Retail News 2011

June 2011

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www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Contents|3

Contents Supporting the Local Economy MORE home-grown products on the shelves means more jobs in Ireland.

It sounds simple, but the connection between filling your aisles with indigenous goods and the overall economy cannot be overstated. In our special Buying Irish feature (Page 18), we focus on the importance of the Irish agri-food sector to the country’s economic recovery, and also the fact that Irish consumers love home-grown brands and will go to another store if their favourite native products aren’t on your shelves. The simple truth is that stocking Irish brands makes sound business sense, both in terms of satisfying your customer base and helping the wider economy.

Highlighting another aspect of stocking Irish goods, Karen Meenan looks at the wealth of Irish magazine titles available, pin-pointing the consumer favourites guaranteed to fly off your shelves (Page 22), another reason to buy Irish.

In a bid to ensure the continued success of Irish brands, Bord Bia have launched a new innovative Retail Market Entry and Development Supplier Programme, which aims to help food and drink businesses develop their retail skills and increase their level of business in the multiple, discount and symbol group retail channels (Page 17), while another innovative link, this time between BIM’s Seafood Development Centre and Keohane’s of Bantry, sees the launch of a new gourmet Irish seafood range of convenience products to an eagerly awaiting market (Page 50).

Elsewhere, Moy Park’s Paul Burch talks us through the changing face of the Irish fresh poultry market (Page 12), Repak CEO Andrew Hetherington explains your waste management obligations (Page 30), Jean Smullen looks at the South American wines setting pulses racing (Page 38), and the Irish Security Industry Association provides advice on protecting your staff and premises from crime (Page 44).

News

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Minister’s Back to the Wall Over JLC Reform; Business Still Struggling but New Confidence Emerging.

Retail News Interview

Accounts Director – Ireland, on what recent acquisitions have meant for the company and how Ireland’s biggest fresh chicken brand will develop in the future.

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Karen Meenan’s News Rack

14 Sales of puzzle titles tend to peak during the key summer holiday period.

Buying Irish: The Benefits

18 The love affair

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Can Ireland Learn from UK Grocery Code? New Barcode Enhances Traceability.

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New Proposals to Send Tobacco Packing?

Record Numbers at Bloom.

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between Irish consumers and homegrown brands shows no signs of abating.

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10 Marlene McDonald’s XL store is the first grocery shop to open in Portsalon, Co. Donegal, and was inspired by her childhood holidays in the popular tourist town.

CEO, Repak, advises on retailers’ obligations when it comes to packaging waste and recycling.

Store Focus

34 Retail News talks to Joe Doyle, owner of the Donnybrook Fair group, as they open their fourth premium store in Stillorgan, Co Dublin.

On The Vine

38 Jean Smullen looks at

44 Advice on crime Londis Sponsorship

28 Londis’ sponsorship of Come Dine With Me is one of the biggest of the year, including the first ever Irish version of the popular TV show, and a heavyweight in-store promotion.

T A R A

prevention from the Irish Security Industry Association.

Shelf Life

54 All the latest news and gossip from the trade.

Regulars 8 Industry News 27 Market News 53 Drinks News Sectoral Reports

Managing Director: Fergus Farrell

Published by: Tara Publishing Co. Ltd.,

Editorial & Marketing Director: Kathleen Belton

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Web: www.retailnews.ie Email: retailnews@tarapublishingco.com

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Origination by: Rooney Media Graphics

Chief News Reporter: Pavel Barter Wine Correspondent: Jean Smullen

30 Andrew Hetherington,

Retail Security

Kathleen Belton Editorial & Marketing Director

johnwalshe@tarapublishingco.com

Waste Management

some of the top wines from South America, including those from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

P&G Chief Pinpoints Retail Recovery; Dunnes Stores Return To Growth.

Shop Profile

30

12 Paul Burch, Moy Park

Printed by: W&G Baird

Reproduction without written permission is strictly prohibited.

22 Irish Magazines 41 Pet Food 50 Seafood

4|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

News

Minister’s Back to the Wall Over JLC Reform THE fate of Joint Labour Committee (JLC) wage setting mechanisms, which set a pay rate for grocery sector employees, will be decided before the end of June. Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, brought his proposals to Cabinet after a consultation process. Business representatives told Retail News they are not confident the JLCs will be abolished, but predict there will be a reform to Sunday premium payments.

“We’re optimistic the Minister will do his level best to deliver on Sunday premiums,” said Torlach Denihan, Retail Ireland Director. “We’re in a situation where Sunday wage levels, for employees covered by JLCs here, are 37% in excess of the equivalent in the UK. That’s unsustainable. 91% of our members, when surveyed, say the viability of their companies would increase if these premiums were abolished.”

