Londis News, Vol 37, Issue 2, Mar-Apr 2024

How to crack Easter 2024

Fight crime with Booker’s new support package

The Londis Wine Festival is back!

Costa Coffee RTD has added more value to the RTD category than any other RTD brand* Nation’s

Costa Coffee RTD is up 41% and growing nearly 3x faster than the RTD coffee segment*

To find out more email connect@ccep.com, call 0808 1 000 000 or visit my.ccep.com.

Ticking all the right boxes

New store Londis Flixton Road has it all.

Perfect planning

Londis St Michael’s Services is reaping the rewards of a long-planned redevelopment. 26 34

9 NEW FAREHAM RDC

Booker’s new distribution centre will increase capacity and choice.

11 COMMUNITY NEWS

The latest round-up of community news from Londis stores.

15 CONVENIENCE SPEND GROWS

Spending in independent stores grew again in February.

21 TOP TRENDS FOR 2024

The IGD outlines the five trends expected to shape retail this year.

23 GROCERYAID UPDATE

GroceryAid Day returns on 9 May.

26 PERFECT SCORE

Londis Flixton Road offers bags of potential.

34 MOTORING AHEAD

Londis St Michael’s Services is in its best-ever shape.

42 HOW TO CRACK EASTER

Londis retailers still have a tasty opportunity lay strong Easter sales.

49 JACK’S UPDATE

Jack’s presents retailers with a sparkling opportunity to cash in on spring cleaning season.

53 A STIRRING OPPORTUNITY

Drink in bigger sales and profits with coffee pods.

59 NEW PRODUCT UPDATE

A round up of the top new products to hit the shelves.

64 MEET THE TEAM

Say hello to Booker’s Sustainability Manager Cath Marston.

69 LINE UP!

Londis retailers can now access 900 new lines as Booker continues to improve choice.

75 LONDIS WINE FESTIVAL

Uncork additional sales and profits with the return of the Londis Wine Festival.

81 CRIME FIGHTING

Booker has launched a range of deals with leading security solution providers.

87 ACS VIEWPOINT

It’s time to stop talking tough on crime and act.

Booker Retail Partners

Tel: 0870 050 0158

Opening hours: 8am–5:30pm Monday to Friday

IT and Customer Services

Opening hours:

For customer services: 6am–9pm (Monday to Friday)

For IT: 7am–9pm (Monday to Friday)

Email: For customer services: londis.claims@bookerretail.co.uk or enquiries@londis.co.uk

Helpdesk

0800 298 0758

Londis News team

Email: londisnews@londis.co.uk

Spring into

action

Londis has a packed schedule of support to help you secure hot sales and profits as we head into the spring season and get set for summer.

A very warm welcome to the latest issue of Londis News as we begin to gear up for the critical summer sales period. At Londis we have plenty of plans in place to help you maximise the opportunities over the spring and summer months and you can learn about many of them inside.

With Easter on the near horizon, we have a cracking selection of deals available to help you make the most of this key seasonal event. You’ll also find inside some details on our forthcoming Londis Wine Festival, another great opportunity to drive excitement, generate fresh footfall and grow your sales and profits in an important category.

With choice as important to your shoppers as ever, we’ve been working hard on delivering the perfect range for your stores. Recently we’ve added more than 900 new lines to help you provide your shoppers with the choice, quality and value they expect when they visit a Londis store.

Make sure you check out our feature on coffee pods too, one of the fastest-growing sectors of the total coffee market. More people than ever are trying to replicate the coffee shop experience at home and pods are core to this experience. Best of all, it doesn’t require much shelf

space or time to create a great pods section that will bring more shoppers to your door.

Finally, don’t miss our range of exclusive and discounted deals on a range of high-quality, effective crimeprevention solutions. Retail crime is a real challenge and Londis has developed relationships with key suppliers to give you discounted access to solutions that can help you clamp down on in-store crime.

I wish you all fantastic trading over the next few months.

Look forward to seeing you in-store!

Stewart Fenn Sales Director, Booker Retail Partners

YOUR LONDIS Stories from around the Londis Family...

New distribution centre adds choice, price and service

Booker has opened a new retail distribution centre in Fareham that creates a shared delivery network for the first time, allowing deliveries to all Booker customers from a single hub.

Booker is continuing to focus on improving choice, price and service for all retailers by investing back into its supply chain with the launch of a new shared delivery hub in Fareham on the south coast.

The new retail distribution centre represents a key part of Booker’s strategy of continually investing back in its customers and offers increased delivered capacity and, for the first time, creates the opportunity for a shared delivery network for all Booker customers from a single hub.

As part of this, Booker has improved choice with expanded ranges and Premier retailers serviced by the new hub will have access to 35% more range.

The range available from the new hub has been tailored to specifically meet the needs of independent retailers in terms of breadth, depth and pack sizes. The range has also been created to maximise profits for independent retailers. For example, the range of tuna available has been slightly reduced to eliminate duplication but primarily to ensure that every product in the range now delivers a minimum of 30% POR as well as delivering everyday value to shoppers with price reductions of over £1 on a number of products.

In line with other Booker business centres, the new hub will continue to stock bestsellers, but

GROUP EXCLUSIVES – EXAMPLES

l Kellogg’s Chocolate Corn Flakes PMP

l Corona Ligera

l Brewdog Cold Beer

l Strongbow Strawberry Cider

l Kopparberg Strawberry Variety Packs

duplications have been removed and the space dedicated to declining categories such as Ales has been reduced while the space dedicated to growing categories such as World Beers and RTDs has been expanded.

This will all be supported by stronger promotions for both retailers and shoppers, along with offering more Group Exclusive products such as the Kellogg’s Chocolate Corn Flakes PMP launched in February and Corona Ligera, which will be available exclusively from Booker for six months over the summer.

Colm Johnson, Managing Director – Retail said: “Firstly, I would like to thank all our customers for their continued support. The changes we are making will benefit our customers as well as their shoppers. We will always ensure that we continue to improve choice, price, and service for many years to come. Our ranges offer retailers breadth and quality, allowing them to grow their businesses and gain sales by taking advantage of the leading market trends.”

The changes we are making will benefit our customers as well as their shoppers and we will always ensure as a business that we continue to improve choice, price, and service for many years to come.

Colm Johnson, MD – Retail

NEWS

COMMUNITY

Key issues of interest to you Londis Lightmoor picks a winner

A Shropshire Londis store has helped raise much-needed funds for the local Parents Teachers Association supporting a charity bingo event at the school.

Londis Lightmoor in Telford, Shropshire, has donated crisps, confectionery and refreshments to Lightmoor Primary School Parents Teacher Association.

The products were served at the PTA’s bingo event which helped raise £1,206 for the school.

Lightmoor PTA said: “Let’s give a round of applause to Londis for being an amazing partner and supporter of our school community.

“Thanks to your kindness, our bingo night is going to be filled with laughter, fun, and plenty of delicious treats. We are incredibly grateful for your community spirit and willingness to contribute to local events like ours.”

Heart of the community

Londis Eastholme Drive, in York, has been fundraising for a defibrillator for its local community.

The store holds fundraising events yearly and, in November 2023, the store’s Sabina Rabbani started raising funds to buy a defibrillator.

After Sabina raised more than £2,000, York council agreed to fund the lifesaving piece of kit and it is now sitting outside the shop.

Sabina decided to split the rest of the funds between local charities Dementia Forward and Cuddle Bed Project Fundraising.

Sabina said: “Both very worthy causes and we hope this supports them to carry on doing an amazing job they are.”

Meals with Maxi’s

Londis Marlow has teamed up with philanthropic food brand Maxi’s to support its local food bank.

The seasoning brand launched its products in store and supported those donating a meal to the local food bank for every bottle of Maxi’s sold.

Convenience spend continues to grow as inflation eases

The latest monthly Barclays Consumer Spend Report shows that spend in independent stores continued to grow in February even though food inflation fell to its lowest level since April 2022.

