The magazine for Premier retailers
Welcome
A very warm welcome to the latest issue of Talking Shop as we continue through the key summer months and embrace a new array of opportunities to grow footfall, sales and profits.
It’s been a great start to the summer with the Euro Finals helping to drive sales all the way through to the Final. The great news is that there are plenty more opportunities around the corner, including the Olympic Games which kick off at the end of July.
Despite the patchy weather, there are sure to be some good periods, and catering for BBQs and outdoor dining is always a good way to grow sales and profits. You’ll find a great feature inside helping you to do just that – and Premier has everything you need to unlock the BBQ occasion.
We know too that cocktails continue to grow in importance for shoppers with more people than ever keen to replicate the bar experience at home. Premier’s Cocktail Festival delivers everything you need to capitalise on this new opportunity as well as helping your shoppers make more of a night in with family and friends.
Don’t miss our feature on our new Summer Range Guide too which is, I hope, useful to you all in helping make sure you’re squeezing every penny of profit out of the summer.
And, before long, it will be time for children and young adults to return to school, college and university, once more opening up an annual opportunity to drive sales.
I would also urge you to read our four customer profiles in this issue. There is so much to learn from fellow Premier retailers and you might pick up an idea or two that might work in your store.
And, as always, you’ll find the usual mix of news, views, NPD, insight and advice that makes Talking Shop required reading for Premier retailers.
We believe that we have put together a fantastic support package for Premier retailers this summer and we really do want you to make this a summer to remember. I wish you all fantastic trading.
Martyn Parkinson, Sales Director – Booker Wholesale
COVER STORY
Seven years on from opening, Premier Wishfi eld has a brand new look and offer that locals love.
THE THREE BIG STORIES 9 Awards triumph Premier retailers scoop industry accolades. 46 BBQ Bonanza
Make the most of the summer BBQ opportunity 64 Cocktail Festival
The fi rst ever Cocktail Festival is here!
32
Wandsworth’s shoppers can’t resist the call of Kokulan Rajaratnam’s new concept Premier store.
64
The hottest new products to hit the shelves.
7 CMA pricing update
Avoid fi nes and read the CMA’s new guide on pricing practices.
11 Premier retailers win big
Premier retailers claimed a number of highprofi le prizes at the SLR Awards.
13
Premier retailer strikes gold
Gurjinder Randhawa has won a brand new electric delivery bike with BIN 161.
15 Community news
The latest roundup of community news from Premier stores.
19 GroceryAid update
Requests for GroceryAid support up by 93% 2023/24 Impact Report shows.
20 Racing ahead
The Sud family have opened their 11th and most innovative store to date.
26 High scorers
Premier Penn Hill’s new offer is in touch with local needs.
32 Ringing in the sales
Shoppers can’t resist the call of their new Premier in Wandsworth.
40 Seventh heaven
Felpham’s shoppers couldn’t wish for a better store.
46 All fired up
Get ready to make the most of the summer BBQ opportunity.
61 Class act
The Back To School period offers a great opportunity to shine up sales and profi ts.
64 Cocktail festival
Shake up your sales with Londis’ fi rst ever Cocktail Festival!
67 New product roundup
The top new products to hit the shelves.
80 Summer Range Guide
Squeeze every drop out of the summer sales opportunity.
87 ACS VIEWPOINT
What Labour rule could mean for stores.
PremierNews
NEWS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND OPINIONS FROM ACROSS PREMIER
CMA Pricing Practices Update
The Competition and Markets Authority recently completed an investigation into pricing practices and has issued official correspondence to independent retailers.
You may have seen recent press coverage about consumer pricing in symbol and convenience stores. This is a result of an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) working alongside Trading Standards.
The CMA found a number of examples of poor and misleading pricing in some symbol/convenience stores. No stores were named but the CMA is clearly concerned and are expecting Trading Standards to take particular interest in the way pricing is displayed and communicated to shoppers.
We need to let you know about this because the CMA have the power to issue fines and in the worst cases bring criminal prosecutions.
Trading Standards also has wide ranging powers to issue fines. We very much want you as our retailers
to be up to speed and not accidentally running into problems like that.
The CMA has produced a guide for retailers which you can find on the Government website, detailed below. We would please request that you, as the business owner, read the guide.
It is really important that you ensure that all of your staff and colleagues in your business also see it, read it and understand it and that new staff are fully trained. It’s very likely that the CMA will come back to this subject in a few months to see if things have improved.
Part of the strength of the Premier brand is the great standard of in-store operations by retailers. We thank you for reading this and taking action where it might be needed.
INBRIEF
CMA ADVICE SUMMARY
You must clearly display the total selling price in writing. It should be obvious to your customers what the price is, without them having to get help from a member of staff.
1. PRICES SHOULD:
l be clearly displayed l be easy to read l be close to the relevant product; and l match what the customer is charged at the till.
2. PRICE INFORMATION MUST BE PROVIDED:
l prices must be displayed in all areas of the shop l do not hide prices behind other products or labels.
3. DO NOT DISPLAY DIFFERENT PRICES FOR THE SAME PRODUCT:
l labels for PMP products should match the pricemark.
4. YOU MUST MATCH THE PRICE TO WHAT YOU CHARGE AT THE TILL:
l when increasing prices, make sure the shelf edge labels have been changed before the price increases at the till.
5. DO NOT DISPLAY THE WRONG PRICE LABEL NEXT TO A PRODUCT:
l the price label should be next to the correct product.
SHAKE YOUR FRUITY
CIDER
Premier and Booker claim a host of prestigious prizes at The Fed Awards 2024
The 2024 Fed Awards highlighted the many fantastic achievements of Premier retailers from across the country.
Premier retailers triumphed at The Fed Awards 2024, with retailers from across the country scooping a host of high-profile accolades.
Held at the Birmingham Metropole on 18 June, The Fed Awards celebrated outstanding achievements in independent retailing.
The Best Use of Technology award went to Girish Jeeva, of Girish’s Premier in Barmulloch, Glasgow.
Judges were awed by the many ways that Girish has embraced technology at his Barmulloch store – “from security and compliance to the working environment for all staff and enhancing, wherever possible, the store experience for customers," they said.
Commenting on the win, Girish said: “It feels amazing to win this award. We’ve done so much to make sure we have everything in place in terms of innovative technology, and I hope it inspires other retailers to see what we have done and how it can benefit their stores as well.”
The Rising Star Award was presented to Sophie Williams, from Premier Broadway Convenience Store in Edinburgh.
Sophie, who is the daughter of Premier retailers Dennis and Linda Williams, said: “I’m very overwhelmed and it’s an honour to be recognised with this award. I’m so passionate about retail and
I can’t wait to see what the future holds and what comes next.”
The award for Vape and Reduced Risk Products Retailer of the Year went to Fiona Malone, of Premier Tenby Stores and Post Office, which has achieved a 61% rise in year-on-year category sales –as it seeks to “be the go-to retailer for all vaping and alternative smoking products.”
Other big Premier wins on the night included Parcels Retailer of the Year, which was claimed by Premier retailer Andrew Board of Core Convenience Store in Durham, and Member of the Year – which was awarded to Jason Birks of Premier Mosci’s Convenience Store in Horden. The Fed said that Jason’s “wise counsel and advice had been invaluable on the Fed’s national subcommittees, including field operations, news operations and membership services, and also as he rose through the ranks to become National President in the summer of 2022”.
Booker Wholesale also scored a prestigious win, when it was crowned Wholesaler of the Year – an award which was sponsored by The Fed itself.
Judges said Booker Wholesale “was selected for the unrivalled support it provides to independent retailers and its own symbol group members”.
Its Premier Small Store Format was also “the ideal fit for Fed members,” they added.
CONVENIENCE RETAILERS INVITED TO APPLY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION BURSARIES FOR THEIR CHILDREN
University students whose parent, carer or spouse is a convenience retailer or c-store worker, have been encouraged to apply for a higher education bursary through The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust (LTCT).
Applications for the scheme will be open between 1 August and 15 October and students can apply to receive up to £3,000. The bursary can be put towards tuition fees, or other expenses such as course materials, equipment or travel costs.
As the cost of attending university mounts year on year, the bursary has been designed to help families who may be concerned about supporting a child through higher education.
In 2024, the total number of bursaries awarded since the scheme launched was expected to exceed 5,000, totalling £28m worth of financial aid.
TECH WIZ: Girish Jeeva, of Girish’s Premier in Barmulloch, Glasgow.
RISING STAR: Sophie Williams, Premier Broadway Convenience Store Edinburgh
Six of the best at the SLR Awards
Premier
stores claimed no fewer than six individual awards at the recent Scottish Local Retailer
Awards in Glasgow.
Premier retailers enjoyed another sparkling night of success at the recent Scottish Local Retailer Awards in Glasgow, claiming more awards than any other symbol group.
In total, Premier retailers claimed six individual awards, reinforcing once more the unrivalled strength of the Premier offer.
Jaz’s Premier in Grangemouth won the Off Trade Retailer of the Year Award thanks to an outstanding beer cave, a huge range and immaculate merchandising, according to the judges.
Premier Whitehills on the north Aberdeenshire coast claimed the Scottish Brands Retailer of the Year Award for its hugely impressive range of locally and regionally sourced products across many key categories including fresh meat, bakery and alcohol.
Meanwhile Premier Girish’s@Barmulloch
won the coveted #ThinkSmart Innovation Award for its progressive approach to early adoption of technologies like self-scan tills, digital shelf edge labels, AI-powered crime prevention solutions, videobased age verification systems and more.
Premier Leuchars, which is sited behind the wire at Leuchars military base, won the Team of the Year Award for the outstanding way the team servicEs a unique shopper audience in frequently very difficult circumstances.
Last but by no means least, Premier DUSA, which sits on the campus of Dundee University, claimed two separate awards: Soft Drinks Retailer of the Year and Sustainability Retailer of the Year. Their soft drinks range and presentation was adjudged best in class while their commitment to sustainability is “on an entirely different level,” according to the judges.
SIX OF THE BEST
l Off Trade Retailer of the Year – Jaz’s Premier, Grangemouth l Scottish Brands Retailer of the Year – Premier Whitehills
l Soft Drinks Retailer of the Year – Premier DUSA
l Team of the Year –Premier Leuchars
l Sustainability Retailer of the Year – Premier DUSA
l #ThinkSmart Innovation - Premier Girish's@ Barmulloch
VANILLA
Premier retailer strikes gold with Hardy's BIN 161
Gurjinder Randhawa has won a brand-new electric delivery bike courtesy of a Hardy’s competition.
Premier retailer Gurjinder Randhawa has emerged as the lucky winner of a brand-new E Skuta electric delivery bike – following a competition to celebrate the launch of Hardy’s BIN 161 Jammy Rich Red.