Bruton’s report into the JLC regulatory system sprung out of a report by Kevin Duffy and Dr Frank Walsh, which concluded that lowering the JLC rates to the level of the minimum wage would not effect employment. Business representatives contend that

Torlach Denihan, Director, Retail Ireland: “We would like the Minister to abolish the JLC structure completely.”

much of the analysis in the Duffy/Walsh report was flawed.

“We had a face to face meeting with Duffy and Walsh,” said Tara Buckley, Director General, RGDATA. “Kevin Duffy wasn’t listening to talk about abolition.

All he wanted to talk about was reform, so [the outcome] didn’t surprise us at all. This is a significant issue for the future of grocery shops. We think it’s completely unfair that just because you’re a grocer you pay these rates.”

in a hard station,” explained Denihan. “He’s getting precious little support. He is also hobbled by the flawed economic analysis in Duffy/Walsh. But we would like the Minister to abolish the JLC structure completely.”

Buckley added: “Our belief is that the JLC is antiquated, unworkable and inflexible.

We don’t see how any type of reform is going to change it. All employers should adhere to the same set of rules. It shouldn’t be a different set of rules just because you happen to sell pressed ham. The bookshop, butcher and fashion shop start off on the minimum wage. Only the grocer is subject to a JLC.” Whatever the outcome at the end of June, it is unlikely to satisfy everyone concerned, since unions and business are in diametrically opposed positions. But Denihan refuted “scaremongering” that JLC

Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. reform will affect current employees. Employee wages are covered under existing employment law - reform would only affect new employees, he said.

Business Still Struggling but New Confidence Emerging

Tara Buckley, RGDATA Director General: “This is a significant issue for the future of grocery shops.”

Minister Bruton went a step further than Duffy/ Walsh, calling for a “radical overhaul” of the wage-setting mechanisms, in particular Sunday premiums. Denihan described the Minister’s subsequent consultation process as “constructive” and said the politician was “moving in a jobs-friendly” direction, while criticising “grief from people in the political system who should know better.” Labour backbenchers and Sinn Féin enterprise spokesman Peadar Tóibín TD have spoken out against Bruton’s planned reforms to the system.

Business representatives are sticking to their guns. “We acknowledge the Minister is

THE results of the latest Behaviour & Attitudes’ Business Confidence Survey indicate poor results for the first quarter of 2011, when compared with an equivalent period last year.

However, Irish business leaders are more optimistic about the second quarter of 2011, with almost equal proportions expecting business activity to be higher, the same or lower when compared with the equivalent period last year. This is the first sign that business activity declines may have bottomed out.

With regard to credit, only 14% of business report that they made a long term loan application (over 5 years) while 20% report they made an application for short term funding (under 5 years) within the past year. Of these applications, only 39% of long term loans were approved, while a high of 70% of short terms loans were cleared.

“The key priority for business owners at the moment is to survive,” noted Elaine Sloan, Director at Behaviour & Attitudes.

“There is a considerable focus on costs, with some businesses reporting concerns about their level of working capital. Given that this is the case, it is interesting to find that only a minority of business owners have made an application for funding. The evidence from those companies that have applied suggests that the financial institutions are open for business at least for short term funding.”

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News

Can Ireland Learn from UK Grocery Code?

COULD new UK government legislation for a grocery code adjudicator be a working model for Ireland? Paul Kelly thinks so. The Food and Drink Industry Ireland (FDII) Director has called on the Government to introduce fair trade legislation in Ireland after the UK government published a draft bill for a Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA).

The GCA will investigate supplier complaints and arbitrate in disputes between suppliers and retailers.

Large retailers in the UK have criticised the bill, saying it would achieve nothing.

The bill will not affect smaller retailers and only covers the 10 largest retail companies in the UK. “Smaller retailers don’t have to comply with either the code of practice, already in place, or the adjudicator,” explained Shane Brennan, Public Affairs Director for the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), which represents 33,500 local shops in the UK. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) claim retailers will pay for the GCA’s £800,000 annual running costs.

Brennan said this will only apply to the largest companies. Smaller retailers will pay nothing.

The GCA is a supplierled initiative, so would similar legislation in Ireland be of any interest to symbol groups, smaller supermarkets and independent shops? Definitely, explained Brennan. The ACS supports the Grocery Code Adjudicator, particularly in regard to the issue

of regulation of supermarket buyer power.

“Where a big retailer abuses their buyer power, and that leads to unaffordable price decreases for the supplier, or makes changes to the operations that are hard for the supplier to bear, the consequent knock-on effect is on the rest of the retailers in the supply chain,” he said.