The value of shopper card spend in independent stores continued to grow in February, up 2.7%, despite food inflation falling to 7% in the same month, its lowest level since April 2022, almost two years ago.

The effect of falling food inflation on the value of sales is reflected in the fact that the number of transactions actually grew by 7.3% in February in independent retailing. In other words, volumes grew substantially but the value of that growth was softened by falling food inflation.

Lower prices at the pumps also meant that fuel spend fell by 12.2% over the same period.

Total shopper card spending in the UK grew by just 1.9% in the month, the lowest growth since September 2022.

The deceleration in food inflation has helped ease concern about rising grocery prices although 84% of shoppers still cite this as an area of concern.

Two-thirds (66 per cent) of shoppers are still looking for ways to get more value from, or to reduce the cost of, their weekly shop. To save money, two-fifths (42%) of this group have cut down on impulse buys, while a third (32%) are stocking up on essential products when they are on offer. A further quarter (25%) are sticking to basic ingredients or cupboard staples – such as pasta, rice and vegetables – to prepare simple, cheaper meals at home.

Consumers’ concerns about inflation and rising household bills also softened to 84%, the most positive figures for more than two years – indicating that easing inflationary pressures are having a positive impact on household finances.

Shopper frustration over online hidden charges

As shoppers continue to pay close attention to their finances, over a third (36%) say they have noticed more examples of brands and retailers adding extra and hidden charges at the checkout when spending online, otherwise known as “drip pricing”.

This is most frequently spotted when paying for food delivery services (39%). In response, almost seven in 10 consumers (68%) welcome the Government’s plan to ban unavoidable hidden fees, requiring businesses to disclose all costs upfront, as part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (DMCC).

Close to four in 10 (37%) say drip pricing is their biggest shopping frustration when paying online while 28% cite altered or surged prices in response to demand – also known as dynamic pricing – as a key gripe.

Vaping tax and ‘one-off’ tobacco duty increase confirmed in latest Budget

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed in his recent 2024 Budget that a new tax on vaping products will be introduced from October 2026.

Budget 2024: key points

l New vaping tax in October 2026, accompanied by a “oneoff” £2-per-100 cigarettes tobacco duty increase to maintain tax differentials

l National Insurance cut by 2p in the pound for employees and the selfemployed

l Freeze on alcohol duty until February 2025

l Fuel duty frozen again for another year from April

A new tax on vaping products is set to come into force in the UK in October 2026, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt revealed in his recent Budget statement in March.

The rates, which are subject to consultation, are £1 per 10ml of nicotine-free liquids, £2 per 10ml on liquids containing up to 10.9mg per millilitre, and £3 per 10ml on liquids containing 11mg or more per millilitre.

To accompany the new tax, the Government will also introduce a “one-off” £2 per 100 cigarettes increase in tobacco duty to maintain the tax differential between the products.

Hunt said: “To discourage non-smokers from taking up vaping, we’re confirming the introduction of an excise duty on vaping products and publishing a consultation on its design.

“Because vapes can also play a positive role in helping people quit smoking, we’ll introduce a one-off increase in tobacco duty at the same time to maintain a financial incentive to choose vaping over smoking.”

Disposables set for ban

The announcement of a new vaping tax came shortly after the Government confirmed in January that it is to introduce new powers that ban disposable vapes in the UK, restrict vape flavours, introduce plain packaging, and change how vapes are displayed in shops.

The new powers will restrict flavours which are specifically marketed at children and ensure manufacturers produce plainer, less visually appealing packaging. The powers will also allow government to change how vapes are displayed in shops, moving them out of sight of children and away from products that appeal to them, like sweets.

Retailers report ‘more than 600 incidents of theft’ an hour

The latest Association of Convenience Stores’ Crime Report has highlighted an astonishing fivefold increase in shop theft in the last year.

Retailers across the UK reported a staggering 600 incidents of theft every hour in the last year with the total number of shop thefts rocketing from 1.1 million the previous year to 5.6 million.

These are among the findings of the Association of Convenience Stores’ (ACS) 2024 Crime Report which throws light on the enormity of the challenge that faces independent retailers.

Distressingly, the report also found that the number of violent incidents

against retailers and their staff increased from 41,000 to 76,000.

While retailers are investing heavily to combat crime, with £339m spent in the last year, the total cost of crime and combatting it effectively equate to a 10p extra charge on every transaction, says the report. This is up from 6p the previous year.

James Lowman, ACS Chief Executive, commented: “Retailers are facing an onslaught of crime committed against their businesses on a daily basis, with some losing tens of thousands

of pounds per year to theft alone. This extended crimewave cannot be allowed to continue.

“Thieves are known to the community and to the police but they simply do not care, and continue on regardless, filling baskets and trolleys and walking out without fear of reproach.

“The figures in our report demonstrate that more needs to be done urgently. Nobody should have to come to work and face what retailers and their colleagues have faced over the last year.”

BRC: violence and abuse rising

The findings of the ACS Crime Report 2024 are echoed in the findings of the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) latest crime survey.

The number of incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers soared to 1,300 per day in 2022/23, from almost 870 per day a year earlier.

The cost of theft to the wider retailing channel went up to £1.8bn from £953m the previous year, meaning the total cost of crime to retailers stood at £3.3bn – double the previous year. In addition, dissatisfaction with the police increased, with 60% of respondents describing the police response to incidents as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

Top trends for 2024

The IGD has outlined the five key trends it believes will shape retail throughout 2024.

Retail media and improvements in efficiency are among the key retail trend predictions from international insight provider IGD. In a new report, IGD’s team of global insight leaders outline five trends that are set to shape the retail market in 2024 and beyond:

1 The efficiency imperative – retailers are looking to low-tech and high-tech ways to reduce wage bills and drive improvements to enhance efficiency. Even marginal gains can add up to big savings.

2 Media matters – media is already a major source of high-margin incremental revenue that is anticipated to grow over the coming year.

3 Unleashing the promise of technology – retailers will chase efficiency, personalised experiences, and profitability, but grapple with implementation challenges. A disparity is emerging between larger retailers with resources to invest and smaller players, posing a potential competitive gap.

4 Health strategies for a fitter future – new policy, legislation and ‘health by stealth’ continue to be vital ways to improve the health of shoppers.

At the same time, there are many opportunities to align with shopper needs and positively champion different aspects of health.

5 Sustainability – time to deliver: retailers will try to inform and educate shoppers to get them to purchase more sustainable products and services. They will do this through in-store and online messaging, using digital media and running campaigns, along with price, promotions and incentive tactics.

Toby Pickard, Retail Futures Senior Partner at IGD, commented: “This year, the inflationary backdrop in most major markets remains on our minds. It is a considerable challenge, driving up the cost base for retailers and suppliers and pressuring shoppers’ income.

“This has led to an intense focus on costs, improving efficiencies and delivering value to consumers in new ways. It has also led to retailers investigating new sources of revenue and profitability. These initiatives are helping retailers reset the cost base and develop go-to-market models for the future.”

Access to cash

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has welcomed the Financial Conduct Authority’s proposals to ensure that banks and building societies consider reasonable cash access services.

ACS’ ATM Tracker indicates that as of November 2023, 48% of constituencies have experienced a reduction of 30% or more in freeto-use ATMs since July 2018.

James Lowman, ACS Chief Executive, said: “ATMs are an essential service that retailers want to provide, but find it increasingly difficult to do so because of the financial constraints they’re facing.”

All ready for GroceryAid Day 2024?

Thursday 9 May will see this year’s annual GroceryAid Day help elevate the awareness of the industry charity in stores and businesses across the UK – and GroceryAid wants your business to be one of them.

The special day offers you the chance to join hundreds of organisations in letting your colleagues know about the charity’s free and confidential financial, emotional and practical services available to them 24/7, 365 days a year.

GroceryAid Day takes place on Thursday 9 May and is the annual awareness day of our industry charity GroceryAid, offering the ideal opportunity to let your colleagues know about the free, confidential support that is available.