Gurjinder, who owns Premier Granville in Kingswinford, near Birmingham, found a winning Golden Ticket hidden inside a case of BIN 161.
Worth £1,195, the new E Skuta delivery bike features a lightweight, removable lithium-ion battery for longer life and shorter charging time. It also has a full LED light system, high-performance wheels, and motorcycle-grade disc brakes.
Commenting on his win, Gurjinder said: “I’m delighted to have won and so surprised – I’ve never won anything like this before and it’s a
fantastic prize! We don’t currently offer a home delivery service – but it’s certainly something we will consider launching in the future because home delivery is without doubt a significant and growing trend. Until then, I’ll just use the bike myself for getting to and from work, it will certainly offer me a more sustainable form of transport and help me beat the traffic!”
Hundreds of retailers were also given the chance to win free cases of wine by finding other lucky tickets.
Exclusive to Booker, Hardy’s BIN 161 is the number-one wine brand in Booker and has the highest return on sale of all still wine brands in impulse, with one bottle sold every six seconds!
On 26 June the Scottish Government formally passed legislation giving Ministers and local authorities powers to increase reuse and recycling rates, with the intention of modernising and improving waste and recycling services. Changes that could be coming into force that will have consequences for retailers in Scotland include:
l Charges for single-use items
l Fixed penalty notices in relation to the sale or supply of environmentally harmful items, such as banned single-use plastic items
l Mandatory reporting on waste, surpluses, etc
l Restrictions on the disposal of unsold consumer goods.
NEWS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND OPINIONS FROM ACROSS PREMIER
Singh's score big with charity match CommunityNews
Premier retailers hold 14th football fundraiser at the Blades’ stadium in Sheffield.
Brothers Mandeep, Vrinder and Baljit Singh, who operate three Singh’s Premier stores in Sheffield, have raised a huge £15,800 for local and national charities through their annual football match.
Held at Sheffield United Football Club’s (SUFC’s) Bramall Lane Stadium, the 14th Singh’s Charity Cup was supported by Premier, Kebabish Original, Totley Pharmacy, Stratus Care Group, Thornsett Properties, Orrest Digital and Go Local Extra.
The Punjab Kings team, which includes members of the Singh family, took on the Sheffield Lions, with The Punjab King’s reigning victorious with a final score of 8 goals to 3.
Proceeds from the day will be split between several charities, including the Sheffield Hospital, St Luke’s, the S6 Foodbank, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research and many others.
The day was made even more memorable by the presence of former England and SUFC player Tony Currie who came to meet the players and wish everyone a super day.
Commenting on the initiative, Mandeep told Talking Shop: “We’ve been doing this for 14 years and every year it just gets better and better. The
positive impact that we can make with the charitable donations is massive, but it goes deeper than that. The match itself also has a hugely positive impact. It’s a fantastic community day out that brings everyone together – people of all different ages and cultures – and all for a fantastic cause. Thank you to everyone who supported us and came together to help us make this wonderful day possible once again.”
Mandeep also attended a lunch at the Tony Currie Suite in Bramall Lane, in support of the Memory Lane Club - which aims to help former players who are suffering from the effects of onset dementia and other neurological issues.
SHOWERED WITH LOVE
Wharfedale Premier in Hull has made a generous donation of toothbrushes, toothpastes, deodorants, soaps and shower gels to The Freedom Centre’s ‘Hygiene Drive’. The Hull-based project aims to provide packs for families in the community who struggle to afford basic hygiene essentials. The store has a longrunning relationship with the centre and last year store owners Sam and Mark Coldbeck assisted with the provision of sanitary products. The couple also raised funds for the centre to receive a defibrillator in 2021.
TALKING TACTICS
What are you doing in-store to stand out in your local market? Share it with us and your Premier retailer colleagues at talkingshop@booker.co.uk
NEW VUSE GO RELOAD 1000
A DIGEST OF NEWS FROM THE INDEPENDENT RETAILING INDUSTRY
Consumer confidence grows as inflation tumbles
Consumers’ confidence in their ability to manage their budgets has risen again as food inflation falls to just 1.7%, its lowest level since October 2021.
Despite the fact that consumer card spending fell in June, the first decline since February 2021, consumer confidence continues to grow as more and more shoppers feel able to manage their budgets and live within their means.
The latest Barclays Consumer Spend Report, which combines hundreds of millions of customer transactions with consumer research to provide an in-depth view of UK spending, has found that consumer confidence has risen again, this time to 73%.
Concerns around inflation also continue to evaporate as food inflation fell to 1.7%, its lowest level since October 2021. Concerns around the rising cost of fuel also eased in June, down 3.2% on the month before.
June did, however, see the first drop in total card spending since February 2021, down 0.6%, with supermarkets also experiencing their first decline (-2.6%) in two years.
The slowdown in sales was driven largely by poor weather and falling food inflation. Encouragingly, over a third (36%) of shoppers say they have noticed food prices have been rising at a slower rate in recent months.
Conversely, sales of takeaway food grew by 4.4%.
Karen Johnson, Head of Retail at Barclays, said: “Once again, our data demonstrates the undeniable impact that unseasonable weather can have on consumer spending. However, the dreariness didn’t dampen spending across the board with takeaways benefitting from people sheltering at home.”
LABOUR TO FOCUS ON RETAIL CRIME
The newly installed Labour government is expected to put forward legislation designed to combat the scourge of retail crime, including following Scotland’s lead by making assaulting shop workers a specific offence. The new legislation is also expected to close the ‘£200 loophole’ that means thefts of goods worth under £200 are less likely to result in prosecution. Plans to tackle antisocial behaviour are also set to be outlined and the government is expected to revive Rishi Sunak’s generational smoking ban legislation.
TALKING TACTICS
What are you doing in-store to stand out in your local market? Share it with us and your Premier retailer colleagues at talkingshop@booker.co.uk
Requests for GroceryAid support up 93%
GroceryAid’s Impact Report for 2023/24 has revealed a whopping 93% increase in requests for its support in the past year.
GroceryAid’s latest Impact Report has revealed a whopping 93% rise in demand for its financial, emotional and practical support as industry colleagues continued to struggle with cost-of-living challenges.
The Industry Charity spent more than £6m helping colleagues in the past year, including £364,306 in financial grants awarded to independent retailers, its 2023/24 Impact Report shows.
In total, GroceryAid provided more than 78,000 incidents of support in the last year.
More than 22,000 colleagues visited GroceryAid’s cost-of-living web page in 2023/24, with GroceryAid’s Grants Officers having dealt with a 57% increase in colleagues receiving non-repayable financial grants in the past year.
There was also a 44% rise in grants awarded to support those leaving domestic abuse situations.
The charity’s School Essentials Grant also meant that 5,926 children benefitted from a £150 grant,
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
l 93% increase in requests for support
l More than £6m spent supporting industry colleagues
l £364,306 in financial grants awarded to independent retailers
l 5,926 children benefitted from £150 School Essentials grant
l 108% increase in colleagues accessing support for problem gambling
l 25% increase in family and relationship counselling
l 48% increase in demand for legal advice
helping families to ensure that their children started school with new uniforms and equipment.
The charity’s free and confidential helpline also saw a 22% increase in calls from colleagues looking for emotional and practical support. Qualified counsellors provided more than 5,000 in-themoment counselling sessions – 11% more than the previous year. There was also a 108% increase in colleagues accessing support for problem gambling.
There was also a 25% increase in family and relationship counselling and a 48% increase in demand for legal advice.
Commenting on the year’s accomplishments, GroceryAid CEO Kieran Hemsworth said: “We are very grateful that the support for GroceryAid continues to grow, so we can match the increase in the demand for our services. To help more grocery workers and their families in need, we are asking our supporters to continue to attend our events, provide donations, and partner with us."
GROCERYAID BOOKER DRAGON BOAT RACE 2025
The GroceryAid Booker Dragon Boat Race will return for a second year on Thursday 12 June 2025!
Set to be held once again at Bisham Abbey Sports Centre in Marlow, the event will provide another fantastic opportunity to network, enjoy sponsor activations and raise vital funds.
The 2024 event was a spectacular success, with more than £275,000 raised for GroceryAid in the lead up to the event and on the day.
The day itself saw 32 teams take to the water while 400 guests enjoyed delicious food, sponsor activations and the chance to meet and greet senior Booker colleagues. Visit groceryaid.org. uk/events to book your place or enquire about sponsorship.
Experiential retailing
The Sud family in Glasgow have further enhanced their reputation for taking convenience retailing in an entirely new direction with the opening of their 11th store and their most ambitious to date.
Walking into a Premier Racetrack store is what can only be described as ‘an experience’ – and it’s an experience like no other. The Glasgowbased Sud family has forged an enviable reputation over the last decade for taking convenience retailing in an entirely new direction, with each new store pushing harder and further. The family’s new 11th store in Wishaw, just outside Glasgow, is no exception and is undoubtedly the most spectacular yet.
“We actually signed the lease for the new store over two years ago,” explains Group Retail Manager Guna Sud, who runs the fastgrowing and hugely progressive business with his mother Shamly, father Vikas and brother Rits. “But it has taken us two years to get the store exactly how we wanted it. Wishaw ticked every box for us. Being in a retail park, it had lots of parking and it was big enough for us to include all of our brands. There’s an Aldi and a Home Bargains next door but we decided our offer had more than enough to compete with them.”
The store is indeed big. At 4,500sq ft it gave Guna and the family something they had never had before: the space to include all four
of their brands. “Racetrack is our standard convenience retailing brand, Hoagies is our food-to-go brand, Tubbies Dessert Lab is our dessert brand and SpeedQueen is our launderette brand,” says Guna. “We have these brands in our other stores but Wishaw gave us the opportunity to have all four in the same space for the first time. It was really exciting.”
The store was first fully fitted out in Christmas 2023 but when the family first walked into it after the refit, something wasn’t quite right. “The minute we walked in, we just agreed that it wasn’t working the way we hoped,” recalls Guna. “We originally had the SpeedQueen launderette at the front door, which would have allowed us to operate it as a 24/7 service that shoppers could access even when the store was closed at night. But when we first walked in, we just realised that it wasn’t setting the right tone to have shoppers walk through a launderette before they got into the store.”
committed to getting it just right that we felt we had no choice.”
So the refit was refitted and, 18 months later, the store finally opened on Friday 10 May. “It has been a long journey but we did the right thing,” says Guna. “It’s flying.”
Indeed, it’s flying so fast that the store is already hitting numbers that the family had projected would take 12 months to reach.
So what did they do? “We ripped it up and started again,” laughs Guna. “It seems nuts now to think about it, but we were so
Take one step inside and you quickly realise why. “It’s basically our standard store concept on steroids,” explains Guna.