“If a big multiple puts the squeeze on a supplier and they end up having to increase their discount to the market, the supplier will try and find a way of recouping that money elsewhere.

It’s usually from other customers: the ones without buying power.”

The adjudicator will protect suppliers from extreme strong-armed tactics, such as ‘hello money’ and demands for contractual changes.

It will also give smaller retailers the opportunity to act as whistleblowers when suppliers are reticent to come forward. “Suppliers don’t raise complaints within the procedures because they fear the consequences,” said Brennan. “Third parties need to highlight problems for investigation.”

Demands for adjudicating legislation in Ireland are increasing.

In May, 8,000 farmers marched on the office of Enterprise Minister, Richard Bruton TD, demanding fair trade. But implementation of the UK fair trade legislation has been a slow process. In 2008, the UK’s Groceries Market Investigation recommended the introduction of an ombudsman.

Three years on, the draft bill for an adjudicator has been only just been published.

Clean Bill of Health over E-Coli Scare THE E-Coli outbreak has not affected produce on Irish shelves and is unlikely to do so, Retail News can reveal. At the time of publication, Wayne Anderson, Chief Specialist Food Science, Food Safety Authority of Ireland, told us that Irish retailers have nothing to fear over the outbreak, which appears confined to Germany. “None of the implicated products mentioned by the Germans have been shipped to Ireland at all, as far as our information goes,” he said. “Everything on the Irish market, as far as we know, is safe.”

New Barcode Enhances Traceability GS1 Ireland has called on the retail and food sector to continue its commitments to increase efficiency and reduce risks in the supply chain by availing of the significant benefits now possible with the introduction of its next generation barcode, the DataBar. This latest version of the more familiar but older GS1 Barcode, first introduced over 30 years ago, is smaller than its predecessor, and yet can contain more useful information, such as ‘best-before’ dates, place of origin, coupon processing etc. As a result, the new DataBar can be placed on very small items, and is particularly suited for identifying, for example, fresh produce and loose individual pieces of fruit and vegetables, all scannable at the point of sale.

In addition to the business benefits, such as improved stock rotation and reduced shrinkage, the GS1 DataBar will significantly enhance traceabililty. “If the GS1 DataBar was deployed using standardised scanning solutions at all stages of the supply chain, downstream operators would have critical traceability information available in their own IT systems and be quickly able to identify contaminated batches. Then, if a product slipped through to the shelf, the batch information encoded in the DataBar would alert the retailer at the point of sale,” said Jim Bracken, Chief Executive, GS1 Ireland.

Planning Ahead TESCO are fighting to set up shop in Cavan town, after the county council deferred the decision.

Some commentators were concerned that the arrival of a large business, on the 5.3-acre patch, would be to the detriment to local business. But some councillors suggested if the supermarket’s proposal was rejected, the town would lose out on job opportunities.

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News

New Proposals to Send Tobacco Packing?

RETAIL representatives and tobacco manufacturers are fuming over proposals to tighten the restriction on tobacco sales. New European Commission (EC) proposals have suggested the introduction of plain cigarette packaging, removing logos, designs and graphics.

“We are totally opposed to the concept of plain packaging,” Chloe Campen, Corporate Affairs Manager at PJ Carroll, told Retail News. “There is no proof to suggest that this kind of regulation will be effective.

It is the thin edge of the wedge and the issues involved go so much wider and deeper than the tobacco industry. If governments are prepared to consider doing this, are the next logical steps to force alcohol and fast food in plain packs as well?”

Under proposed revisions to the Tobacco Products Directive, after an EC consultation in late 2010, a packet would only feature the brand name written in small letters. New health warnings and large medical photos have

also been suggested. Campen said that such a move will drive the tobacco industry further into the hands of the counterfeiters.

Vincent Jennings, Chief Executive, Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association.

“The idea of plain packaging could have dire consequences for retailers. Over the past few years Ireland has unfortunately been labelled the cigarette smuggling capital of Europe,

something which retailers are all too aware of,” she said.

“Cigarette smuggling continues to have a massive impact on retailers across the country.

The idea of plain or generic packaging for tobacco products will only compound the problem.”

Plain packs will be easy to counterfeit, she explained.

Alternatively, criminals could make fake branded packets to meet consumer demand. Vincent Jennings, Chief Executive Officer of the Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association (CSNA), agreed and called the proposals illogical. “The market will shift to the counterfeiters,” he said. “I have no faith in any type of co-relation between a packet without logos and colour scheme and a reduction in demand. This should not be out to punish or penalise a tobacco company; this should be about tobacco control.”

Under current controls, cigarette brands can not be openly displayed in shops.