200 languages are also supported through the Helpline, on request.

9 MAY 2024 GROCERYAID DAY

Colleagues can access GroceryAid’s services and support from the first day of their employment. After just six months of continuous employment, if colleagues have experienced a drop in income, they may be eligible for a non-repayable financial grant.

If they need immediate emotional support, they can call GroceryAid’s FREE and confidential Helpline, which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 08088 021122. Their call will be answered by a trained counsellor who can either give them immediate support or signpost them to another GroceryAid service that may help. More than

Support and further advice are also available through the website, groceryaid.org.uk/gethelp. The website has an accessibility toolbar which translates the content into over 100 different languages, as well as text to speech in 60 languages.

For regular updates about the help available and the latest on financial support such as the School Essentials Grant, follow the charity on Facebook @groceryaid or Instagram @groceryaid_uk.

All of GroceryAid’s services are completely free and confidential and support partners do not disclose any details back to the charity. Emotional and practical support is also available to spouses, partners and dependants.

GroceryAid Day is a great way to help you ensure that your colleagues can reach out to GroceryAid for support.

Free GroceryAid Day comms kit

Order your free GroceryAid Day communications package now at groceryaid.org.uk.

From posters and leaflets to wallet cards and stickers, there’s everything you need to make all of your colleagues aware of the free and confidential financial, practical and emotional support that is available to them, should they need it.

RETAILER PROFILE

On point

Ticking all theboxes

Velautham Ravichandran’s new store offered everything he was looking for and more.

When buying a new store, every retailer will have a number of key boxes that must be ticked or at least partially scored, in order for them to sign on the dotted line.

Fortunately for Velautham Ravichandran, the site for what would be his first convenience store ticked all of his boxes and then some.

Ravi – as he likes to be known – explains: “I’ve worked in retail for 20 years, operating a number of sites for MFG, but in 2023 I decided that the time was right for me to open up my very first own store.”

Ravi’s search soon led him to uncover a small vacant unit that had previously traded as a McColl’s in the leafy, up-andcoming Manchester suburb of Urmston.

STORE INFO

Located on a busy main road, surrounded by smart residential housing and close to a number of schools, the site scored a great big tick in Ravi’s location box.

Adding to its appeal was also the fact that the unit faced no immediate local competition.

“There’s a large amount of housing all around but there was no store in close proximity that could meet shoppers’ topup needs, especially when it came to fresh, chilled and BWS,” Ravi explains.

In addition, directly opposite the store sits a large public recreation ground, complete with playing fields, picnicking spaces and a children’s playground – all of which are a hive of activity on weekends and especially during the summer months.

Store name: Londis Flixton Road, Urmston

Retailer: Velautham Ravichandran (Ravi)

Store size: 650sq ft

Staff: 4

Opening hours: 7am-10pm

Services: National Lottery, PayPoint, Payzone, ATM

“The potential was so clear to see, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it,” Ravi adds.

“I bought the store in the spring of 2023 and approached Londis immediately, as I knew the brand would fit perfectly with the vision for the type of store I wanted to create.”

Works to extend the small store’s interior from 430sq ft to 650sq ft ensued and, with the help of the Londis team, plans to create a winning new offer began.

“During the planning process my RDM also took me on a couple of store visits to see some great Londis sites. One Londis store that I visited in Huddersfield had a beer cave in it and I fell in love with the concept immediately,” says Ravi.

“My store is only small but I was adamant that we fit a beer cave in it too. Given its location, I knew that BWS would do really well here, especially if we presented it to shoppers in such an impactful way.

“We were also keen to introduce a large fresh and chilled offer that would give shoppers the ability to top-up on great quality goods right on their doorstep.”

Londis Flixton Road opened its doors in November 2023 complete with a compelling 3.7 metres for fresh and chilled products, including fresh meats, pasta, sauces, and ready meals – including the Jack’s Meal Deal.

The chilled range also includes two double doors dedicated to sandwiches, wraps and other ‘to go’ meal solutions.

A further 2.5 metres of space has also been dedicated to chilled soft drinks which are already emerging as a key sales category and one which looks set to win even bigger come the warm summer months.

“Soft drinks and fresh and chilled products are all housed in one long bank of energy efficient chillers that run up one whole side of the store, giving it a striking, modern look that shoppers note as soon as they enter,” Ravi adds.

“Shoppers only need to come in once and see the fantastic fresh and chilled range that we offer, and they keep on coming back. Sales are growing really encouragingly.”

Ravi’s range also includes an ambient bay for fresh produce and a further two door freezer for frozen goods, including favourites from the Jack’s brand such as mixed vegetables and garlic bread, plus Londis’ Frozen Meal Deal.

Despite the store’s compact size, Ravi has also been able to create his dream beer cave – and just as he’d hoped, the

Top tips!

A beer cave enhances your shopping experience and solutions can be achieved in even the smallest of stores.

Frozen act as powerful footfall magnets. 1 2 3

Leaflet drops are a great way to spread word about your offer and the deals you have in-store.

Brands like Costa Coffee and Fanta

concept is proving to be a powerful magnet for footfall and sales.

“Shoppers are really drawn to the beer cave,” he says. “It houses just over 120 lines and with its smart doors, attractive blue-sky lights and great merchandising, it offers a really enhanced shopping experience.

“Local people have welcomed the concept with open arms and have been flocking in to shop from it.

“It’s also a far more efficient way to chill down that quantity of alcohol compared to standard chillers, so that’s another bonus for me.”

A generous amount of space has also been awarded to key categories such as confectionery and savoury snacks.

“Come 3.30pm the store is flooded by local school children and their parents who flock in for post-school refreshments, treats and snacks. We have a whole bay of American confectionery which is also doing really well,” Ravi says.

Also keeping the tills ringing is the store’s brand-new Costa Coffee offer and Fanta Frozen.

“We’re expecting Fanta Frozen to really shine in the warmer months but right now coffee sales are performing strongly, especially in the early mornings and post-school run,” Ravi says.

With the recreation ground just opposite, Londis Flixton Road has also become a magnet for dog walkers who are thrilled that they can now park their pooches outside while they pop in to grab a coffee to go.

Ravi has even put bowls of water outside the store so that its canine friends can also enjoy pre-or post-walk refreshment.

“All in all, the reaction from shoppers has been tremendous and exactly what I’d hoped for,” says Ravi. “Local people are genuinely thrilled with their new store and everything that it offers them, as am I. It ticks all their boxes and mine.”

My store is only small but I was adamant that we fit a beer cave in it too. Given its location, I knew that BWS would do really well here, especially if we presented it to shoppers in such an impactful way.

Velautham Ravichandran

motoring ahead

After years on the drawing board, the offer at Londis St Michael’s Services is now bigger and better than ever before.

It’s been years since retailer Jamie Wood first started thinking about redeveloping his first forecourt site in the market town of Dumfries, Scotland. Nearly 15 years to be precise, but with “unmissable” opportunities to acquire three new sites presenting themselves over those years, Jamie’s plans to redevelop St Michael’s Services and its small Londis store, were reluctantly placed on the back burner.

Fast-forward to October 2022 when, with all the new sites successfully up and running, the time for Jamie to finally fire up his plans for a monumental redevelopment of the site’s Londis retail store was finally right.

“Fuel was always an important part of the site’s

offer, yet the small Londis store had always had a significant walk-in trade too,” Jamie explains.

“It’s located in a busy part of town, close to the hospital, a college and university campus, some other schools and a large residential area, with many locals using it as their local shop.

“I knew we had a massive opportunity to build a far bigger retail store that could offer a much larger range and meet even more local needs.

“Building a large modern new store would also allow us to streamline some of our working practices and future proof the store with new energy saving technology.”

The reaction from shoppers has been fantastic. We now have the ability to offer so much more choice and shoppers are delighted with the increased range and availability

Jamie Wood

Work to redevelop the store started in October 2022 when the old building was demolished.