To get a small flavour of the experience,
consider that the store has more than 70 flavours of slush, a Havana cigar humidor, a huge beer cave, four jumbo digital screens and 53 standard-size digital screens, Scotland’s only SpeedQueen ozone-technology launderette, a full hot and cold food-to-go solution (all made fresh daily in-store), the list goes on and on.
“We try to create destination stores that give shoppers as many unique reasons as possible to visit us,” explains Guna. “Take vaping, for example. Vaping is a huge category that’s very high margin and most stores do it – but we
decided to take it to the next level. In Wishaw there’s very little competition so we have gone big on it. We have over 3,600 vaping SKUs and over 150 nicotine pouch SKUs. It’s essentially a vape shop within a shop and the turnover we get from vaping alone is probably similar to the entire turnover of a small convenience store.”
Then there’s Hoagies, the food-to-go brand. It offers a huge range of hot and cold food options as well as an extensive range of graband-go food to go. All of it is made fresh every day in the purpose-built kitchen.
3,600 vaping SKUs 70+ flavours of slush 45% blend margin
Similarly, the family’s well-known Tubbies dessert brand features heavily. “Around 40% of the sales space in Wishaw is dedicated to Tubbies. We have a very loyal following and Tubbies is unique in combining over 70 flavours of slush, desserts, cakes, donuts, waffles, pancakes, sundaes, ice cream milkshakes and more.”
The chilled beer cave features a full range of chilled beers, wines, ciders and RTDs as well as kegs, and features a special imported German and Belgian beer section, as well as the trademark Havana cigar humidor that features in all Racetrack outlets.
Then there’s the SpeedQueen launderette. “There are over 1,000 SpeedQueen units in Europe but none in the UK,” says Guna. “So we negotiated the exclusive licence for Scotland. Interestingly, it’s a cashless system that works using an app. Shoppers prepay and
Store profile
Retailers: Sud family
Stores in chain: 11
Size: 4,500sq ft
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 7am-11pm, Sun 8am-11pm
Staff: 26
Name: Premier Racetrack Wishaw
RED BULL GIVES YOU WIIINGS.
We try to create destination stores that give shoppers as many unique reasons as possible to visit us.
Guna Sud, Retail Manager
then receive a notification to their phone when their washing is ready to collect.
Similarly, the Hoagies section of the store features touchscreen ordering pillars. “Shoppers are so used to ordering that way now because businesses like McDonald’s use it and it’s also proven very effective in upselling, much more so than when staff try.”
You will notice that pretty much everything highlighted above has one thing in common: high margins. “We work hard to push margin as high as we can get them,” says Guna. “With the cost of doing business so high these days, we need the margin. We achieve 45% blend margin by combining high-margin categories with lower-margin categories like the value range of products we offer to compete with our retail neighbours.
“A lot of the solutions we put in place, particularly the tech solutions, mean that shoppers can self-serve. That helps us push staffing costs down but it also helps enhance the shopper experience, so it’s a win-win.”
Having said that, the store still has 26 staff working across 15 separate shifts! “A lot of
what we do is labour intensive,” explains Guna. “Preparing food and desserts all day every day takes a lot of time, but it’s what we do. It’s how we work, so we’re used to it.”
With a much bigger business these days, Guna and family now rely more than ever on their various teams across the stores. “Back in the day we would more or less manage a store each but as we grew that was no longer possible. As we were preparing for Wishaw to open, we put our manager through a ninemonth training course and trained the full management team alongside. That means when I walk in, there’s nothing for me to do! ”
All of this glitz and glam however, doesn’t mean that Racetrack Wishaw has lost its convenience store roots. “If anything, we’ve actually focused more on traditional convenience in this store than in our other stores. We listened to Premier and basically agreed to do everything they suggested. The store is also more heavily branded as a Premier store than our other sites because it helps drive footfall, as shoppers know the Premier brand.
“We also run every Premier promotion
because we know value is key for our shoppers. That helps get them through the door and we then hope that, once they’re inside, they might be tempted by everything else they find.”
For Guna and his family, every day is a school day. “We are always on a learning journey,” he says. “When we first started out we were taking inspiration from the US and the middle east and south-east Asia. As we’ve grown, we now have the chance to learn from within the group. So, all the learnings we have made in the other stores have informed how Wishaw looks. But by the same token, some of the things we have learned in Wishaw and our other newer stores have been fed back into the original stores. It’s a process of constantly trying to improve and stay ahead of the game.”
Which is why things never stand still at Racetrack for long. “We’re developing a group-wide loyalty app at the moment that shoppers will be able to use for every product in every store,” concludes Guna. “And we’ve got our 12th store opening later this year in Glasgow city centre. There’s always something going on!”
High scorers
Premier Penn Hill’s fresh new offer is in touch with local needs.
Having a footballing legend cut the ceremonial ribbon is one way to guarantee a crowd at your new store’s Grand Opening Day – and a mighty large crowd did indeed gather for the unveiling of Premier Penn Hill on 27 April 2024.
However, even without the presence of local shopper and football pundit Harry Redknapp, Bournemouth’s new concept Premier was always going to pull in the punters.
Owned by brothers Veli and Mehmet Bulbul, the brandnew store showcases a number of innovative features – the like of which have not been seen before locally – along with a large new range of quality products and innovative ‘to go’ solutions at great value prices.
The brothers, who also own a successful Family Shopper
store in Bournemouth town centre, “jumped at the chance” to take on the prime retail unit, which had previously traded as a Co-op.
“The previous store hadn’t really been invested in for years,” Veli explains. “We knew the area and understood the needs of local shoppers and we knew that we could offer them something really different and very welcome.”
After receiving the keys in March 2024, work began to create a brand-new store for the people of Penn Hill.
“There’s a lot of young professionals and families living in the area and the store also receives a fair bit of passing trade,” Veli says.
“There was a clear opportunity to create a comprehensive food and drinks-to-go offer and a strong fresh and chilled offer to help shoppers fulfil many more of their daily needs.
“We went to visit a new Premier concept store on the Isle of Wight and were so impressed with the range, merchandising, messaging and all the unique features such as Refresh and the beer and soft drinks caves.”
Veli and Mehmet took the unit on as an empty shell, so their shop fitters were able to get started straight away. Thanks to “an incredible team effort” by all involved, the entire fit-out was completed within two weeks.
One of the first things the brothers did was to increase the size of the shop floor by creating a beer cave in part of the old stock room.
“There are so many benefits to a beer cave,” says Veli. “Firstly, everything is chilled. I don’t have to worry about constantly moving product from the stockroom to the fridge as it sells through, and shoppers love the convenience of having it all chilled and ready to drink –even the large multipacks.
“I can also fit lots more stock inside the beer cave than I could in separate fridges – meaning that there’s nothing collecting dust in the stockroom. All my stock is out there, prominently displayed in the cave where it’s making money.
“In the long run a beer cave is also much more economical to run. There’s a misconception that it’s more expensive
because it’s such a big space but instead of having four large fridges with four motors, we only have one motor. The cave also has a door, so the space is enclosed and it’s very well insulated.”
There is another benefit that the beer cave brings: the wow factor. “Shoppers literally say ‘wow’ when they enter,” says Veli. “A beer cave just creates a far more memorable and enjoyable shopping experience –especially on hot days.
“A beer cave also simplifies things for shoppers. The cave is so well signposted and once they are in, everything they need is right there in one place. It’s also more practical, especially for shoppers carrying baskets or bags as they don’t need to wrestle open multiple fridge doors to get what they need.
“From a responsible retailing point of view, it’s a bonus. Underaged shoppers aren’t near the products and the cave is clearly signposted as for over-18s only.”
The store also boasts a soft drinks cave that has all the same benefits, as Veli explains: “Our new soft drinks cave has allowed us to introduce a fantastic new range of soft drinks that’s far larger than what was available before.
“Both caves also allow us to create huge promotional impact. There are no chiller doors obscuring the view –
when shoppers enter the caves they are instantly met with four walls of value! Premier’s special offers have great on-shelf stand-out and we can also create high-impact promotional stacks in the middle.
“We’re trying to do as many promotions as possible to give shoppers the best value for their hard-earned money.”
It’s still early days but BWS sales already account for more than £4,000 a week – with wines on promotion being the strongest part of the BWS offering.
And it’s not just in the beer and soft drinks caves that Premier’s promotional prowess shines.
Keen to glean a bigger slice of the food-to-go opportunity, Veli and Mehmet’s new store also features a comprehensive new fresh and chilled range including a lunchtime ‘Mega Meal Deal’ offering shoppers ‘five items for £5.50 – comprising of a drink, a main, a snack, a chocolate bar and a bag of crisps. Supported by free POS, Veli says that the Mega Meal Deal has become a huge success. Mornings and lunchtimes are very busy with shoppers popping in to take advantage of it,” he adds.
In fact, according to Veli, the store’s 7.5-metre chilled
range is emerging as one of the store’s best performing categories. “It’s still early days but chilled sales are climbing week on week and now account for almost 15% of sales and growing.
“Shoppers are buying real baskets and a real variety of products to make whole meals.
“We also have a two-metre open chiller for fruit and vegetables which is also doing really well. Shoppers are so pleased with the range, the quality and most of all the availability.”
The store also offers a range of fresh local cakes and pastry products from a well-known bakery in Bournemouth, as well as local eggs and honey too.
A high-impact Refresh@Premier bar completes the store’s footfall-driving ‘to go’ offer.
The concept includes a hot and cold Costa Coffee offer as well as Thick Fresh Shakes, Boba-licious bubble tea and US-inspired slush drinks by a local company. “The slush is branded up as ‘Dweebs’ and it’s selling really well,” Veli adds.
“Refresh is such a great footfall driver. We get a lot of younger shoppers coming in for it.”
Other unique features include a large AFC Bournemouth poster – signed by Harry Redknapp himself. “Shoppers love this special touch, and we regularly have football fans taking selfies in front of it,” says Veli. “It really adds to the
Cruzcampo has added the most category value and customers of any Brand in Booker in 2024*
*Source: Dunnhumby Calendar YTD 2024 to 16/06/24.
The feedback from local shoppers is also excellent. Shoppers are constantly complimenting us on our range and how the store looks. Everyone agrees that it feels so much bigger and very inviting.
Veli Bulbul
community vibe that we are striving to create here.”
“The Opening Day was fantastic. More than 200 people came down to take a look around. The fact that Harry Redknapp came to cut the ribbon really was the icing on the cake.”
It’s been less than two months since the store’s Grand Opening but already Veli is “over the moon” with how the store is performing. “Sales are right where we hoped them to be and are growing week on week which is really encouraging,” he adds.
“The feedback from local shoppers is also excellent. Shoppers are constantly complimenting us on our range and how the store looks. Everyone agrees that it feels so much bigger and very inviting.
