Circle K took top prize in the Food To Go category for their delicious Artisan Ham and Cheese Jambon, and bronze for their Cajun Chicken Baguette. The retailer was also recognised with Brambles in the ‘quiches, pies and savoury’ category, winning gold for their Artisan Ham and Cheese Jambon, and silver for their Artisan Irish Handmade Sausage Roll. Circle K also received gold recognition with Around Noon for their Apple &

Ginger Cold Pressed Shot in the soft drinks category.

“We are delighted that our food and drink offering has been recognised in four categories at the prestigious 2022 Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards,” noted Mary McDonald, Senior Category Manager, Circle K Ireland. “To be honoured at an award event that recognises the very best food and drink in Ireland, and to pick up three Gold Awards, is a testament to the innovation, hard work and dedication of our colleagues and suppliers. I would like to thank them all for their tireless efforts to create and deliver a food and drink to go range which has been officially recognised as among Ireland’s best.”

Mary McDonald, Senior Category Manager, Circle K Ireland, pictured with the Irish Quality Food Awards won by Circle K.

IRISH consumers can now warm up winter evenings with smooth, creamy and indulgent Lindt Hot Chocolate, crafted with passion by the Lindt Master Chocolatiers. Shoppers can delight in the sumptuously smooth, rich and indulgent taste of this exquisite chocolate drink, made with real Lindt chocolate, as a cosy winter warmer to keep the chill at bay. It’s also suitable for vegans and contains less than 20 mg/kg gluten, and is therefore gluten free according to UK and EU regulations.

MACE recently launched a new campaign called ‘Mace Jokes with Johnny’, which calls on children across the nation to tell us their best jokes! The funniest jokers will get the chance to put their jokes to the test in front of Johnny Sexton to see how much they can make him smile. Entry is on mace.ie and can be accessed by scanning QR codes on posters in Mace stores around the country. Five “funny” winners will get to meet Johnny and tell him their joke in person.

ALDI have pledged an additional €1 million for Barnardos as the group extends its partnership with the charity for a further two years. This will see the retailer committing to raise a further €1m for Barnardos through a two-year programme of staff, store, customer, and community fundraising initiatives supported by the company, supporting vulnerable children and families across Ireland. Aldi and Barnardos have revealed the results of a new survey, which shows how starkly the cost-of-living crisis is hitting families across the country. According to the research, more than one in four parents with children living at home felt that they have not had enough

rebrand of Quilters' very popular Energy and Protein balls under the Tree House name is a very exciting time for the business, which Austin notes, “shows our vision for the future: offering only the highest quality ingredients and compostable packaging, appealing to customers across the generations.”

DISCOUNT retailer, Dealz are once again supporting Team Hope as a retail partner for their annual Christmas Shoebox Appeal. Together, Team Hope and Dealz are calling on friends, family, schools and communities to donate gift-filled shoeboxes to children affected by poverty across Eastern Europe and Africa. The themes for this year’s appeal are #MakeAChildSmile and #EveryShoeboxCounts. The Appeal aims to encourage people to think about the single impact, joy and smiles that a shoebox brings every child who receives it. The partnership is now in its fifth year and sees over 70 Dealz stores across the country act as dropoff location for shoebox donations. This year, Team Hope is aiming to send 200,000 gift-filled shoeboxes to children facing poverty in 13 countries across Eastern Europe and Africa.

was on hand to launch Keelings’ annual donation drive for the charity. This is Keelings’ fifth year supporting children’s charity ISPCC who provide Childline services, with a donation drive from October 17 to November 13, whereby 10c from every berry punnet that is sold across Ireland will go towards the charity. “We are so pleased to be able to support Childline for the fifth year in a row,” noted David Keeling, CEO, Keelings Retail. “The Childline 24-Hour support line is an invaluable service; children can reach out at any time, day or night, for whatever is going on for them. As Keelings is a family run business, family is at the core of it, so ensuring children in need of a listening ear have somewhere to turn to is hugely important to us.”

ICELAND Ireland are celebrating the return of cosy evenings by the fire with the launch of the perfect comfort food range, a selection of new curry dishes. This latest offering includes a Luxury selection of dishes which are truly ‘second to Naan!’. The range includes milder curries such as Iceland Luxury Butter Chicken Curry, Iceland Luxury Chicken Korma and the aromatic Iceland Luxury Beef in Black Bean, as well as slightly hotter Iceland Luxury King Prawn Tikka Masala, Iceland Luxury Spicy Chicken Balti and Iceland Luxury Chicken Tikka Saag. For those looking to spice up those cold winter evenings while maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, Iceland’s exclusive range of Slimming World dishes has got you covered with its selection of exciting new launches, including Slimming World King Prawn Bhuna, Slimming World Rogan Josh Sauce and Slimming World Rogan Squash, which is perfect for vegans and vegetarians, while the Slimming World Chicken Tikka Lasagne is a fusion of two of the most iconic Italian and Indian cuisines.

PRESIDENT Michael D. Higgins planted a native holly tree in the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin to commemorate Spar National Tree Day, which took place last month. The initiative by the Tree Council of Ireland, supported by Spar, encourages primary school children across the country to take the pledge and plant a tree. As part of this year’s campaign, 1,500 native Irish holly tree saplings were sent to primary school children across the country to encourage them to connect directly with nature. President Higgins is pictured with Éanna Ní Lamhna, President of the Tree Council of Ireland; Brendan Fitzsimons, CEO of the Tree Council of Ireland; Siobhan Quinn, Administrator, the Tree Council of Ireland; Colin Donnelly, Spar Sales Director; and Julia & Krystyna O’Loughlin from second and third class in the Patrician Primary School, Newbridge, Co. Kildare.

food to feed their families over the past 12 months, and 41% have been consciously cutting back on food spending.

AUSTIN Quilter of AQ Foods (pictured) has been awarded the prestigious 2022 Listowel Food Fair Local Hero award, which was initiated to acknowledge the rich culinary traditions of Listowel and North Kerry. AQ Foods is the company behind the extremely successful Chrissy’s Cheesecakes brand and Tree House Foods. The

CHILDLINE Ambassador, Laura Woods (pictured)