“The old store was only around 500sq ft in size so I wanted to make the new store as big as space on site would allow,” Jamie adds.

The plans led to the creation of a brand new and thoroughly modern 2,700sq ft Londis-branded store.

STORE INFO

Store name: Londis St Michael’s Services, Dumfries

Retailer: Jamie Wood

Store size: 2,700sq ft

Staff: 15

Key categories: Fresh and chilled, frozen, food to go, BWS

Opening hours: 6am-10pm

Services: National Lottery, free ATM, laundrette

Top tips!

1 2 3

Hot food- and drinksto-go are a key footfall driver but make sure you implement a rigorous cleaning schedule to keep your offer looking sharp.

Frozen products are in demand at the moment. We’ve expanded our range significantly and added a new Cook! offer.

Stocking local products where possible can add a valuable USP to your range.

The large amount of additional space has allowed the store to offer shoppers access to ranges that they never had before, such as hot food- and drinks-to-go, as well as frozen.

“Thanks to the extra space the store now has a fantastic foodto-go proposition,” Jamie says.

“We have introduced a Stone Willy’s Kitchen concept with hot foods to go such as breakfast wraps, toasties, pizza slices and melts. This is complemented by a Rollover Hot Dogs offer and a range of Country Choice pastries.”

The store’s tempting hot food-to-go offer can also be washed down with premium-quality coffees from two new Costa Coffee machines as well as milkshakes from Think Fresh Shakes.

“We’ve also been able to introduce four new Cook!-branded freezers selling their quality ready meals which are selling very strongly.

“We’ve also brought in six doors of frozen products which is

again totally new. The old store had no frozen offer to speak of apart from a small handheld ice-cream range.”

The store’s fresh and chilled offer has also jumped, with Londis St Michael’s Services now offering eight doors of fresh and chilled produce including Jack’s-branded ready meals, dairy, deli and fruit and vegetable lines, as well as a further 10 doors for chilled beers, wines and ciders.

“We also have a separate four-door chiller for food to go items such as sandwiches and wraps which are doing really well,” Jamie adds.

Given the vast increase in refrigeration, energy efficiency was also a key consideration of the build.

“Energy efficiency has been a big focus,” Jamie says. “All the chillers have doors and we have a new energy efficient heat pump system for the heating and air conditioning.

“We also have a heat recovery ventilation system and 30 solar panels on the roof. We also used very high-insulation panels on the inside of the steel frame and we put an extra 200mm of rockwool insulation on the inside of the roof, so the building itself is super-insulated. All lights are also LED and many of them feature motion sensors too.”

With works completed, a soft launch of the new store took place in the summer of 2023.

“The reaction from shoppers has been fantastic,” Jamie says. “We now have the ability to offer so much more choice and shoppers are delighted with the increased range and availability. The support we’ve had has been fantastic and sales are building week on week.”

And that support goes two ways, with Jamie and the team at St Michael’s Services also engaging in a raft of meaningful community activities.

The site supports a range of essential local charities including the Nith Inshore Rescue Service and the Moffat Mountain Rescue Team by providing all their fuel free of charge.

The store also sponsors a range of local teams and individuals, with details of all its support highlighted to shoppers on specially designed signage displayed at the rear of the store.

“It’s a close-knit community here and shoppers are aware of what we do and what we are trying to achieve.

“We are very much viewed as the key store for the local area, especially by the many elderly shoppers who live in the surrounding sheltered housing. For them, this brand-new store on their doorstep is a really big bonus.”

“It’s taken a while to get here but we’re finally across the line and I’m incredibly proud.”

Londis is helping retailers to make the most of the egg-stremely valuable Easter opportunity.

How to crack Easter SEASONAL UPDATE

As one of the biggest seasonal opportunities of the year, Easter has always helped retailers add some muchappreciated bounce to their sales.

Easter 2023 was a record breaker according to Kantar data, with 38 million chocolate eggs and treats bought in the week running up to Easter Sunday – that’s a cracking five million more than the same period in 2022.

In fact, on average, households spent nearly £14 on Easter chocolate over the four weeks to 16 April 2023.

With figures like that, it’s little surprise that retailers across the country will be hoping for an equally, if not even better, performance in 2024.

However, with Easter Sunday falling on 31 March this year, the season is over a week earlier than last year, leaving retailers with less time to focus on driving those all-important sales.

Fortunately, Londis is here to help, with an egg-cellent range, attention-grabbing promotions and showstopping POS packages to support retailers in doing just that!

INNOVATIVE IDEAS

New products remain a powerful way to drive growth within the season and Londis has certainly delivered this year. The 2024 Spring Pre-sell included more than 100 new lines and stacks of Group Exclusives guaranteed to help sales bloom.

The three phases of Easter

Mondelez International recommends that retailers split Easter into three phases:

l Getting off to a fast start (January to Valentine’s Day)

l Building momentum (from Valentine’s Day to Mother’s Day)

l Gearing up for a ‘gifting finish’ for the last three weeks as the period reaches its finale

Top Tips for cracking Easter sales

l Seasonal convenience confectionery shoppers have a £12.50 higher spend per visit, so make the best possible use of seasonal POS to build eye-catching displays.

l Strong promotion communication is key during the Easter season, so make sure to highlight all key deals with the relevant supporting material.

l Did you know that more than half of shoppers buy chocolates and flowers together? Think about highlighting these in store to drive trade-up.

l Gifting gears up in the last three weeks before Easter so make sure your shell eggs and boxed chocolate ranges are on point!

l Social media is a great way to drive awareness of your Easter offer. Snaps of your bright and beautiful displays are sure to drive footfall into store.

New for 2024 is the Cadbury Creme Egg Bar. Perfect for sharing and self-treat occasions, the new tablet form of one of the UK’s favourite Easter SKUs is sure to achieve big buy-in from shoppers right across the country.

The Cadbury Creme Egg bar comes in a case size of 16x123g and is available on a consumer deal at ‘Any 2 for £3’ offering retailers a POR of 21.1%.

In addition to new products, the return of old and much-loved favourites, such as the Malteser Bunny and the classic Cadbury Creme Egg, will also help retailers to get those all-important Easter sales clucking.

Small, self-treat and novelty items such as these are perfect for driving unplanned impulse purchases throughout the season, especially when backed with unmissable multi-buy deals.

From Kit Kat Bunnies to Milkybar Eggs, this Easter Londis retailers have access to a raft of small seasonal treats available on ‘2 for £3’ and ‘3 for £2’ deals.

As the end of the Easter season approaches, the gifting trend comes into its own, prompting shell egg sales to shine.

As such, Cadbury advises retailers to gear up for a ‘gifting finish’ for the last three weeks before Easter Sunday, with a wide range of shell eggs and other gifting formats.

Traditional medium-sized eggs remain a firm favourite with shoppers and Londis retailers can offer them all that their hearts and baskets desire with its cracking range of top-selling eggs from big-name brands – some of which, such as the Kit Kat Chunky Medium Egg and the Maltesers Medium Egg, are available on an incredible ‘2 for £4’ deal.

Perfect POS

Londis retailers can bring their Easter displays to life with an array of attractive spring-themed POS materials featuring bunnies, flowers and chicks. The pastel-coloured bundle includes bunting, posters, shelf edge strips, barker ears and header cards.

For more details, speak to your Londis RDM.

GROUP EXCLUSIVE

Mini Eggs Orange

Case size: 24x80g

WSP: £23.99

RSP: £1.89

POR: 36.5%

GROUP EXCLUSIVE

Lindt Gold Bunny Safari

Case size: 12x200g

WSP: £39.69

RSP: £4.99

POR: 20.5%

GROUP EXCLUSIVE

Thorntons Classic Gift Egg

Case size: 4x262g

WSP: £28.40

RSP: £10.99

POR: 22.5%

And while traditional medium-sized eggs remain the heartland for seasonal shell egg sales, Giant eggs are the fastest-growing Easter egg segment across the total market, with sales up just under 60% year on year, according to Nielsen.