“The support really has blown us away. For us that’s what it’s truly all about. With every week that goes by, we are becoming more and more of a part of this community which is so rewarding. We’re not here to simply sell apples and pears, we want to be part of shoppers’ daily lives and make a difference.”
It certainly seems like they are scoring big on that front.
Store Profile
Name: Premier Penn Hill, Dorset
Retailers: Veli and Mehmet Bulbul
Size: 1,375sq ft
Services: PayPoint, National Lottery, free ATM Staff: 5
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 7am10pm, Sun 8am-10pm
Ringing in the sales
Wandsworth’s shoppers can’t resist the call of Kokulan Rajaratnam’s new concept Premier store.
As the former manager of a successful big-brand phone shop, Kokulan Rajaratnam (Raja) understands the importance of making a good connection better than most. And he’s certainly dialling up impressive results with his latest venture – a brand-new Premier concept store on South London’s buzzing Wandsworth Road.
Raja swapped the world of retail telecommunications for convenience retail just over four years ago now – buying his first two stores in that time.
“The convenience industry had always held a pull for me,” he explains. “I’d really enjoyed my time working in the telecoms industry but ultimately, I wanted to be my own boss and own my own stores. I’m also a real people person – customer service is a bit of a passion – I just love to talk!
“When the opportunity came up for me to take on a third site on a prime stretch of the busy Wandsworth Road I jumped at it. I
had previously managed a phone shop in the area, so I knew the demographic and the competitive landscape well.
“It’s a good area with a large amount of passing trade and it’s also directly in front of a bus stop. The store is also surrounded by residential housing and there’s a large international community, including a lot of South Africans.
“The old store had previously been trading as a greengrocers, so I knew it was important for my store to also offer a strong range of quality fresh produce – complemented by a large new range of chilled choice, food to go, impulse, BWS and more.”
A top-to-bottom refit ensued after Raja got the keys in December 2023, before re-opening with a fully-charged Premier offer in March 2024.
As planned, fresh and chilled form a key part of the new store’s mix.
“I have four doors of chilled foods one of which is entirely dedicated to sandwiches plus a strong range of quality fresh produce,” says Raja.
The overall reaction to the new store has been fantastic. Shoppers are forever telling me that they love the range, the prices and the look and feel, which is so rewarding.
Kokulan Rajaratnam } {
“As a former greengrocers, I knew that it was really important for the new store to retain a strong range of competitively priced, quality fresh fruit and vegetables. Local shoppers are big buyers of fresh – a lot of scratch cooking goes on around here and products like onions, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms and potatoes are big sellers.”
Raja is also in the process of applying for a pavement display of fresh fruit and vegetables which will allow him to offer an even wider range featuring more exotic produce.
Food and drinks to go are also proving popular, especially Raja’s new range of chilled sandwiches and snacks – which are supported by the Premier Meal Deal.
“Premier’s range of deals and promotions provide us with a great point of difference locally. Value for money is key and the new store really hits the mark. I try to offer as many as the Premier deals as I can,” he adds.
Another place where Premier’s promotional muscle is well and truly
SOFT DRINKS ARE A TOPPERFORMING CATEGORY AND ACCOUNT FOR ALMOST 40% OF SALES
{Premier’s range of deals and promotions provide us with a great point of difference locally. Value for money is key and the new store really hits the mark. I try to offer as many of the Premier deals as I can.
Kokulan Rajaratnam
flexed is inside the store’s high-impact Beer Cave.
“Shoppers absolutely love the beer cave,” Raja says. “The cave looks amazing both inside and out and the Mega Deals and Special Offers on BWS give us even more of an edge and are a big footfall driver.”
The store’s footfall-driving serving of special offers is also prominently displayed on an eye-catching digital media screen in the window.
Raja’s range also includes six-doors of soft drinks – which already account for almost 40% of sales.
“There’s a lot of small independent grocery stores locally but none of them have a strong soft drinks offer, so we are making the most of that opportunity too,” he adds.
The store’s soft drinks range is complemented by an equally invigorating Refresh@Premier bar featuring Bubble Tea, Milkshakes, Jolly Rancher Slush and a fresh coffee offer.
}
Store profile
Store: Premier Wandsworth, London
Retailer: Kokulan Rajaratnam (Raja)
Size: 900sq ft
Staff: 4
Opening hours: 6am-12pm
Sunday-Thurs, 6am-2am Fri-Sat
A new range of locally baked cakes and pastries, starring a number of popular South African products, also shines brightly at the front of the store.
“The Refresh offer is another big pull,” Raja says. “When passersby look in, it stops them in their tracks, and they can’t resist popping inside to check it out.
“The repeat business is also fantastic. Refresh is a big driver of loyalty for sure.
“The overall reaction to the new store has been fantastic. Shoppers are forever telling me that they love the range, the prices and the look and feel which is so rewarding. I’ve also seen quite a few filming themselves inside and posting the videos on their social media, which is great!
“I’m really excited for the months ahead and to see footfall and sales continue to grow. I knew from the start that this store would offer excellent potential and I can’t wait to see it fulfilled.”
It’s certainly hitting the right tone so far!
Pick ‘em Pick ‘em while you can!
Haribo Starmix
Haribo Tangfastics
Haribo Supermix
Haribo
Haribo Giant Strawbs
Haribo
Seventh heaven
Seven years on from opening, Premier Wishfield is reaping the rewards of its nextgeneration store refit.
The notorious ‘seven-year itch’: many a relationship, association or enterprise is thought to have fallen victim to the ominous superstition.
Thankfully, the ‘seven-year itch’ has resulted in nothing but a pleasant outcome for Premier retailers Kam and Lidia Sahraee – who, after seven years of successful trading, have just scratched up a wealth of new opportunities, sales and profits following a tremendous refit of their 1,600sq ft store.
Located in the of West Sussex village of Felpham near Bognor, Premier Wishfield was in fact profiled in Talking Shop just after it opened back in March 2017.
The store has traded “very successfully” since then – with both Kam and Lidia also having forged strong bonds with Felpham’s close-knit community over that time.
“However, after seven years it was time to redevelop the store,” Kam says. “The pandemic had changed local shopping habits – the ‘shop local’ mindset had continued to
THE STORE’S FRESH AND CHILLED RANGE HAS INCREASED BY MORE THAN 25% AND WASTAGE IS RUNNING AT LESS THAN 1%.
boom and our community was asking us for a wider range and more services.
“A larger variety of fresh fruit and vegetables was top of the list – as was more chilled choice. We also wanted to introduce a number of Premier’s new concepts to create a truly stand-out shopping experience.
“Premier offered us fantastic support from start to finish – helping us to create the design, plan the build, pick the range and add all the unique new touches – such as the black ceilings and the striking LED light panels.
“The Premier team also spent a lot of time talking to us about the direction in which the industry was moving and the trends that were likely to drive shopper demand in the future. All that insight and help proved invaluable.”
Work began on 25 March 2024 with Kam and Lidia’s shopfitters arranging things so that they could continue to trade from half the store. It was then closed for a week at the beginning of April – ahead of a soft launch on the 8th and Grand Opening Day on the 13th.
The results of the work, Kam and Lidia say, are proving “spectacular”.
“The reaction from shoppers has been simply extraordinary,” Kam says. “They love
their new-look store. We even have shoppers taking videos of themselves on the shop floor and posting them on social media.”
And from the first step inside, it’s clear what all the fuss is about.
The store’s old 300sq ft stockroom has been demolished in favour of a brand-new Beer Cave and Soft Drinks Cave at the rear.
“The Beer Cave has injected some serious ‘wow factor’ into our offer,” Kam says. “Shoppers love everything about it. They love the crisp cool feeling inside, how well the products stand out on shelf, and they also tell me that the blue sky light panels make them feel quite uplifted, especially on a grey day!”
From a practical point of view the Beer Cave has also allowed Kam and Lidia to expand their range by more than 25%.
“It also helps with stock control. One of the dangers of having a large stock
room is that sometimes you can forget what’s in there. In the Beer Cave, all the stock is there to see. It also helps to save valuable time. Deliveries arrive and stock gets put in the Beer Cave straight away,” Kam says.
The store’s fresh and chilled range has also increased by 25%. “We now have two fridges, one 2.75m and one 2.5m which have allowed us to introduce a much larger range of chilled products including ready meals, fresh meat and lots more sandwiches, snacks and foodto-go items.”
“Fresh produce, in particular, has become a top-seller,” Lidia adds. “We now have a wonderful range of Jack’s-branded fruit and vegetables and shoppers are now specifically visiting us for fresh. We get three deliveries a week and, in each delivery, I now order at least 22 bunches of bananas. Incredibly, they have all almost always sold out by the time the next delivery
arrives. The success of fresh has blown me away and wastage is running at less than 1%!”
A new range of fresh locally made cakes has also been added to the mix – along with a new Refresh@Premier bar featuring Jolly Rancher Slush, Fwip Gelato, soft serve ice cream and a bean-to-cup coffee machine using Illy coffee.
The store’s frozen food range has also doubled to six doors.
“The whole store has also been really well merchandised with high-impact category signage that not only creates a unique look and feel – but also makes it really easy for shoppers to navigate. Shoppers don’t need to hunt the aisles to find what they are looking for, it’s all so clear.
“So many shoppers have also commented on how pleasant the shopping experience is and how grateful they are for the changes that we have made and the wonderful new store that they now have,” Kam adds.
Store sales are up just under 30% since the development – with previously quieter days, such as Monday, Tuesday and Sunday now “much busier”.
“We are constantly busy all week round now. We’re also attracting a younger demographic, as well as more basket shoppers,” Kam says.
“Thanks to our new Refresh@Premier zone, extended range of sandwiches and local pastries, we are now a proper destination for food to go and are attracting a lot more passing trade too.”
“All in all, we are absolutely delighted with the results. From the very start we have always tried to do our best for our shoppers and our local community, and we are so happy that they are happy with us.”
Store profile
Name: Premier Wishfi eld
Location: Felpham, Bognor Regis
Retailers: Kam and Lidia Sahraee
Size: 1,600sq ft
Services: PayPoint, Post Offi ce, National Lottery, Free ATM Staff: 8
Opening hours: 6am-9pm
We are constantly busy all week round now. We’re also attracting a younger demographic, as well as more basket shoppers.
Kam Sahraee
All fired up!
Summer BBQ season is here, and Premier has everything you need for smoking sales and profits.
The great British BBQ: the scent of sizzling sausages floating on the summer breeze is a staple of summer – and with vegan, beef and chicken varieties now widely available in addition to the humble pork banger – it’s a scent that surely no-one can resist.
A hot 64 million BBQs took place over the summer of 2023 – with peaks in May, June and early September – driven by the return of warm and sunny weather.