There are maximum limits for nicotine and tar content of

cigarettes, a ban on terms such as ‘light’, ‘mild’, or ‘low tar’, and written health warnings on packets. Further restrictions could make a retailer’s task more difficult. “We need to remember all the operational costs and complications this kind of measure would burden retailers with, in terms of how to manage stock, refill sales units and serve customers, if all the packets looked the same,” said Campen.

Record Numbers at Bloom BLOOM, Bord Bia’s gardening, food and family festival, attracted record numbers in its fifth year, making Bloom 2011 its most successful yet. Bloom attracted almost 90,000 visitors to the 70-acre site at the visitors centre in the Phoenix Park Dublin over the June Bank Holiday Weekend.

“The spirit that had lifted the nation in recent weeks was once again in evidence among almost 90,000 visitors who came to witness and applaud the magic and creativity of our garden designers, of our artisan food producers, and our craftsmen and women who remind us of the richness of resource that resides within and around us,” noted Aidan Cotter, CEO, Bord Bia. The new Bord Bia Food Village was a key attraction at this year’s show, bringing all of the food aspects of the show together in one central location for the first time. Exhibitors reported that the new feature was a phenomenal success providing them with an opportunity to showcase brands, interact with new and existing customers and sell large quantities of products.

Pictured at Bloom 2011 are President of Ireland and Patron of Bloom, Mary McAleese and her husband, Senator Martin McAleese, with Aidan Cotter, CEO, Bord Bia (left) and Gary Graham, Bloom Show Manager (right).

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News

P&G Chief Pinpoints Retail Recovery IN-STORE promotions can destroy long term brand loyalty and value, Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) Global Chief Customer Officer recently said on a visit to Dublin. Bob Fregolle made the comments as part of a speech at the ECR Ireland Convention: “The more we take our money away from innovation and invest it into loyalty-destroying, valuedraining promotion, the further we weaken our ability to invest in innovation.”

James Williams, Corporate Communications manager at P&G, elaborated on the comments after Fregolle’s visit: “He said that promotions are important, at a time when people are seeking value, but there is also a risk that promotions can be negative. It’s not just brand loyalty, but they can affect store loyalty in the long term. If we train people to shop on deal, they come to expect everything to be on deal.

If they go into the store and the product they want isn’t on deal, they’ll go somewhere else.

Promotions can work against retailers and suppliers.”

As part of his address at the ECR Ireland Convention 2011, Fregolle, who is responsible for nearly $80bn global turnover, talked about ‘Multi-Year True Scorecarding’, a concept which measures joint goals that retailers and suppliers can work towards. “True Scorecarding brings this balance to supplier’s strategy and the retailer’s – to every piece of the puzzle –from assortments and range reviews; innovation launches and base business; cross-functional collaboration, right across the total value chain,” said Fregolle.

He also talked about the importance of innovation.

“While premium innovation is important, it disrupts the category and drives footfall and trades people up,” explained Williams. “Innovation has to be more multi-dimensional than that.”

P&G innovates up and down its tiers. “On Pampers, our biggest P&G brand, we’ve improved the core Pampers Baby Dry range, and launched new ranges below and above it,” said Fregolle. “In 2009, we brought Pampers Simply Dry

to consumers, delivering trusted, no frills performance at a value price point.

Then, in 2010, we launched Pampers Dry Max at the premium end.

This is our thinnest, driest nappy ever.”

Companies should also innovate “horizontally”.

For example, P&G’s Ariel brand was traditionally Bob Fregolle, Global Customer Business a laundry Development Officer, Procter & Gamble. detergent and powder. Then it became tab and liquid tab. Now shopper, creating interest it has moved into an adjacent in-store, driving footfall and category in stain removing. getting people to try a product.

Does Fregolle’s address People like a deal and thinking herald the death of promotions? they are getting good value.

Williams reckons not. “It’s not There’s a limit, though, and we that we are against promotions. have to be careful we don’t go Promotions are a very effective too far. That was the point Bob way of delivering value to the Fregolle was making.”

Dunnes Stores Return To Growth THE latest grocery market figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, for the 12 weeks ending May 15, 2011, show Dunnes Stores has increased its market share for the first time since August 2009. Dunnes Stores has posted sales growth of 1.4% and increased its market share from 23.6% last year to 23.7% for the same period this year, following 21 months of stagnation.

“The return to share growth for Dunnes Stores has been fuelled by strong sales in traditional areas such as frozen food, household cleaning, biscuits and confectionery,” explained David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel Ireland.