Londis has a fantastic range of Giant and XL eggs available including the supersized Galaxy Caramel Giant Shell Egg which also offers a hefty POR of 21.2%.

From in-demand US offerings, such as the Reese’s XL Shell Egg, to innovative brand mashups, such as the KitKat Biscoff XL shell egg, the Londis range has you covered.

Also riding high on the gifting wave are boxed chocolates and cartons, perfect for treating others and sharing among friends and family. Londis’ range of boxed delights includes 110g Maltesers Boxes which are available on a ‘2 for £4’ deal, large cartons of Cadbury Roses and Heroes on offer for £4.49 and 360g boxes of Cadbury Milk Tray on offer for just £5.99 among many others.

HOME BAKING

With their sweet gooey centres, crispy crunchy exteriors and novel colours and shapes, many Easter confectionery

XL SHELL EGGS

items also double up as ideal toppers for indulgent seasonal desserts and beautiful bakes.

Products such as the classic Cadbury Creme Egg and Cadbury Mini Eggs are perfect for topping traybakes and cakes or mixing into brownies. If space allows, why not consider dual-siting certain seasonal products, within your home baking aisles? Just over 70% of shoppers buy Easter confectionery from a secondary location, so multi-siting clearly does pay!

Londis retailers can offer their shoppers a fantastic deal on 80g bags of Cadbury Mini Eggs and Group Exclusive Cadbury Mini Eggs Orange, both of which can be offered on an ‘Any 2 for £3’ deal, giving them a POR of 20%.

And of course, chocolate treats aren’t the only categories to shine over Easter. Last year saw the number of hot cross bun packs sold rise by 5% in the four weeks to 16 April 2023, according to Kantar data. Londis retailers can offer their shoppers a great deal on Jack’s 6 Hot Cross Buns for just £1.25.

So with all that said, it’s clear that Londis retailers have all they need to give the Easter Bunny a run for his money and get their Easter sales hopping.

SWEET TREATS AND PORS

FLAVOUR, SALES

JACK'S UPDATE

Spring into action

Clean up with Jack’s

Nearly half of UK consumers spend two to four hours per week cleaning.

(Mintel)

The arrival of spring-cleaning season presents retailers with a sparkling opportunity to scrub up their homecare sales.

The days are getting longer, temperatures are climbing, and buds are breaking into bloom – it can only mean one thing: spring is most certainly in the air.

So too is the fresh scent of soap and the snap of rubber gloves, as shoppers across the country arm themselves with mops, buckets and cloths and prepare to take on spring-cleaning season.

As such, retailers have a clear opportunity to set their homecare and cleaning sales shining.

However, with value for money remaining front of mind, many shoppers will also be looking for ways to clean up their acts, without breaking the bank.

And with Easter just around the corner, the pressure is now well and truly on for those shoppers looking to get their homes ship-shape in time for celebratory occasions.

27% of shoppers have switched to lower-priced household care products in the past year. (Mintel Cleaning

Mintel says that value for money is driving increasing competition between branded and private labels with 27% of shoppers saying they have switched to lower-priced household care products in the past year.

KEY JACK’S CLEANING LINES

And that’s where Booker’s great value Jack’s brand comes in.

From window care to polish, disinfectants and more, the Jack’s cleaning range includes a sparkling mix of price-marked products to help shoppers take on all manner of jobs.

With most products in the range priced at under £1.45 and many products featuring the amazing-value RSP of just £1 – the Jack’s brand really hits the value for money mark.

Like all products in the Jack’s range, Jack’s-branded cleaning and homecare products also offer retailers polished PORs.

Most items in the Jack’s range boast PORs of more than 36.2%, with a number of items, such as Jack’s Toilet Gel, offering PORs of 48.8%.

Londis Nesscliffe Service Station in Shrewsbury is one store that’s feeling the benefits of helping shoppers to get their clean on.

Retailer Mark Dransfield explains: “The Covid-19 pandemic prompted a real shift in buying habits which we are still feeling today. There’s been a significant rise in the number of people wanting to shop

locally and asking us for a much broader range of products. We expanded our range of homecare and cleaning products as part of our recent development and our new range features a number of great Jack’s lines including kitchen towel, gel toilet cleaner, window cleaner and washing detergent. Shoppers are very appreciative of the quality and value for money that they offer.”

As Mark says, it’s important to remember that cleaning isn’t just a spring fling. In fact, thanks to the growing popularity of so called ‘cleanfluencers’ – cleaning has never been so cool, with clever cleaning hacks and tips from leading cleanfluencers such as Sophie Hinchliffe (AKA Mrs Hinch) taking social media by storm.

In addition, a One Poll survey commissioned by cleaning brand Dr Beckman back in November 2023, revealed that 58% of shoppers named cleaning products, such as air fresheners, stain removers and microfibre cloths, as their most desired gift items – ahead of technology and clothing!

So, with all that said and done, there’s clearly never been a better time for retailers to get in on the cleaning act and brush up those all-important sales and profits.

Shine up your shelves

Merchandising is also key when it comes to polishing up your cleaning sales.

l A good idea is to merchandise the category by format, room, and then specific tasks.

l The Jack’s range includes a variety of products for different rooms and tasks including laundry care, bathroom and toilet cleaning, kitchen disinfectants, surface polishing, and window cleaning.

l Make sure that all products are correctly faced up with price marks showing.

Jack’s-branded products are performing strongly across the store. Shoppers tell me that the quality and performance is great and of course their value price points only add to their appeal.

Will McCrae, Londis Seaton, Devon

CATEGORY UPDATE

Unlock the power of pods

Coffee pods account for nearly 20% of the coffee category in the UK – but only 8.5% in the independent retailing sector –representing a huge opportunity to grow sales, footfall and profit.

TOP OF THE PODS

l Pods account for 20% of retail coffee sales.

l Pods represent a huge opportunity for convenience retailers.

l Londis retailers can now access smaller Tassimo packs.

l Retailers will soon have access to new Dolce Gusto £3.99 PMPs.

l Market leading shopper promotions from NP2.

Once a niche market, coffee pods have gone mainstream in recent years. Today, pods account for nearly 20% of the UK retail coffee category and are worth a whopping £253m.

This success is reflected in supermarket sales where around 20% of coffee sales come through pods. In the independent convenience retailing channel, only 8.5% of coffee sales are pods, meaning the channel hugely undertrades on pods. Sales of pods in convenience, however, have been growing twice as fast the total market over the last five years. The scale of this opportunity is enormous for all Londis retailers.

To help leverage that opportunity to the hilt, Londis offers a wide range of pods and has implemented an Every Day Low Pricing promotional calendar with market-leading deals. These deals will alternate between Tassimo and Dolce Gusto pods and will offer shopper deals at just £2.99 a pack, delivering PORs of 26% for retailers.

READY MARKET

Recent data suggests more than half of all homes (52%) now own a coffee machine and a further 27% of people say they intend to own one in the near future. In other words, there will be around seven

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Mini merchandising masterclass

Nestlé offers the following threestep merchandising advice to help grow your sales of pods:

l Merchandise left to right, like a book, from value to premium.

l Pods should go on the top left of the shelf.

l Merchandise the coffee fixture from value at the bottom through to premium at the top.

million homes with a coffee machine in the next couple of years.

In the early days of pod machines like Nespresso, pods were often bought online direct from the manufacturer – but that trend has shifted enormously. In fact, by 2021 Euromonitor was able to report that 90% of coffee was bought in-store, rather than online. IRI data from October 2022 showed that an overwhelming 85.1% of households buy coffee.

The lifestyle and workplace practices brought about by the pandemic – like hybrid working or working from home –have only served to sustain and accelerate this trend and drive sales of pods.

Trips to coffee shops are on the wane –down 53% in 2023 alone according to JDE – and that is certain to drive growth in the at-home consumption market.

QUICK FIX

Unusually for big opportunities like this, the solution for retailers is relatively simple.