This year, shoppers, and indeed retailers, are anticipating even meatier figures thanks to a hot end to June, a warm and sunny beginning to July and promising Met Office long-range forecasts for the weeks ahead.
The packed calendar of big-ticket sporting occasions also looks set to help boost summer
BBQ occasions, as shoppers get together to enjoy grills, goals and golds.
Kicked off by UEFA Euro 2024 in June, the summer’s next big sporting highlight is The Olympic Games – set to unfold in Paris between 26 July and 11 August.
Interestingly, last summer saw a shift in the type and size of gatherings that UK shoppers were choosing to BBQ at.
While small BBQ gatherings of two to four people fell; gatherings of five or more people increased by 20% year on year according to Kantar data gathered by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
Looking ahead to this summer, AHDB expects to see this trend deepen – with BBQs likely to be “less used as a cooking method for everyday meals, and more for larger gatherings of friends and family”.
After all, the BBQ grill is one of life’s great levellers – allowing large groups to quickly and easily cater to a wide variety of different tastes, textures and trends – as well as to all ages.
Featuring great-value products such as sausages, pork steaks and chicken drumsticks, the BBQ occasion can also offer shoppers a lot more bang[ers] for their bucks – and is often a far cheaper alternative to eating out of home. When it comes to pork, the humble sausage really is the star of the BBQ show. In fact, according to AHBD, sausages account for more than one-fifth of all pork consumption – with 80% of households having bought pork sausages in the last year.
Sausages saw volume growth of 2.1% yearon-year last summer as existing pork sausage customers bought larger quantities per shop.
RETAILER VIEW
BEN MATTHEWS
Premier Meden Vale, Mansfield
“From sausages to steaks, burgers and chicken our vast new range of chilled produce includes everything shoppers need for a great BBQ – including all the salads and sides. We’re also making the most of this summer’s big BBQ opportunity with a great range of accessories including Instant Barbeques, Instant Lighting Charcoal, Lumpwood Charcoal, Fire Logs and Firelighters. We’ve been promoting the whole range heavily on social media as well as in store to drive awareness and footfall as much as possible.
With our ‘walk through’ Beer Cave and PerfectDraught Kegs offer too – we really have everything that local shoppers need for big BBQ occasions!”
Beef up your BBQ sales this summer
l Ensure good availability of classic red meat BBQ choices, with marketing emphasis on their great taste and treating potential.
l Safeguard against poor weather by pushing products that are suitable for both oven and BBQ cooking.
l Offer simple recipe inspiration for shoppers both online and in store to drive growth.
[SOURCE: AHDB]
Their cost-friendly credentials also won over more shoppers “switching from protein sources with a higher price point”.
Premier retailers can offer their shoppers a wide range of quality sausages all of which are sure to glorify their grills this summer – or their ovens – should the weather take a turn for the worse!
The Jack’s line-up alone, includes Premium Traditional Pork, Cumberland and Lincolnshire Sausages – all of which are currently available for an amazing value RSP of just £2.50 per 400g pack. The stunning NP6 deal also offers retailers a POR of 20%.
And it’s not just sausages that are helping summer sales to sizzle.
UK shoppers are continuing to seek out more exotic flavours that allow them to create a taste of the faraway at the flick of a flame.
Think chilli, chimichurri, chipotle, satay and so on.
Fortunately, Premier retailers have access to a wide range of sauces, sides, spices and condiments to fire up their grocery aisles and help their shoppers to create dazzling dishes at home.
Also available to Premier retailers right now is a fantastic range of fresh chicken products, including breast fillets and drumsticks – all of which pair perfectly with spicy sauces, dips and exotic marinades.
Jack’s Chicken Breast Fillets and Chicken Drumsticks are both currently being supported by Premier’s upweighted ‘Butchers Specials’ offer – specifically designed to drive meat sales.
Shoppers can snap up British Chicken Breast Fillets for just £4.25 during NP6 –
down from £4.99, offering retailers a POR of 15.5%.
Also available as part of the NP6 Butchers Specials are BBQ-friendly Jack’s Chicken Drumsticks on sale now for the amazing value promotional price of just £1.29 for a 430g pack – offering retailers a POR of 20%.
This fantastic deal will also be available to shoppers in the coming NP7 period too.
With their quality and amazing value credentials, both products are sure to score with shoppers looking to get their grill-on this summer.
And of course, no proper BBQ occasion would be complete without a generous serving of sides.
From fresh and crispy salads to cool, creamy dips – and not forgetting the buns, wraps and rolls – BBQ-bound shoppers can
find everything they need in Premier stores. The Premier range includes fantastic choice and prices on a range of bakery products ideal for BBQs – including 4-packs of Hovis Hot Dog Rolls which are being supported by an EDLP offer of just £1.19 between NP4 and NP7 – offering retailers a POR of 20.2%.
Shoppers can also choose 4-packs of Baker Street Hot Dog Rolls which have an RSP of £1.50 and offer retailers a POR of 28.8%.
Burger-lovers can also bag 6-packs of Baker Street Burger Buns for £1.50 - perfect for pairing with Jack's Beef Quarter Pounders.
NP6 Butchers Special�
JACK’S BRITISH CHICKEN
BREAST FILLETS
Case size: 4x500g
Promo WSP: £14.36
Promo RSP: £4.25
POR: 15.5%
For meatier eaters, there are even 4-packs of Baker Street Mega Burger Buns for an RSP of £1.50 and POR of 28.8% for Premier retailers.
The perfect partner to a juicy burger, sliced cheese is also a must stock at this time of year. The Jack’s range includes both Mild and Mature Cheddar slices which are available to shoppers as part of an ‘Any 2 for £4’ deal or individually and offer PORs of up to 40%.
And be sure to make the most of P7’s
coming Mega Deal on Heinz BBQ Sauce – which offers shoppers a free 400ml bottle of Heinz Seriously Good Mayonnaise when
NP6 and NP7 Butchers Special�
JACK’S CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
Case size: 4x430g
Promo WSP: £4.12
Promo RSP: £1.29
POR: 20.2%
BURNING BRIGHT
2kg Instant Light Charcoal 1x2kg £5.79 27.7%
Charcoal Briquettes. 1x5kg £7.99 28.1%
Disposable BBQ Minigrill 12xsingle £3.79 39.3%
BBQ Lighting Fluid 12x1L £4.99 33.9%
Jacks Firelighters 24x15pk £1.25 46% Kindling Wood Super Pack 1x2.5kg £5.99 49.9% Kiln Dried Logs 1x10kg £7.99 40.1%
they buy a £3.35 price-marked bottle of BBQ sauce!
Premier retailers can also make sizzling PORs on a range of BBQ accessories including Charcoal Briquettes, Instant Light Charcoal, Minigrills and more. Most of these key accessories offer PORs of 30% and up, with Jack’s Firelighters offering a blazing 46%!
So, with all that said and done, all that remains is for the sun to keep its hat on and for shoppers to fire up those grills. It certainly is one smoking hot opportunity!
64 million BBQs took place over the summer of 2023
Source: Kantar 16 w/e 3 September 2023
Winter winners
With Halloween, Bonfire Night and of course Christmas, the winter season has always a winter wonderland of opportunities for retailers to drive footfall and maximise their sales and profits.
And for a number of Premier retailers, even toastier sales and profits could be on the cards this winter season.
For the first time, Premier retailers serviced from BRP depots were able to access the Winter Pre-Sell and are now looking forward
to receiving their first ever drop.
Some of the many benefits of being serviced from a BRP depot is that you can access an increased range of seasonal product, pre-sell service and extended credit to help manage costs.
With eight Group Exclusive lines and more than 190 new products to look forward to receiving, the 2024 Winter Pre-Sell offered retailers a wealth of winter choice.
The first drop of the 2024 Winter Pre-Sell is set to land in selected stores the week commencing 26 August, with a further four drops to follow in September, October and
November – right up until the main month of December itself – when on the week commencing 9 December, retailers will receive a Santa sack-load of profit-priming products in readiness for the vital Christmas season.
Some of the many new products that could add some magic and sparkle to retailers’ shelves this winter season are Reese’s King Size Chocolate Trees, Reese’s DJ Santa Disco Lights pouches and Cadbury Puds Minis – all of which offer PORs of 30% and up.
Novelty items such as these are sure to drive footfall, sales and profits from the start of the
winter season, right through to the New Year.
Retailers with access to the pre-sell can also look forward to furnishing their floors with an array of festive pre-filled Dumpbins and Floor Units.
New to the pre-sell this year, Malteser’s prefilled mixed milk and mint Reindeer GFUs will give retailers the chance to make PORs of more than 50%. Also new to the pre-sell are Nestlé Giant Tubes Units – featuring Smarties Giant Elf Tubes, Milkybar Buttons and more.
MEGA DEALS
Retailers can also look forward to offering their shoppers an array of fantastic prices on key branded lines thanks to a mountain of Mega Deals. Take the Group Exclusive 295g Aero Peppermint Block, for example. With an RSP of just £3.50, this giant-sized sharing bar is sure to be a hit with shoppers when it lands in store – and what’s more, it offers a tasty POR of 20%.
WINNING STREAK
Premier retailers are also in with a chance of winning an array of fantastic prizes thanks to the 2024 Winter Pre-Sell. Up for grabs is a chance to win £250 for buying four cases of Lindor Christmas lines. There’s also a chance to win a £125 Amazon voucher for buying one case of Cadbury
and Cadbury
each.
Puds, Cadbury Snowballs Blocks
Puds Minis
THE DROP!
PUMPKINS
Drop 1: W/C 7 October 2024
Drop 2: W/C 14 October 2024
Drop 3: W/C 21October 2024
WINTER
Drop 1: W/C 26 August 2024
Drop 2: W/C 23 September 2024
Drop 3: W/C 21October 2024
Drop 4: W/C 18 November 2024
Drop 5: W/C 9 December 2024
Other Mega Deals well worth calling out include 310g boxes of Maltesers with an RSP of just £4.50 – which will also earn retailers a POR of 20%.
New to the pre-sell this year are also a number of products from leading alcohol brands including 10x330ml cases of Birra Moretti – which offer a POR of 15.3% on an RSP of £15 – and 4x330ml cans of Kopparberg Winter Punch, which deliver a juicy POR of 30.5%.
Premier also has your alcohol gifting needs covered with an array of gift packs from leading spirit brands including Jack Daniel’s, Baileys, Absolut, Edinburgh Gin and Kraken – all of which are new to the pre-sell. The Smirnoff Trio Gift Pack, for example, has an RSP of £8.49 and features three 50ml bottles of Smirnoff Raspberry Crush, No21 Vodka and Mango & Passionfruit Twist offering a POR of 20.5%.