“By using the strong presence of leading brands in these areas, the retailer has been able to drive sales. Dunnes Stores has also benefited from a dedicated customer base. Over this period, it has regained its position as the retailer with the most loyal shoppers, demonstrating the importance of returning customers in this market.”

With value at the top of the shopper’s agenda, Aldi and Lidl continued to be the main beneficiaries of growth during this period. Both retailers posted record share performances, powering ahead with double digit value sales growth of 27.7% and 10.6% respectively. Aldi increased its share from 3.4% last year to 4.3% and Lidl built on last year’s 5.6% share to achieve 6.1% of the market.

Elsewhere, Tesco grew slightly ahead of the market and posted an increase in market share from 27.1% last year to 27.3% for this period. SuperValu continued to perform slightly behind the market this month, dropping market share from 20.0% last year to 19.6% for the same period this year.

Growing speculation about the future ownership of Superquinn has done little to halt its sales decline, with a loss of market share from 6.8% last year to 6.2% this year.

Meanwhile, grocery inflation is at 4.9% for the 12-week period ending May 15, 2011, down from 5.4% in the previous period.

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Industry News

Irish Cheese Awards ‘Mature’ for SHOP 2011 CREAMERY Mature Cheddar (cheddar aged more than nine months) is one of the three inaugural new categories to be added to this year’s Irish Cheese Awards, which are taking place at SHOP 2011, from September 27-29, at the RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin.

SHOP is a key event for the food & drink, retail and hospitality sectors and this year’s show is set to host more than 100 exhibitors and thousands of visitors. Buyers from the food retail and foodservice sectors will find the latest business solutions and new products to grow their businesses, and exhibitors are confident that the invaluable face-to-face time that SHOP offers will translate into new business.

With the judging taking place on the first day of SHOP 2011, the awards being presented on the second day and 100 cheeses from across Ireland expected to be entered, the organisers of Irish Cheese Awards have increased the category numbers from 11 to 14 due to the wealth of world-class cheese producers in this country. In addition to Creamery Mature Cheddar, the other two new awards will recognise entrants in the categories of Smoked Cheese (any milk) and Creamery Cheddar (any milk).

The Irish Cheese Awards, now in their second year (formerly known as the International Cheese Awards) are deemed the definitive awards for Irish cheese. Managed by the experts from Sheridan’s Cheesemongers, the awards recognise the outstanding talent amongst homegrown Irish cheese producers. By staging the awards at SHOP, they provide a platform for local producers to get in front of key decision-makers and buyers from across the food, drink and retail sectors.

“From small beginnings just over 30 years ago in West Cork, the new Irish farmhouse cheese tradition has become one of the best success stories of Irish food,” said Kevin Sheridan, Proprietor, Sheridan’s Cheesemongers, summing up the importance of these awards. “Not only are the cheeses and their makers cherished here at home; they are now appreciated across the world. This success is reflected in The Irish Cheese Awards, where there are no less than 14 separate judging categories, each full of great cheeses. Sheridan’s is thrilled to be helping easyFairs and SHOP 2011 organise this, the second year of the newly transformed Irish cheese Awards.”

In 2010, Co. Louth Company, Glyde Farm, producers of Bellingham Blue Cheese, picked up the Supreme Cheese award,

which producer, Peter Thomas, hoped would elevate the Bellingham Blue Cheese brand and open the doors of retailers.

To book your stand for SHOP 2011, contact show manager, Lucy Riddett on +44 (0) 20 8843 8819. Find details at www.easyfairs.com/ SHOP

Pictured are (l-r): Peter Thomas, owner of Glyde Farm and producer of Bellingham Blue, winner of the Supreme Cheese Award 2010, with fellow finalist Dick Williams.

Musgrave Signs €80m Deal with Oliver Carty IN a major boost for Irish pig farming, Musgrave has signed a new 2½ year deal with Oliver Carty Limited to supply 100% Irish bacon and ham for its SuperValu and Centra network of stores. This latest contract is part of SuperValu and Centra’s on-going commitment to the Irish food and farming industries and further demonstrates the grocery retailer’s commitment to create and protect Irish jobs and ensure a sustainable Irish pig meat sector.

Established in 1950, Oliver Carty Limited is a family run company, which produces ham and bacon products. It supplies over 2.5m rashers every week, more rashers than any other company in Ireland. The new deal will enable Carty’s to expand its capacity significantly and enable the company to exploit further sales opportunities. Pictured are (l-r): Martin Kelleher, Managing Director, Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland; Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Oliver Carty, Managing Director, Oliver Carty Ltd; and Eamon Howell, Trading Director, Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland.