Trials in other convenience chains have

shown that when space and effort is dedicated to the pod category, sales can quickly reach that magical 20% figure –so it has been proven that convenience can win with pods.

What’s required to emulate that success?

The answer is equally simple: create fixture space for pods, offer a range that covers all three machine types, provide a core range of bestsellers for machine type and offer a mix of black and white cup options for the Dolce Gusto and Tassimo machine types.

WHY PODS?

According to Nestlé research, the main reason why shopper choose pods is to “create a coffee shop experience at home”. Nielsen data from 2023 confirms this, with 76% of shoppers choosing pods because of the taste they deliver, 70% because of the quality and 45% because of the value for money that pods offer.

This is what drives machine sales, and this is why coffee now accounts for around 20% total beverage consumption in a day for the average shopper.

Why do shoppers love pods?

According to Nielsen data, the key reasons why shoppers choose pods are as follows:

l 76% – Taste

l 70% – Quality

l 52% – Variety

l 50% – Aroma

l 45% – Value for money

45%

Core range

Londis recommends the following products as the basis of a good core pod range:

Nestlé, the company behind Nespresso and Dolce Gusto brands, says pods is forecast to be the fastest-growing coffee segment (after Core Instant) by 2028, up 5.6%, growing the category by £103m. Pods will grow share by 1.2% by 2027, the biggest growth share of any coffee subcategory.

PMP KEY

In a premium category like pods, price-marked-packs (PMPs) can be invaluable in reassuring shoppers that they’re getting value for money.

According to Nestlé data, PMPs grew their share of the pod market from 32% to 46% in 2023 alone.

By value, the PMP pod market increased by 41.9% in 2023 which equates to £9.3m. It’s clear that PMPs offer shoppers a single, guaranteed and affordable price point ensuring no price fluctuation.

MERCHANDISING MASTERCLASS

One of the many attractions of pods is that they don’t require much space on shelf, although it’s vital to ensure that they command enough space in your store so that they catch your shoppers’ eyes and are easy to shop.

The key to avoiding these sales losses is again relatively simple: ensuring impulsive segments are at eyeline and trading shoppers up vertically and horizontally will help drive value.

In practical terms, this means merchandise left to right, like a book, from value to premium. Pods should go on the top left of the shelf and the fixture should be merchandised with value at bottom through to premium at the top.

If you sell pods in your store it’s also really important to tell shoppers. Make sure your pods range is well signposted and why not try shouting about it on social media too?

PROFIT FROM PODS

The opportunity is clear and, just as importantly, the solution is simple. Creating some space on your fixture, ranging and merchandising the fixture in line with the advice above and letting your shoppers know that you stock a range of pods is all that’s required.

Pods deliver the highest ‘Price Per Cup’ of any coffee product – which means more sales for you and, ultimately more footfall and profits.

Nestlé says 15-20% of coffee shoppers leave the fixture empty handed due to merchandising issues like not being able to find product quickly enough, the product they want not being listed and difficult fixture navigation.

It’s time to sit down with a good cup of coffee and plan your strategy for growing pod sales towards that magical 20% target – and Londis has exactly what you need to do just that!

THE UK’S NO.1 CHILLED COFFEE*

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LUCOZADE ENERGY BLUE RUSH PM

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MEET THE TEAM

Say ‘hello’ to...

Name: Cath Marston

Title:

Sustainability Manager

Category:

Sustainability

In this issue, we catch up with Sustainability Manager Cath Marston to hear more about how she and her growing team continue to drive remarkable progress on Booker’s commitment to the environment and the planet.

About Cath

Cath Marston is Head of Sustainability and has been with Booker for 37 years. Her career began as a secretary in the Buying department – back in the days before computers – before she progressed to become a PA for the Commercial Director. In this role she supported the Trading team for more than 22 years before moving to the newly created role of Sustainability Manager in 2008.

Cath leapt at the chance to take on her “dream job” and has never looked back. Her efforts and achievements over the last 16 years have made a hugely positive impact on the business in terms of both driving efficiencies and improving our planet credentials.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF…

I’m Cath Marston and I’m Head of Sustainability for Booker, a role I have held for 16 years – although I’ve actually been with Booker for more than 37 years. I live in rural Northamptonshire with my husband (who also works for Booker) three alpacas and two rescued cats. I love being out in nature, meditating, yoga and even chanting !

HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN PASSIONATE ABOUT THE PLANET?

Completely! I’m not ashamed to say I’ve always been a tree-hugging hippie. Even in my early days with Booker as a secretary I started recycling programmes at Equity

House, Booker’s Head Office. I constantly encouraged ‘switch off’ awareness and was often badgering buyers about responsible sourcing of our products. So, when the new role of Sustainability Manager came up, I leapt at it. It was a big change for me to move from being PA and leave the Trading team to join the Distribution team and set up a brand-new department, but thank goodness I took that leap. I have loved making such a positive impact on the business and customers in terms of both driving efficiencies and improving our planet credentials.

HOW EASY WAS IT TO CREATE AN ENTIRELY NEW SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTMENT?

To be fair, I got lots of support from day one and Booker were clearly committed to making progress fast. It was my role to find out how we could do that. In the very early days it was largely about quick and simple wins: improvements across the business that drove efficiencies and cut carbon. But it progressed quickly and we were soon making very significant changes to how the business was run. These days sustainability or the Planet is an official Group purpose which means literally every one of Booker’s 14,000 colleagues has sustainability built into their job role. It’s everyone’s responsibility – and that’s exactly how it should be.

AND YOU’VE ACHIEVED SOME AMAZING SUCCESS…

Yes, working with our colleagues we have made some very significant improvements. A good example would be food waste: since 2012 we have donated more than 24 million meals to families in need through our charity partners Fareshare and OLIO. In 2023 alone we redistributed six million meals and fed 15,260 families through OLIO and supported 727 Fareshare charities. In addition, we have supported our independent retail customers to reduce food waste within their own premises, helping 674 businesses redistribute over 151 tonnes of food through Too Good To Go.

WHAT OTHER AREAS DO YOU FOCUS ON?

To ‘End Waste’ is just one of five core pillars that sit at the heart of our industry-leading ‘Better Trolley For A Better Planet’ series of hugely progressive commitments

that we made in 2022 to provide a strategic structure for ensuring that we serve customer, communities and the planet a little better every day. Better Trolley also commits us to tackling Sustainable Consumption, Human Rights, Climate Change and Product. These pillars translate into real-world actions that ensure that Better Trolley informs and drives literally every aspect of what we do at Booker.

GIVE US A FLAVOUR OF THOSE ‘REALWORLD ACTIONS’…

Better Trolley has changed enormously how we operate, across every aspect of the business. We’ve installed LED lights in all Booker sites; we’re trialling electric delivery vehicles; we’ve ensured that all palm oil and soy in our supply chain is 100% sustainable; we’ve made sure that 100% of our eggs are cage free; we’ve moved to make sure that 100% of our own-brand paper is deforestation free and FSC certified; we’ve expanded our plantbased range; we’ve ensured that all high-risk products and ingredients like tea, coffee, bananas and cocoa are ethically sourced through Fairtrade or the Rainforest Alliance; we’ve removed non-recyclable plastics from all own-brand packaging; we recycle over 10 million litres of used cooking oil a year… I could go on and on and on!

SO IT REALLY IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

Absolutely, and a huge difference at that! Take the core Jack’s own-brand range: it is now 100% ethically sourced, and recyclable packaging. Similarly, on food waste we now donate on average over 90% of edible food.

YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY SINCE 2008?

It’s unbelievable really. But the support we’ve had from Booker and the wider group along the way has been phenomenal. Achieving shifts of this magnitude in a business the size of Booker is not a simple thing to do, but everyone at the business has played their part. On a sustainability front, I think we can all be proud of what we have achieved in the last 16 years.

BUT THERE’S MORE TO DO?