Retailers can also look forward to charging up their profits with energising margins of more than 60% on batteries – an absolute must stock in the run up to and during the festive season.
New to the pre-sell this year are pre-filled counter display units of Panasonic batteries. The units feature a selection of AA, AAA and
CR2032 batteries – each of which offer a POR of 61.1% when sold at the RSP of £4.
IT’S A WRAP
Premier retailers will also have their Christmas wrapping paper, crackers and cards needs met by a separate pre-sell set to open later this August.
Look out for fantastic deals on festive napkins which will help you to clean up with a POR of 40%. The range includes a number of new designs, featuring snowflakes and gingerbread men, guaranteed to add a splash of festive magic to your shoppers’ tables.
The Christmas paper pre-sell will also include cracking deals on bottle bags and tags helping you to meet all your shoppers’ gifting needs in one convenient place.
Set to follow in September, the Fresh Foods Winter Pre-Sell will also ensure that Premier retailers will have the pick of the bunch when it comes to fresh festive eats.
Get set to take advantage of great deals and fruitful PORs across a wide range of quality fresh products across dairy, deli, produce and more.
With so many opportunities to come, Premier retailers can surely look forward to a particularly merry 2024 winter season.
FRIGHTFULLY GOOD PROFITS
Retailers who took advantage of the 2024 Winter Pre-Sell can also look forward to a spooktacular Halloween spread, including new products and great deals across cakes, biscuits, sweets and treats. This includes Group Exclusive Deals on products like Vidal Creepy Jelly and Monster Jelly cards, which will offer a POR of 30.9%. Retailers also had the opportunity to pre-order a pre-fi lled ‘Large Monster Pumpkin Cage’ with 36 units and PORs of 25%.
Class Act
The annual Back to School period is a great opportunity for retailers to drive incremental sales and offer convenient solutions to busy parents.
BACK TO BACK TO SCHOOL SCHOOL BACK TO BA K SCHOOL O
You can check when schools and colleges in your area start back on your Local Authority website.
ILUNCHBOX LOVELIES
Shelf help
t’s time to sharpen those pencils, shine up those shoes and swap sunhats for thinking caps – as all across the country, parents, carers and kids start to gear up for the annual Back To School and College period.
The start of the new academic year also presents a fresh opportunity for retailers to chalk up their store sales and profits – with additional sales to be made across a number of different categories in store, including fresh, chilled and frozen products as well as a variety of non-food categories such as laundry, stationery and medicines.
The return of school heralds the return of packed lunches and everything that goes
As ever, the key Back to School period will be supported by a professionally designed suite of highimpact Point of Sale materials. Featuring a comic style and neon colours, the materials are sure to support retailers in their efforts to add up Back To School sales.
Materials include posters, shelf barkers and strips.
Pass the back-toschool test
l Focus on quick and easy lunchbox solutions for parents.
l Offer a good range of staple sandwich fillers: cheese, ham, tuna.
l Look out for great value deals.
l Make use of all available POS.
l Offer a good range of healthier options, especially healthier snacking products.
l Don’t forget the evening meal opportunity! Offer a great-value range of quickand-easy dinner solutions for time-poor parents.
l Stationery will be in demand too. Don’t miss out on this high-margin opportunity.
l Give some first aid to your Winter Remedies and Medicines range in advance of cough and cold season.
Healthy marks
Demand for products which help to deliver healthier diets for children and young people has never been higher. Make sure your range meets this need by including as many low fat, salt and sugar products as possible such as low-fat cheese snacks, rice cakes, yogurt, sugarfree jellies and more.
towards the making of sandwiches, wraps, salads and other lunchbox essentials.
For many parents and carers, the start of the new school term can be a challenging time, especially for those with young children who are new to the daily grind of academic life.
Those parents and carers will be especially appreciative of stores which can offer them a great range of healthy, convenient products that can help them create tasty, balanced boxes for great-value prices and a minimum of fuss.
Offering a good range of staple sandwich components is a great place to start and Premier has you covered when it comes to the bread and bakery side of things with an excellent choice of sliced bread products including an amazing Fresh Essentials deal on Hovis Simple White and Simple Wholemeal loaves for an RSP of just 89p, down from £1.19.
A good choice of classic sandwich fillings such as ham, cheese and tuna – along with salad products are also a must.
The Jack’s cheese range includes a great choice of sliced, grated and block products, perfect for filling sandwiches, wraps, rolls and more. In addition, all products in the Jack’s cheese range are available to shoppers under a great value ‘Any 2 for £4’ deal.
On offer during the NP6 and NP7 promotional period are 165g tubs of Philadelphia Original and Light – both of which have an RSP of just £1.75, and offering a POR of 20.1%.
Premier retailers can also offer their shoppers a great-value deal on Dairylea Lunchers Ham and Cheese and Chicken and Cheese, both of which are available in £1.65 price-marked packs or on an ‘Any 2 for £2.75’ deal.
Also ensure your range includes key healthy snacking products such as carrots and cucumbers (ideal for chopping up into snack-sized sticks), along with dips such as houmous. And don’t forget plenty of fresh fruit, especially apples, grapes, bananas and tangerines, all of which are perfect for packing into lunchboxes.
Jack’s Cucumbers and Jack’s Red Grapes are both on offer as part of Jack’s Fresh 4 promotion in P7 which runs until 10 September.
And with no lunchbox complete without a tasty snack, Premier retailers can also offer their shoppers an ‘Any 2 for £3.50’ deal on a range of Walkers multi-bags, including 6-packs of Cheese & Onion, Variety packs, Ready Salted and Cheese Quavers – offering a POR of 24.5%.
Helping to wash it all down is another refreshing deal on Robinsons Fruit Shoot Multipacks – with 8x200ml of Orange and Apple & Blackcurrant drinks available on an ‘Any 2 for £3.50’ deal. Made with real fruit and containing no added sugar, the drinks also offer a welcome healthier option.
The Back To School period can also add an extra dimension to retailers’ food-to-go sales, with older students choosing to spend their lunch money on pre-packed sandwiches, snacks and drinks. If you don’t already, offering the great-value £5.50 Premier Sandwich Meal Deal is a great way to drive footfall and sales.
EVENING INSPIRATION
With children back at school after the long summer break, parents and carers will also be busy adjusting to new termtime routines – meaning that quick and convenient evening meal solutions, that can help them get back into the groove, will also be popular.
Stores that can offer their shoppers a good range of crowd-pleasing products to create fast, healthy and tasty evening meals are sure to score full marks with shoppers.
From quick and easy fresh or frozen pizzas to hearty home-cooked dishes, such as sausages and mash, gammon, egg and chips or Spaghetti Bolognese – the Jack’s range offers everything that your shoppers’ need to whip up tasty, great-value solutions in a flash.
The back-to-school period can also present a sparkling opportunity for laundry sales, and especially stain-fighting detergents. Premier retailers can clean up with EDLPs on leading brands, including Fairy, among others.
So, with all that said and done, it’s clear that retailers have all they need to score top marks with shoppers, as the kids go back to school.
Shake it till you make it!
Premier’s first-ever Cocktail Festival offers a punchy blend of opportunities to drink in juicier sales and profits this summer.
With their fresh and fruity flavours, vibrant colours and cooling credentials, cocktails are
synonymous with summer and the perfect accompaniment to a vast range of outdoor occasions – from folky festivals to family BBQs, picnics and park trips – or just for sipping slowly on a warm summer’s evening at home.
70% of alcoholic RTDs are consumed within two hours of purchase
Source: CCEP BEACH data
Helping retailers to make the most of this stirring opportunity is the first-ever Premier Cocktail Festival – new for 2024 and guaranteed to shake up your sales and profits!
“With a range of great deals on key brands and popular formats – the Premier
CORE PLUS DEALS
Cocktail festival is sure to help drive footfall and sales,” Premier retailer Harman Puni of HP Premier in Grassmoor, Chesterfield says.
“Shoppers love a cocktail in the summer and we’re certainly anticipating strong sales of spirits and mixers as well as ready-todrink (RTD) formats, which we expect to win especially big over the coming months.
“RTDs are already a top-selling category – allowing shoppers to taste and trial a vast range of different flavour combinations for great value price points and in an ultraconvenient format. We merchandise our large range of RTDs inside our Beer Cave, where they create stunning visual impact, and they are all perfectly chilled and ready for shoppers to drink.”
And Harman is certainly not alone in his love of RTDs.
Malibu and Cola 12x250ml Any 3 for £5 20.2%
Funkin Blue Raspberry Nitro 12x200ml Any 3 for £5 20.2%
Funkin Pina Colada 12x200ml Any 3 for £5 20.2%
Funkin Espresso Martini Nitro 12x200ml Any 3 for £5 20.2% Dead Man’s Fingers Rum and Cola 12x330ml Any 3 for £5 20.2%
Bacardi Mango Mojito 12x250ml Any 3 for £5 20.2%
Malibu and Pineapple 12x250ml Any 3 for £5 20.2%
Southern Comfort Lemonade 12x330ml Any 3 for £5 20.2%
White Claw Seltzer Raspberry 12x330ml Any 3 for £5 20.2%
White Claw Seltzer Cherry 12x330ml Any 3 for £5 20.2% *E,W,I ONLY
SIZE: 5x320g code: M296258
Make a stir
With the RTD category growing 24.2% in volume and 16.5% by value in convenience [IRI data] it’s well worth ensuring that your range is up to scratch to make the most of this refreshing opportunity.
l Why not consider devoting more space to the RTD category in your chiller or Beer Cave?
l While you’re at it, take a moment to check your range and ensure that you are stocking the most popular lines and getting maximum sales and profits out of every facing.
l RTD specialists such as WKD and AU are continuing to drive sales this summer, along with big brand NPD such as Jack Daniel’s Whisky & Zero Sugar Coca-Cola and Gordon’s & Schweppes Pink Gin & Tonic – all of which are on offer as part of the Premier Cocktail Festival.
Refreshment is the number one preference amongst shoppers when making an alcoholic RTD choice
Source: IWSR RTDs Strategic Study
As many other Premier retailers will attest, RTDs are knocking it out of the park when it comes to sales growth at the moment, with the category up by 24.2% in volume and 16.5% by value in convenience in the 12 months to the end of February 2024 [IRI data] – making it comfortably the fastestgrowing sector of the wider BWS category.
With stats like that, it’s clear that RTDs present a juicy opportunity for convenience retailers to cash in – especially when you consider that volumes have actually been falling in supermarkets and were down 13.2% to the end of February 2024, according to IRI . Helping retailers to squeeze every drop out of the RTD opportunity, Premier’s Cocktail Festival includes an irresistible mix of Mega Deals and multi-buy offers across a wide range of leading RTD brands, including innovative new products. A star of the NP6 promotional period is a Mega Deal on AU Vodka RTD mixed packs available to shoppers for an RSP of just £13!