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Industry News Centra On the Ball with Hurling Sponsorship CENTRA, sponsor of the GAA Hurling All Ireland Championship, has launched its exciting sponsorship programme of activity, aimed at bringing a taste of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Championship to those counties already passionate about hurling, as well as those who just appreciate the skill and ancient tradition of this truly Irish game. In order to fully engage consumers in its programme, Centra has lined up some of the greatest stars of the game to take the hurling message out into the community. The Centa hurling panel includes some of the country’s greatest inter-County players (pictured with hurling stars of the future), including: Ger Farragher (Galway), Henry Shefflin (Kilkenny) John Mullane (Waterford), Patrick Horgan (Cork), David O’Callaghan, (Dublin), and Eoin Kelly (Tipperary). One of the first initiatives will be the Centra Hurling Skills Tour, which runs until July 9, featuring Centra’s Hurling Ambassadors visiting Tipperary, Offaly, Kilkenny, Cork, Dublin, and Galway.

XL Powers Forward THE annual XL retailer forums took place in three locations across the country recently, where more than 240 store owners, management and staff from the 172 XL store network celebrated being part of Ireland’s fastest growing symbol group.

The theme of this year’s forum, ‘Big On Your Business’, was an opportunity for XL retailers to hear from BWG Foods’ management on plans for the brand over the coming 12 months, and gave retailers the chance to engage with peers and suppliers.

Making the opening address at each of the one-day forums in Letterkenny, Mullingar and Clonmel, Managing Director BWG Foods, Willie O’Byrne (pictured) said: “XL is one of the success stories of the last couple of years, with record store openings in 2010, as well as the roll-out of a new brand identity for the group. Much of this success can be attributed to XL’s dedication to community and neighbourhood retailing and price and value, which will continue to underpin everything we do.”

IEA Helps Food Companies to Grow

Flahavan’s Sails Ahead AS they set sail from Waterford recently, the 140-plus crew on-board the US Coast Guard Barque Eagle took with them a consignment of Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal to help them on their voyage. But they need not fret if they consume all of the Flahavan’s Oatmeal on the nine-week trip to New York as it is now available in the US. Flahavan’s began selling its new Irish Oatmeal range, specially created from Irish oats for the American market, in November 2010. Pictured at the presentation of the Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal are (l-r): Justino Melendez, crew member of the US Coast Guard Barque Eagle; John Flahavan, Managing Director of Flahavan’s; Eagle Crew member Barrett Johnnsen; and John Noonan, Sales & Marketing Director, Flahavan’s.

Brennans Bring Back Playtime PICTURED are mum Vivienne Connolly, with Ivan Hammond, Head of Marketing at Brennans Bread, Sean O’Connor, aged 6, and Sophia Rocca, aged 11, at the launch of Brennans Bread playground make-over competition to help bring playtime back. 10 playgrounds across the country have been shortlisted for a Brennans Bread playground make-over. Announced in July, the winning playground will enjoy a renovation, which will include the repair and repainting of play equipment, images to brighten up the area and any additional items required to make it one of the best playgrounds in the country. Brennans Bread is encouraging residents and local committees to get involved to help drive votes on the website, www.BrennansBread.ie.

PICTURED at the launch of the first stage of an innovative new support programme for the Irish food and drink sector called Channel Clusters, which aims to assist small, rapidly developing Irish food and drink companies to develop their business potential in Ireland and the UK, are Godrey Lydon, Irish Exporters Association; Janet Drew, Janet’s Country Fayre; Michael Horgan, Horgan’s Delicatessen Supplies; Michael O’Neill, Irish Atlantic Salt; Deirdre Collins, Dee’s Eat Well & Be Happy; and Edward Horgan, Horgan’s Delicatessen Supplies. The brainchild of the Irish Exporters Association (IEA), Channel Clusters sees five companies (Inagh Farmhouse Cheese Ltd; Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy; Irish Atlantic Sea Salt Ltd; Janet’s Country Fayre; and Farm Fresh Salads) securing valuable new sales agreements with Horgan’s Deli Supplies.

The programme was funded under the EU Interreg initiative and supported by Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland.

10|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Shop Profile Marlene McDonald’s XL store is the first grocery shop to open in Portsalon, Co. Donegal, and was inspired by her childhood holidays in the popular tourist town.

XL Excels

in Donegal

The dramatic scenery of Donegal, particularly nearby Fanad Head, ensures that the small town of Portsalon is a very popular tourist destination. However, Marlene McDonald’s new XL store is the only high quality convenience store in the town.

Marlene’s investment in the XL store, located at the edge of Portsalon on the site well-known locally as Ardglass Stores, is not merely a business decision, but is also a labour of love. The store owner actually lives in France, but decided to open the XL shop to serve the local Portsalon community, where she spent many happy childhood holidays with her aunt and uncle. The result: a high quality local shop bringing convenience, quality products and value for money right to the doorstep of local residents.