There’s lots more to do. Delivering our Better Trolley commitments means we have a lot of work ahead of us,

but it’s a challenge that I relish, as you might imagine it all helps our precious Planet. It also helps that Booker has invested in the Sustainability Team and we now have four full-time members of the team: Maria Clark leads on deforestation and handles analytics and reporting, Jess Clouder supports the entire team and leads on food waste, Andy Duffy supports the branches on waste & recycling, and me. The bigger team obviously means we can accelerate the progress we’re making and keep serving our customers, communities and the planet a little better every day.

HOW CAN YOUR CUSTOMERS HELP?

If I could ask one thing of our customers, it would simply be that they do what they can to help embed sustainability within their businesses. Booker has put in place an entire support network and infrastructure to help them across vital areas like energy usage, waste and recycling. Often there are Group-exclusive discounted deals that they can take advantage of and by tackling these areas they can often reduce their own costs. It’s a real win-win. Additionally, by support Booker own brand products our customers can be sure the products are sourced responsibly and protect human rights across the supply chain. Shoppers are more conscious than ever of sustainability issues, so making moves to progress on sustainability can also make for great PR both in-store and on social media. We all have to step up and face into this difficult challenge but, working together, we can achieve unbelievable things and build on the amazing achievements we’ve already made together.

BETTER CHOICE

Wideranging

Line up!

Londis retailers can now access 900 new lines as Booker continues to improve choice.

Londis retailers have always been able to offer their shoppers an outstanding array of choice, but that choice just got even better thanks to the addition of 900 new lines, guaranteed to help drive footfall, sales and profits for their stores.

Available now, the winning mix of new lines covers all the key product categories, including beers, RTDs, confectionery, soft drinks and more.

When it comes to beers, retailers now have access to a winning new range of topselling brands and formats guaranteed to make their sales hop.

NEW SPIRIT LINES

Fresh pickings

With summer just around the corner, new lines include picnic-perfect products such as Delamere Roast Chicken Drumsticks which offer a tasty POR of 58.9%. The range also includes Roast Chicken Thighs and Tikka Chicken Breast Slices. New lines also include a fantastic mix of new grocery products such as Clay Oven Bakery Plain and Spicy Naan breads – the perfect accompaniment to a home-cooked curry! Offering a POR of 37.9% on a pack of 2, they are also perfect for spicing up profits.

Shoppers after a quick and tasty meal solution can also grab packs of Yumsu Instant Noodles for an RSP of just £1.49 – offering a POR of 34.1%.

New additions include lines from leading brands including Asahi, Brewdog, Carlsberg, Guinness and Budweiser.

With spring almost sprung, retailers also have access to a wide range of new and ontrend RTD lines – perfect for shoppers planning outdoor occasions and impromptu get-togethers.

For those after a longer drink, Londis’ stellar spirits line-up has been shaken up with the addition of a number of new drinks from top-selling brands including Aperol, AU and Ciroc.

New lines cover a range of formats, case sizes and flavours, from original classics to in-demand flavours such as rosé, berry and spice, perfect for mixing into cocktails, drizzling over desserts or sipping over ice.

For wine drinkers, the new additions also include a number of fresh and fruity rosé lines, perfect for toasting the return of warmer weather. New lines include two products from the Mirabeau brand as well as Blossom Hill and Shy Pig.

The dynamic soft drinks category has certainly not been left out, with retailers now able to get their hands on new lines from top-selling international brands such as Mogu Mogu as well as Prime Hydration.

NEW BEER LINES

New RTD lines

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SOFT DRINKS

Other new lines from big-name brands including Red Bull, Lucozade and Monster will help retailers to take advantage of 2024’s key flavour trends like peach and melon.

Confectionery choice has also been supercharged with a tasty array of new lines across the chocolate and sugar confectionery categories.

New lines include popular American brands and plenty of on-trend sour and tropical options too.

Shoppers after a savoury snack can also bag a wide range of new crisp and snack lines from their local Londis store.

New lines answer the call for hot and spicy flavours with additions including Golden Wonder Spicy Bikers, Wotsits Flamin’ Hot and Wheat Crunchies Spicy Tomato, the

latter of which are available in cases of 16x70g and pricemarked at £1.25.

The trend towards popcorn snacks has been answered with new lines from the Popstar brand, while shoppers after a fruity treat can enjoy new Urban Fruit snack packs.

Also helping retailers to take advantage of the warmer weather and associated rise in lighter lunches and sociable outdoor occasions are a number of new chilled and deli lines, ideal for packing into picnics or lounging on lawns.

From chicken wings to cheese snacks, drumsticks, pates and dips, the Londis range really does have it all.

All that remains is for retailers to list them and watch the sales roll in.

SUGAR CONFECTIONERY

CATEGORY UPDATE

Win with wine

Uncork additional sales and profits with the Londis Wine Festival

The Londis Wine Festival is back with a barrel load of opportunities for retailers to enjoy grape sales this summer.

Marvellous merchandising

l Have at least two or three facings of your bestselling wines.

l Support promotions with displays in prominent sites in your store like gondola ends.

l Chill all white and rosé wines where possible.

l Make use of all the Wine Festival POS available.

‘In vino veritas’: ‘In wine there is truth’ –or so the old Latin saying tells us. And of course, the bottling of truth is not wine’s only superpower. As a category, wine is also a powerful driver of footfall, sales and profits – especially at this time of year, as shoppers look forward to the return of warmer weather and the stellar Londis Wine Festival.

Running from 22 April to 19 May, the Londis Wine Festival will once again provide retailers with a corking opportunity to boost basket spend with an array of showstopping promotions.

SWEET SUCCESS

This year’s serving of special offers has been carefully designed around key brands and trends including wines with sweeter taste profiles and fruity flavours such as Hardys Bin 161’s Jammy Rich Red.

Packed with flavours of blackberry, plum and a touch of spice, the sweet South African offering is sure to go down a treat with shoppers this Wine Festival – especially when they take note of the fantastic RSP of just £6.99.

Deals are on offer across every price bracket, including value, mid and premium-priced products, allowing

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Londis retailers to meet the needs of a wide variety of different shoppers and social occasions.

ADD SOME SPARKLE

With demand for sparkling options remaining high, especially as we approach the summer, this year’s Londis Wine Festival also includes a number of fantastic deals on sparkling products to suit all budgets.

Key deals for shoppers include 75cl bottles of Canti Prosecco and Canti Prosecco Rosé on offer for just £8.49 –offering retailers a POR of 17.6%.

Shoppers who want to enjoy their bubbles without the ABV will also not be disappointed, with the Londis Wine Festival also including deals on fantastic low- to no-alcohol wine brands. Deals include sparkling options such as Nozeco Spumante 75cl which has an RSP of just £3.49 – offering retailers a POR of 20.1%.

Mega Deals!

Group Exclusive Products

BAREFOOT RIESLING

RSP: £6.49

POR: 21%

NOBILO NEW ZEALAND SAUVIGNON BLANC

RSP: £9.49

POR: 21%

GRAHAM NORTON’S OWN MARLBOROUGH SAUVIGNON BLANC

RSP: £8.49

POR: 20.7%

The Londis Wine Festival will include Mega Deals on the top-selling McGuigan and Secretary Bird brands.

SECRETARY BIRD

WSP: £27.49

RSP: £6.49

POR: 15.3%

MCGUIGAN BLACK LABEL

WSP: £25.45

RSP: £5.99

POR: 15.0%

Deals are also available across a range of formats, including cans, helping retailers to add further interest to their ranges.

NEW AND NOW

This year’s Wine Festival also stars a number of new products, including the first-to-market launch of Echo Falls’ brand-new Watermelon & Kiwi Fruit Fusion variant.

BIN 161

Jammy Rich Red

WSP: £25.79

RSP: £6.99

POR: 26%

Hardys BIN 161 is the seventhbiggest Still Wine brand in Impulse, worth £36m annually and outperforming total Still Wine by five ppts.

One bottle of Hardys Bin 161 is sold every six seconds!