Running throughout the NP6 and NP7 promotional periods, the Premier Cocktail Festival also includes an upweighted ‘Any 3 for £5’ Core Plus deal on a range of RTD products from big name spirit brands
Perfect serve
The Premier Cocktail Festival will be supported by a vibrant suite of supporting POS to help retailers create maximum impact in store. Featuring bold summer colours and fruity, fl oral imagery, the range includes posters, hanging panels, shelf strips, bunting, window vinyls and more, to bring the festival to life. Visit the Premier Printshop or speak to your RDM for more information.
including Malibu, Bacardi, Southern Comfort and more, all of which offer a POR of 20%.
Scottish retailers will be able to offer the same range for just £1.67 per item – down from the standard RSP of £2.19.
Retailers will also be able to offer their shoppers an array of RTD formats on an ‘Any 3 for £6’ deal which includes 250ml cans of Gordon’s Gin & Tonic, Pimms & Lemonade, and more, all of which offer PORs of 23.6%.
An ‘Any 2 for £5’ deal on a variety of topselling RTD brands, including AU, is also sure to
shake up the shelves.
The deal includes AU Vodka Pineapple Crush, AU Vodka Cherryade, AU Vodka Blue Raspberry and more – plus new products such as AU Vodka Strawberry Daiquiri Cocktail and AU Vodka Hawaiian Cocktail, all of which offer PORs of 20% and up.
Margin Booster deals also include great prices on WKD Blue, WKD Iron Brew and WKD O&P which have an RSP of £3.79 each and a margin of 20.1%.
For shoppers keen to mix it up themselves the Premier Cocktail Festival includes greatvalue prices on a stirring range of ‘perfect mixers’ such as Funkin Margarita, Mojito, Pina Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri – as well as deals on leading 70cl spirits including Archers, Absolut Vodka, Beefeater Pink, Gordon’s and Smirnoff.
With such an irresistible range of choice and prices, ‘cocktail hour’ is sure to be a round-the clock affair this summer – don’t forget the ice!
LUCKY STRIKE GREAT
It’s an offence to sell tobacco to any person under 18 years of age. For tobacco trade use only. Not to be left in the sight of consumers.
New Products
MILKA ALPINE MILK
Case size: 24x100g
EXCLUSIVE
WSP: £19.99
RSP: £1.35
POR: 26%
MILKA HAPPY COW
Case size: 23x100g
WSP: £19.19
RSP: £1.35
POR: 25.8%
GALAXY RIPPLE
Case size: 29x90g
WSP: £25.45
RSP: £1.35
POR: 22%
SEA SALT AND CIDER VINEGAR, SWEET CHILLI & RED PEPPER
Case Size: 8x150g
WSP: £7.49
RSP: £2.85 BOGOF
POR:21.2%
New Products
RED BULL VARIETY PACK
Case size: 6x4x250ml
WSP: £18.85
RSP: £5.35
POR: 29.5%
HUBBA BUBBA ICE LOLLIES
Case size: 10x4x50g
WSP: £18.65
RSP: £2.99
POR: 25.2%
M&Ms
MINIS
Case size: 16x70g
WSP: £14.09
RSP: £1.35
POR: 21.7%
STARBURST ICE LOLLIES
Case size: 10x4x50g
WSP: £18.65
RSP: £2.99
POR: £25.2
GLEN’S VODKA Cola and Pink Lemonade
Case size: 12x250ml
WSP: £11.99
RSP: £1.89
POR: 36.6%
I HEART BUBBLY
Case size: 6x75cl
WSP: £27.49
RSP: £6.99
POR: 21.3%
AU VODKA COCKTAIL Strawberry Daiquiri and Blue Hawaiian
Case size: 12x200ml
WSP: £21.99
RSP: £2.99
POR: 26.5%
About Isabel
Isabel Mulligan is a Category Manager Designate at Booker working within the Beers, Wines & Spirits buying team and specialising in wine. She joined Booker 10 months ago as part of a twoyear Tesco graduate programme having spent the first year of the programme working in the Group Communications department within Tesco.
When she joined Booker she joined the Beers, Wines & Spirits buying team to gain experience in the buying function and has focused on wine buying for the last 10 months. Her graduate programme ends in the next few months and she will then be ready to consider her options moving forward as she continues her career within the Group.
Isabel is a graduate of the University of Leeds where she earned her degree in English Literature and French, spending a year in France as part of her course.
Meet the Team: Isabel Mulligan
This month we catch up with Category Manager Designate Isabel Mulligan, who is partway through her two-year graduate programme and currently specialises in wine buying for Booker.
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?
I’m a Category Manager Designate, which essentially means I’m a trainee buyer. I’ve been working with Booker for around 10 months now and I work in the Beers, Wines and Spirits (BWS) team, focusing on wine buying. I’m now in the second year of a twoyear retail graduate programme and I spent the first year of the programme in group communications at Tesco working in the press office and on internal communications.
SO, A BIG CHANGE THEN?
Yes, a huge change – but that’s why the graduate programme was so attractive to me. I wanted the chance to see all sorts of different parts of the wider Group, so it was fantastic to spend a year in group communications at Tesco then be able to move over to Booker and into the buying teams. It’s given me a really good insight across lots of parts of the Group and has helped me develop different skillsets.
WAS THIS YOUR FIRST ROLE?
Yes, I did English Literature and French at
the University of Leeds and spent a year in France then came back and pretty much went straight into the graduate programme. The year with Tesco was fascinating and it was really exciting to learn so much about Tesco’s communications strategies firsthand. It involved dealing with everyone from journalists to internal and external stakeholders and it was pretty full-on! Having come straight from uni, this was my first time working in a retail business.
THEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MOVE OVER TO BOOKER?
I was very lucky because, when I joined Booker about 10 months ago, it was actually the first year that Booker had taken Tesco graduates. I felt it was the perfect opportunity for me because I was keen to get more involved in retail and in buying specifically. I joined the wider BWS team but have specialised in wine buying, project work and helping the team
HAVE YOU ENJOYED IT?
Absolutely! I like to push myself, try new challenges and get out of my comfort zone so
moving to Booker meant I had to get to know a whole new business, albeit part of the same Group. There are lots of similarities between the two businesses but there are also a lot of major differences
SUCH AS?
Well, one of the most obvious differences is that with Booker I get the chance to work in the on-trade, something I didn’t experience within Tesco. I’ve really enjoyed getting experience across both retail and wholesale.
HOW HAS YOUR WINE BUYING JOURNEY BEEN?
I started off on smaller projects in smaller sub-categories as part of my training, but I faced the same challenges and opportunities you face across all categories: pricing, range, dealing direct with suppliers when working on trade plans and so on. Then I gradually progressed onto bigger projects in bigger categories.
WHAT HAVE YOU ENJOYED MOST?
I think I would have to say the fact that it’s all so real and tangible. Within a couple of years of leaving university, I’m actually involved in buying products that I can physically see and touch when I walk into Booker branches. I can see a specific wine and say, ‘I was involved in getting that onto that shelf!’ which is really rewarding. It’s very real-world and practical.
WHAT HAS SURPRISED YOU MOST?
Probably the amount of creativity that goes into buying. I’m a creative kind of person so I enjoy that aspect. From the outside it probably looks like buying is just spreadsheets and number crunching and sales figures – and there is definitely a bit of that involved, but there’s also huge scope for creativity. You can bring yourself to the job and Booker allows you to shape your role to suit your skillsets. It’s hugely enjoyable.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?
As everyone says, there’s no such thing! I do a lot of research, I spend a lot of time watching our competitors and, in a typical day, there’s a good mix of group work and solo work. I often set aside a block of time to dedicate myself to once specific challenge that I own, but I do spend a lot of time collaborating with other teams within the BWS buying function and, indeed, across the wider business.
DO YOU MEET WITH EXTERNAL SUPPLIERS?
Yes, regularly! We try to keep up to date with key suppliers to find out how sales are going and what exciting NPD is coming up. It's always great to learn what they’re thinking about in terms of promotions and so on.
We’re always trying to get the best-possible products, prices, packages and deals for our customers. We also get out and about to
engage with suppliers face to face, which really helps us get under the skin of the suppliers that we work with.
AND LOTS OF PRESENTATIONS?
Oh yes! We do a lot of research and generate a lot of data, so a key part of our role is understanding that data and presenting it in the most efficient way to the various teams within the business to help them deliver strong, effective decision making. We do a lot of PowerPoint decks!
WHAT TRENDS HAS YOUR RESEARCH IDENTIFIED?
As far as retailers are concerned, the biggest trend at the moment is still towards low-and no-alcohol products. The market is still moving that way and the increase in alcohol duty has accelerated that trend, as many suppliers have worked hard to reduce the ABV of their products to meet price points that work for their shoppers. So we’re seeing a lot more 9% ABV wines, for instance, and they are popular with shoppers, especially younger shoppers with different taste profiles who like jammier or fruitier wines. Echo Falls Watermelon and Kiwi is a good example. It’s light, fruity, relatively low in alcohol and it’s what many shoppers are looking for today.
ANY OTHER TRENDS WORTH FLAGGING UP?
I’ve been working hard this year on alternative packaging, and I think that trend may grow in future. Solutions like bag-in-box, cans and paper bottles are likely to become more prevalent because they’re lighter and easier to transport as well as delivering sustainability benefits when done well. 19 Crimes in cans is a good example and bag-in-box is growing in retail too.
As part of the moderation trend, we've also seen a lean towards premiumisation - customers choosing higher quality products on the occasions that they do drink. This means it's important to stock more premium wines for those 'treat' occasions.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
I don’t actually know! My retail graduate programme is due to end in the next few months but the end date is flexible, so I have a little time to try to figure out what I’d like to do next within the Group. It's such a wide business so there are many opportunities. I really like variety, so will be exploring a range of roles.
I’ve loved it so far though, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy my next role, whatever it ends up being.
BetterService
IDEAS TO GIVE YOUR BUSINESS THE EDGE
Summer loving!
Squeeze every drop out of the summer sales opportunity with Premier’s new product development guide.
Hot on the heels of Premier’s successful Spring NPD guide, is the brand-new NPD Guide for Summer – brimming with new products and Group Exclusives sure to help your summer sales sizzle!
Featuring a host of handy hints, top tips and key sales insights, the NPD Guide for Summer will also help you identify new opportunities to drive footfall, sales and cash profit in your store, all summer long.
Read on to see our pick of the bunch this summer season!
Frozen
Ice cream and summer were made for each other and the 2024 NPD Guide for Summer features a delightfully refreshing array of great-value new products from leading ice cream brands – ideal to help cool shoppers down on hot summer days.