Along with the shop, Marlene’s development includes a new pub, café, Arts and Crafts centre, tourist office and five holiday homes, not only adding a great deal of amenities to the area but generating significant employment as well.

Speaking to Retail News, Store Manager Nigel Carr explains how childhood memories have turned into real world changes.

“When Marlene inherited the site, she decided to invest in the community and create a focal point for the Store Manager Nigel Carr (left), checks the wine stock in town,” he says. “She XL Portsalon. had absolutely no retail

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|11

Shop Profile experience, but the fact that there was no shop in the town at all suggested to her that there was a lot of potential in the site. She began talking to various symbol groups and when she met the team from XL, she found a group that ticked all the boxes for her.”

Since rebranding the XL image, the group has become more visible in Donegal, where there are now 18 XL shops, with plans already underway to further increase the XL presence in the North West. When Marlene decided to partner with XL for her shop, the group had plenty of ideas on the best way to realise her plans for the area.

“When Marlene hired me as Store Manager, the development of the shop was already at a very advanced stage,” Nigel explains. “I have been working in grocery retail since the age of 16 and I was very impressed with the way the project had been handled. The XL Group had obviously given Marlene excellent support and advice and created a top spec. design for her shop.”

Strong Sales

The store opened its doors in July 2010, in time to catch the end of the summer trade. “Trade in the shop is very much affected by seasonal trends, as the town is a popular tourist destination, so initially trade started very strongly,” Nigel notes. “The fine weather over Easter this year also saw a large increase in trade and we are confident that despite the economic backdrop this summer, will also see very strong sales in the shop.”

The increase in trade this Easter was so significant that an additional till is set to be incorporated into the

Stationmaster operating system before summer, to improve convenience at peak times and Nigel, Marlene and XL have plans to increase the shop’s retail space by about 700 square feet in the near future.

Repeat Local Trade

However, no shop can survive on seasonal trade alone and Nigel and his staff members have worked hard to develop the repeat local trade among residents of Portsalon and its hinterland. In its first year of trading, the shop’s off-licence won the XL Group Award for Off-Licence of the Year. The fresh food from the deli has a strong emphasis on high quality produce, offered at the right price point. The range of ambient goods includes offerings such as books, stationery and DVDs, and all three product sectors perform extremely well, due to the fact that there is nowhere else in the immediate vicinity to purchase such products.

Because it serves a large geographical area, promoting the shop with methods such as leaflet drops is not cost effective. Nigel instead relies on the strong POS material from XL to show the value offers that the shop can choose from the promotional cycles

offered by XL, delivered through the local Value Centre in Letterkenny.

Although the shop does advertise in the local paper, the Tirconnail Tribune, it is the mixture of POS activity and positive word-of-mouth reaction that has helped develop trade in its first year of business. Turnover in the shop has followed an upward trend and the store is currently trading just above predicted levels.

“This is very much a traditional local shop,” sums up Nigel. “All our staff are local and very well trained, another area where XL provides us with great support. They know all the repeat customers very well and provide excellent customer service at all times to all visitors to the shop. We are always willing to add new product lines if the demand is there. We are still developing and refining the offering that the shop provides, so that we serve the community to the best of our ability.”

Marlene McDonald’s love for Portsalon and her childhood memories there are demonstrated very clearly by the large investment she has made in the community. Her shop manager Nigel, his staff and her symbol group partners in XL have helped her realise her dream of creating a shop for Portsalon that genuinely serves the needs of the local community and visitors to the area alike.

Fact File Owner:

Marlene McDonald

Location:

Ardglass Stores, Portsalon, Co. Donegal

Size:

1,150 square feet

Number of Staff: 8, full time & part time Opening Hours: 08:00-22:00, Monday-Sunday

12|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Retail News Interview Paul Burch, Moy Park Accounts Director – Ireland, on the changing face of the Irish fresh poultry market, what recent acquisitions have meant for the company and how Ireland’s biggest fresh chicken brand will develop in the future.

Poultry in Motion THE entire Irish fresh poultry market is worth approximately €272m, with fresh primary poultry valued at €153m, and fresh coated poultry at €37m. Moy Park is the number one fresh chicken brand in Ireland, claiming a 25% share of the Irish fresh breaded chicken market, with approximately 40% of households in Ireland buying the brand. Paul Burch, Accounts Director – Ireland, Moy Park, talks us through the issues currently affecting the sector.

How has the recession affected your business?