Festival Fizz Specials

First to market to Booker customers, the new Watermelon & Kiwi flavour features an ABV of 9% – offering shoppers a sweet option and refreshing alternative to RTD cocktails or fruit ciders.

Londis Wine Festival

22 April-19 May

Trend watch

In terms of flavour trends, wines with sweeter taste profiles continue to lead the pack.

This trend lends itself to Australian and South African wines so it’s a good idea for retailers to have a good core Australian and South African offering across each of the price brackets.

Exclusive deals to help you fight retail crime

Booker has put together a range of exclusively discounted deals with leading security solution providers to help Londis retailers combat the rising wave of crime they are facing.

Many Londis retailers will undoubtedly be aware of the alarming growth of retail crime over the last few years and the impact this has on both the business itself and the people working there.

This trend is borne out in the latest Association of Convenience Stores’ (ACS) Crime Report which shows that the theft index, which measures shoplifting in-store, has reached record levels and is higher than it has ever been.

In England and Wales in the 12 months to September 2023 there was a huge 32% increase in shoplifting. The Report also found that 63% of all shop theft is committed by repeat offenders.

The Report estimates that there were over 1.1m incidents

The Report estimates that there were over 1.1m incidents of theft reported last year yet also estimates that only 16% of crimes are reported to the police.

ACS Crime Report 2024

Key findings from the Association of Convenience Stores’ Crime Report 2024 include:

l 63% of shop theft is committed by repeat offenders.

l 79% of retailers believe that the cost-of-living crisis has led to an increase in theft.

l 87% of colleagues working in convenience stores have experienced verbal abuse over the last year.

l Retailers estimate that just 16% of crimes against their business are reported to the police.

l £228m was invested by convenience retailers in crime prevention measures over the last year.

The most commonly stolen items as reported by retailers are meat, alcohol and confectionery – typically high-value items that can then be sold on by those with a drug or alcohol addiction, or who are part of wider organised crime groups.

Just as alarming is the finding that the vast majority of convenience store colleagues – 89% – have experienced verbal abuse over the last year.

The reasons behind the increase in theft and abuse are likely linked to the effects of the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Indeed, the Report discovered that 79% of retailers believe that the cost-of-living crisis is the key driver behind the increase in theft.

ACS has called on police forces and the Government to do more to take retail crime seriously and support local

businesses. They have issued a five-point plan, including a demand that the Treasury incentivises retailers to invest in crime prevention measures, technology and data sharing, which have been proven to help combat retail crime.

EXCLUSIVE BOOKER DEALS

To help Londis retailers battle this crime epidemic, however, Booker has negotiated a number of attractive deals with leading security solutions providers.

These deals offer Londis retailers exclusive discounts on some highly effective technological solutions that have been proven to reduce crime, including theft and in-store abuse of colleagues. These heavily discounted solutions include facial recognition software and hardware, CCTV monitoring software that detects suspicious gestures and body worn cameras.

Body Cameras

RELIANCE PROTECT

l This deal is the result of a partnership with Reliance Protect, the existing supplier to Booker.

l The exclusive offer provides Londis retailers with access to the VT100 body camera at discounted rates.

l The VT100 body camera has a 2-hour record time with the footage stored directly to the cloud through a wi-fi connection.

l The system features HD video and audio recording.

l The VT100 is very user friendly and features two buttons on rear of device: one to start recording and another to stop recording.

l Body cameras have been proven to act as a visual deterrent to any potential offender, reducing incidences of theft and abuse.

Facial Recognition

FACEWATCH

Facewatch has been proven to reduce theft by 35%

l Booker has partnered with Facewatch to offer Londis retailers a 10% discount on this service.

l Facewatch detects the biometrics of individuals that enter a store. Retailers record and categorise the individual in the event of an incident.

l Any individual entering a store that has been previously categorised will set off a discrete alert to the retailer or staff. The retailer or staff will then be able to take appropriate action in dealing with the individual.

l Facewatch provide their own CCTV camera. The footage from this camera is fed through their image recognition software and the alerts and footage are accessible through a web portal and an iPhone provided as part of the package.

FACEWATCH EXCLUSIVE BOOKER PRICING

l Installation, cabling and switches

l 1 x camera, AI processor, SD video 7-day storage

l Mobile router, high gain aerial, SIM

l iPhone + SIM

l Ceiling Mount & Camera Painting (if required)

l £295 per month – 10% off

Gesture Recognition

VEESION

10% off

l Veesion supplies gesture recognition software that simply plugs into existing CCTV cameras and monitors the images recorded.

l Veesion’s software detects any gesture that would be considered suspicious. For example: an individual placing an item in a bag or pocket.

l Each gesture is categorised into five categories, ranging from low suspicion to highly suspicious.

l Retailers using Veesion are alerted to the suspicious gestures and can choose which level of category they wish to be alerted to.

5-9

10-15

16-20

21-25

26-35

15%

GREAT NEWS

Starting today, all applicable* Premier, Londis, Budgens, and Family Shopper locations across the UK will be eligible for a new rate of 0.8% for American Express Card transactions.

There’s no better time to accept.

If you are already set up to accept American Express® Cards and would like to have this rate applied to your business, please call our Servicing team at 0800 032 7216 to get this updated.

Did you know?

AMERICAN EXPRESS® CARDMEMBERS SPEND 3.8X MORE ANNUALLY COMPARED TO THE AVERAGE UK CREDIT AND CHARGE CARDMEMBERS?1

Otherwise, if you are not set up to accept American Express and would like to take advantage of this rate, all you need to do is send an email to wthuk@aexp.com including your name and phone number and our team will call out to you to complete the set up or follow the QR code for a digital form.

Once you receive your American Express Merchant Number(s), simply contact your payment provider who will program your terminal(s) to accept American Express Cards.

Make your voice heard

Calling time on crime

As

This ACS recently launched its Crime Report 2024. Titled, “Working Together to Tackle Britain’s Retail Crime Crisis,” the report had two objectives: to quantify the cost and distress that convenience retailers are facing every day due to rising retail crime, and to identify what retailers, the police, the courts system and the government can all do to address this problem.

Let’s start with the figures: depressing, shocking yet unsurprising and very much in line with recent reports from the Co-op, the BRC and others, and consistent with what we hear from retailers literally every day.

The cost of crime has increased to £245m with more than that (£339m) being spent on crime prevention, adding up to a total cost equal to a 10p “crime tax” on every single basket.

In an ongoing cost of living crisis, that adds up to a big impact on families and of course retailers who in reality have to absorb some of that cost.

The statistic that captured media headlines was the five-fold increase in incidents of shop theft. We looked hard at this vast increase… but it still only amounts to two incidents per week per store and I think it’s an underestimate of the frequency of shop theft. Theft is also being better detected (though we also found that only 42% of incidents were being reported to the police).

the ACS publishes its Crime Report 2024, James Lowman says it’s time to stop talking tough on crime and take action.

Our shop theft index – the balance of retailers saying theft is rising versus those saying it’s declining – is also at record levels.

The report also confirms the link between shop theft and violence. Shop theft is the biggest single trigger for the 76,000 (also almost certainly an underestimate) violent incidents that happen in convenience stores every year.

You can read all the statistics in the report, but I want to talk about how we can work to reduce these figures in future ACS Crime Reports. I see this as links in the chain and the first link is the retailer themselves: if we don’t report crime, we cannot expect it to be dealt with. A growing number of police forces are introducing userfriendly reporting platforms to help this to happen more quickly and effectively.

Then it’s up to the police to investigate these incidents, in particular to identify the handful of people who blight communities by stealing and committing other offences, usually to fund a drug habit. Retailers tell us that half of thieves are repeat offenders and that their number one motivation is to feed an addiction. These prolific repeat offenders are sometimes being exploited by dealers or other organised criminals and are often in a heightened state when stealing, so can turn violent if challenged. Of course, when there’s any violent incident, the police’s primary role is responding quickly and apprehending the offender.

The final link in the chain is the courts system.