Younger shoppers are sure to enjoy fresh and fruity innovations such as Vimto Ice Lollies which come in a box of six for the very pocket-friendly RSP of just £1.50. Another great serving of new product wizardry includes new bubblegum-flavoured Hubba Bubba Ice Lollies, which have an RSP of £2.50 for four. Each 4x50ml pack offers retailers a POR of 25%. Shoppers eying
More
up new products which offer more of an indulgent experience can also take their pick from new Ferrero Rocher sticks, which offer a “sublime hazelnut experience” for just £2. A taste of euphoria can also be achieved for just £4.50 thanks to 3x90ml boxes of Magnum Euphoria Pink Lemonade, which offer an equally joyful POR of 25.9%.
Launching at the end of July are also Franco’s Ices in Banana and Bubblegum flavours, as well as Rocket Lollies. With an RSP of £2 for a box of 6 and a POR of 32.2%, they’ll certainly give your sales and profits a lift too.
Fresh thinking
Did you know that fruit and veg is currently seeing the fastest volume growth in fresh? The Premier range offers everything you need to make the most of this key opportunity over the summer months, with Butcher’s Specials and Fresh 4 each promotional period. Butcher’s Specials offer a minimum of 15% POR with great prices on three meat deals – all of which are supported by POS. Meat products are known to encourage shoppers to buy additional fresh and grocery lines, boosting your total basket spend, so it’s a great idea to beef up your fresh meat offer now and make the most of BBQ season.
Premier’s Fresh 4 offer meanwhile, sees great value prices on four key fresh products every period with PORs of 20%. The promotional mechanic is also known to attract new shoppers and results in volume uplifts of 20% on average.
MUST STOCK!
TOP FIVE MEAT PRODUCTS
Jack’s British Chicken Breast Fillets 4x500g
Jack’s British Chicken Thighs 4x430g
Jack’s Beef Mince 4x500g
Jack’s Medium Whole Chicken 4x1.35kg
Jack’s Chicken Breast Mini Fillets 4x250g
Potatoes and onions are the fastest volume growing vegetables.
Soft drinks
Grapes and strawberries are the fastest volume growing fruit.
Booker first to market and four-week
Soft drinks are well-known heroes of the summer sales opportunity and Premier’s NPD Guide for Summer also offers a fridge-load of exciting new products, Group Exclusive lines and first-to-market items that are sure to help you bottle additional sales and profits. These include Red Bull’s Pink Edition – the latest variant in its Editions line up which offers a POR of 35%. Also new is Blueberry-flavoured Rockstar Energy Drink. Available in a 500ml PMP can at £1.29 the sugarfree drink offers a charged-up POR of 48%.
Group Exclusive!
Pepsi Electric
Case size: 12x500ml
RSP: £1.35
POR: 38.59%
Look out for a top-secret launch from Monster Energy in August too. The new flavour will be exclusively available to The Booker Group for eight weeks. Also sure to help retailers drink in stronger sales this summer is new Tango Apple. Available in branch and via Booker.co.uk now, the 2L format is the first take-home apple-flavoured carbonate and offers a POR of 33.77%.
BWS
The warm summer months always result in hot BWS sales, especially for categories such as beer and cider – along with rosé and cocktail-making components.
In-fact, 33% of cider sales happen in the summer months. Fruit ciders are driving sales and are up 8% year on year. Products such as Group Exclusive Strongbow Strawberry are expected to be a popular pick with shoppers – so make sure you don’t miss out! The new product, which follows in the success of Strongbow Tropical in 2023, offers retailers a POR of 24%.
Another BWS sub-category which enjoys blooming sales over the summer period is rosé, with sales of the pink stuff growing by 32%. Zinfandel has the biggest value share at 20%, although Pinot Grigio and Rhone Rosé varietals are both growing quickly in value and up 18.3% and 25.2% respectively, versus last year. Make sure your chillers are readily stocked with rosé products from key brands including Blossom Hill, Echo Falls and Jam Shed, to make the most of heightened summer demand and the impulse trend. The new product development range guide also stars more than 35 low- and zero-alcohol lines too, including brand new products such as Moretti Zero and Old Mout Berries and Cherries cider, both of which offer PORs of 40%.
Vape
Vape products continue to act as major footfall drivers and helping retailers to meet this demand is an enhanced range, including 33 new SKUs of SKE CRYSTAL 4 in 1 Starter kits and Refill pods, all of which offer PORs of up to 47%.
Grocery
A delicious cup of coffee tastes great whatever the weather and Booker’s New Product Development Range Guide for Summer also includes a number of new coffee products as well as top-selling products with new lower PMPs. Take Nescafé Cappuccino and Latte for example, both of which are now available in new £2.49 PMPs – down from £2.79. Both products offer retailers a POR of 20.4%. Nescafé 3 in 1 products also feature a new lower PMP of just £1, down from £1.09.
Also new to Premier retailers’ shelves is Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Roast. The brand is the bestselling tinned instant coffee in Tesco and offers a POR of 21.8%.
And with every cup of coffee made better by a biscuit, the summer guide also includes a number of brand-new biscuit products from brands such as Flipz, Fox’s Favourites, Maryland and McVitie’s Digestives. A brand new £1.99 PMP of McVitie’s Digestives Gold launches in August – offering retailers a POR of 24.2%.
Crisps and snacks
Keep your eyes peeled for crisp innovation from the likes of Walkers, Discos and Cheetos this summer too, all of which are sure to make ideal partners for picnics, packed lunches and more. Launching in August are brand new Discos Prawn Cocktail in £1.25 PMPs which offer a POR of 30%. Coming later in September is also an exciting new collaboration between Walkers and Heinz which has resulted in the creation of three new ‘sandwich flavoured’ crisps. Including Cheese Toastie with Baked Beans, Sausage Sarnie with Tomato Ketchup and Roast Chicken with Seriously Good Mayonnaise, each pack will also feature a £1.25 price mark – the biggestselling PMP format.
THE UK’S NO.1 CHILLED COFFEE*
Passionate about coffee in Convenience
• Half of all Starbucks® ready to drink (RTD) sales actually happen in Convenience stores*
• Extensive on-the-go range developed with convenience seekers in mind
• Premium quality RTD coffee sure to drive your customers back for more
• A brand your shoppers love and look for!
5 reasons to stock Starbucks® RTD coffee
RTD coffee category worth £ 300m in Convenience* 1 RTD coffee category almost tripled in value in 6 years* 2
coffee category has grown by over 120% in 5 years* 3 Over 1m new shoppers in the last two years* 4 Starbucks® is 52% of RTD coffee sales in Convenience* 5
TOP 8 MUST STOCK RTD COFFEE SKUS
Shoppers love a Ready to Drink coffee in convenience, and the top 8 “must stock” lines based on rate of sale are*: 1. Starbucks® Chilled Classic Caramel Macchiato 220ml
Starbucks® Chilled Classic Café Latte 220ml
Starbucks® Frappuccino Caramel 250ml
Starbucks® Doubleshot Espresso 200ml
Starbucks® Frappuccino Mocha 250ml (comb glass & PET lines)
Delamere Dairy Latte 500ml
Starbucks® Frappuccino Coffee 250ml
Arctic Caramel Latte 330ml
THE CONVENIENCE FINANCE SPECIALISTS
Looking to grow your business but want to protect cash flow?
Why not contact us to discuss a suitable Finance solution
WHAT DO WE FINANCE
Lease or HP for ALL Equipment i.e. REFRIGERATION / EPOS / CCTV / AIR CON / FULL REFIT including Shelving, Counter, Lighting, and much more…
Any Purpose Business Loans i.e. for Stock / Cashflow / Purchasing next store, and much more.....
Plus Vehicles and Commercial Mortgages
ADVANTAGES OF ASSET FINANCE
Access the latest equipment and vehicles immediately
Boost cash flow by spreading costs of the assets over time
Unlock capital for more profitable use
Partnerships with 40+ Financial Institutions allow us to source the cheapest money for you
Michelle’s service was excellent and fast. She chose right lender and rates also reasonable in this situation. I was guided in the right way and am very happy. I will refer my friends. Sanmugam, Premier.
Preserve existing credit lines Safeguard against inflation with fixed payments
Friendly, efficient and reliable
Convenience Sector Experts
I was happy to work with Michelle at Satellite Finance. The finance process for my shop refit was very smooth, and my sales have now gone up. I have used other brokers in the past and service and rates not as good. I am planning to work with her again soon for my next shop refit. I will definitely recommend to friends. Saravanan, Premier.
James Lowman considers what a Labour government might mean for retailers.
Will Labour work for retailers?
A landslide victory for the Labour Party brings the potential for huge change that may affect retailers, but how different are Labour and Conservative policies on key matters?
For the first time in 14 years, the Labour Party will form a new government, under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer.
There is an entire generation of retailers that will have traded entirely under Conservative policymaking, so what should we expect from Labour in the next five years?
The first thing to highlight, which came out clearly in analysis of the main party manifestos, is that the previous and new governments have a lot in common on a number of key issues. Examples include the introduction of a standalone offence for assaulting a shopworker, and the introduction of a generational ban on tobacco products, both of which fell short of becoming law under the Conservatives because of the timing of the General Election, but have both been highlighted in the Labour manifesto as priorities.
There’s also consensus on the need for greater resource around the numbers of
police officers on the ground, but as always it’s not the numbers that necessarily make the difference, it’s the wider prioritisation of retail crime and a commitment to respond and follow up on incidents where they occur.
There will be areas however, where the new Labour government will look to set itself apart from its predecessors. Commitments in the manifesto to introduce a ban on energy drinks for under-16s, ban junk food advertising to children, and replace the business rates system are all measures that will affect the sector, so will be important for us to engage with ministers and officials on the detail of.
It is not necessarily surprising that the Labour manifesto for government feels pretty safe without too much fundamental change. This is a party that has spoken of the need for stability in the coming years, so we shouldn’t expect too many radical ideas, especially in the first 100 days of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership. Even the commitment to change the business rates system feels like a long-
term goal (which is still going to be cost neutral) rather than an overhaul that is ready to go in the first Autumn Budget.
The coming weeks and months, through the Kings Speech on 17 July and the first fiscal event in the Autumn, will make it clear which areas the new Labour government see as the most pressing priorities. This period of time over the summer and into the end of 2024 is the perfect opportunity to get to know your MP, or reconnect if they’ve managed to hold onto their seat.
Because of the nature of this election, MPs will be feeling pressure from competing parties of all colours, pushing in different directions, so they will be acutely aware of the importance of getting local people and local businesses on side. We will be continuing to support retailers in arranging store visits during 2024, highlighting what local shops need to continue to flourish in their communities. For more info on arranging a store visit, visit ACS.org.uk
