Don’t get left in the dark

From September 2023, the EU will phase out fluorescent lighting. This may directly affect your business, so why not beat the rush and apply for a fully funded lighting upgrade from Energia? You can get your old fluorescent lighting replaced, while also reducing your lighting consumption by up to 80%. We’ll make it easy by managing the entire process from start to finish.

Find out more at energia.ie/lighting

Editor GILLIAN HAMILL (01) 294 7776 gillian.hamill@mediateam.ie

Staff journalist

JULIA O’REILLY (01) 294 7709 julia.oreilly@mediateam.ie

Contributors

CAROLINE REIDY

FIONNUALA CAROLAN

NIKKI MURRAN PAUL DOYLE

Head of business

IAN MULVANEY (01) 294 7766 ian.mulvaney@mediateam.ie

Account manager MARK MORGAN (01) 294 7767 mark.morgan@mediateam.ie

Circulation subs@mediateam.ie

Publisher JOHN McDONALD (01) 294 7744 john.mcdonald@mediateam.ie

Printing W & G Baird Ltd

ShelfLife is a controlled circulation magazine, available to selected individuals with interests in the retail and wholesale grocery trade, who fall within the publisher’s terms of control. For those outside these terms, annual subscription is €98.00 including postage & packing.

Extreme weather preparation shouldn’t be left ‘til a rainy day

Have you seen the latest meme on Irish weather doing the rounds? You know; the one where the skeleton peeks out his window blinds with the tongue-in-cheek caption “Irish people waiting for the rain to stop…”

While it’s a memorable image, some of us may well be feeling rather lucky not to be over in mainland Europe right now. As ShelfLife headed to print, Italy had put 23 cities on red alert as temperatures were set to reach 46°C, one of the global hotspots as a wave of extreme heat, wildfires and flooding wreaked havoc from the US to China.

Earlier this month, Greek authorities were also forced to shut the Acropolis. “Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing a major heatwave with air temperatures expected to climb to 48 degrees Celsius on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia,” the European Space Agency said in a statement.

Undoubtedly, it’s an incredibly serious issue, and one which hasn’t left Ireland unaffected either. In April, forecaster Met Éireann published a series of technical reports and maps aimed at informing how future Irish buildings and infrastructure should be designed to withstand extreme weather events.

In more positive news, many may well consider foregoing their traditional European break for a more “tolerable” holiday at home, which has obvious benefits for Ireland’s tourist hotspots. Across the board, this is an issue worth seriously considering now to ensure the correct infrastructure is in place.

Gillian Hamill, editor, ShelfLifemagazine

Contents July

Cover Story

28 Under the tree since ‘63: Spar sales director Colin Donnelly meets up with Gillian Hamill to reflect on the past 60 years of Spar

36 100 Master Brands at Home: Resilient brands standing their ground and thriving in challenging times, says Kantar’s Emer Healy

18 Sourcing supremos: USSi founder Seamus Greaney tells Gillian Hamill how the company confidently tackles sourcing challenges

20 Mace Store profile: Paul Doyle chats to regional manager Trevor Kennedy of Mace Ballinrobe about investing in the future

22 Simplicity at the heart of good food: Gillian Hamill catches up with the couple behind the plantbased pioneer that is Nobó to learn more about their next moves

Advisor

32 HR: The HR Suite’s Caroline Reidy delivers an overview of redundancy procedures

34 Recruitment: Excel Recruitment’s Nikki Murran shares her top tips on how to ensure you create a positive impression online

16 Centra Store profile: Gillian Hamill speaks to retailers Fiona and Ken O’Connor about the newly renovated Centra Enniskerry store

74 NOffLA news: Molloy’s Liberties’ Paddy Burke explains his personalised approach to customer service to Julia O’Reilly

36 100 Master Brands at Home

62 Summer Wines

68 Pet