“Chicken is a versatile and convenient protein and is also good value for money, which is why it tends to grow in popularity in times of recession.

However, we are operating in a much tougher trading environment at present and there will be challenges ahead. The big challenge is feed inflation. When our costs increase, we have to recover the extra cost

from the market. Thankfully, we are making some movement but it is a very difficult challenge for everyone across the whole of the food supply chain.

“In terms of consumer trends, breast fillets are still performing very well, and are growing strongly despite the prevailing economic conditions.

With the barbeque season approaching and a growing consumer demand for more ‘foodie’ ingredients, we expect dark meat sales to increase, especially in the short term. We also have noticed that people are starting to buy bigger birds as they provide good value for money and can see households through more than one or two meals.”

have also adapted our products to meet customer demand. Innovation is key for Moy Park, regardless of the economic climate and we believe that success going forward will come through continued innovation.”

How has the acquisition by Marfrig impacted on Moy Park?

“Marfrig has helped to drive success for the business. Being part of a global food company has given us an international perspective and allowed us to expand our product range, while remaining focused on providing fresh, locally farmed and locally produced poultry.”

What steps have you taken to combat the recession?

What did last year’s acquisition of O’Kane Poultry mean for the company?

“Our great team of people at Moy Park have helped maintain the company’s success. We have a dedicated team, longstanding relationships with our customers and strong working partnerships with our farmers. We

“The acquisition of O’Kane Poultry in 2010 allowed us to expand our product range to include turkey and the 100,000 square feet development of the factory in Ballymena has created new jobs. We have been able to increase

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|13

Retail News Interview “In the poultry category, branded fresh chicken products have a lot of potential for growth. We have also added turkey to our product range and we see big opportunities for further NPD in the turkey category.”

How do you decide on which new products are going to work on the Irish market?

production capabilities and have added to our existing agriculture supply base, supporting more farmers in the rural community.”

Moy Park has increasingly moved into branded poultry products in recent times: why did you make this decision?

“Our Moy Park branded products will feed a growing consumer demand for locally sourced Irish chicken. The new range includes a selection of breaded, fresh and ready-to-cook chicken. The product launch is supported by a fully integrated marketing campaign, which includes a new TV advert.

“We are always looking at ways to adapt and grow in line with consumer trends and across the whole of Ireland there is a strong preference for locally sourced food. We also recognise that consumers are demanding healthy food that is quick to cook, which is why we have developed both fresh and convenience products under the Moy Park brand, made with 100% Irish chicken. Whilst the poultry category is a competitive one, we are confident that our new products will win over consumers and hope that these new products are the first of many under the Moy Park brand.”

There has been a lot of concern in recent years over labelling of poultry products, with many commentators feeling that current EU labelling laws are unclear as to country of origin.

What do you feel needs to be done to improve the situation?

“All of our products are packed under the Bord Bia Quality Assurance mark, and our brand uses only 100% Irish chicken. We believe that this provides a level of clarity for our consumers, and would welcome legislation that requires all producers to clearly state country of origin on their labelling.”

New product development is a key driver of market growth. How important is NPD to Moy Park?

“We are constantly looking at ways to grow our business and a key part of this is NPD and innovation. We are big supporters of the retail sector locally and have plans to extend our Moy Park branded range in Ireland. We have recently launched new Moy Park branded products and will continue to look at consumer demands and identify trends in order to extend our product range further.

“Across all the markets we operate in, we keep a close eye on consumer trends and adapt and develop accordingly.

At the moment, we are seeing an increasing demand for healthy food choices and convenience products.

Chicken in itself is a low fat, healthy protein and we continue to invest in new product development to further develop healthy ranges that are full of flavour. We have just launched a new ‘Ready to Cook’ range of prepared chicken dishes which are convenient for today’s busy lifestyles.”

What new developments have you planned for the coming year?

“Moy Park performed positively last year and continues to grow sales and market share in fresh poultry and convenience foods, as well as expanding into new products and categories. Our focus remains on continuous improvement and on delivering high quality, great value products to our customers.”

How do you see the market developing into the future?

“Moy Park has always been a forward thinking company and our strategy is to continue to get the best out of the resources we have and to look for new opportunities to grow the business.

Local sourcing will continue to be of importance to consumers, and value for money. Convenience and quality will all play an important role in consumer choices.”

With more and more consumers seeking out own brand goods, what does the Moy Park brand offer that own label doesn’t?

“When consumers see the Moy Park brand on the shelves, they know it stands for quality and flavour.

Moy Park is the biggest processor of Irish chicken under the Bord Bia Quality Assured scheme and we are recognised as one of the largest producers of free range and corn fed poultry in Europe.”

See www.moypark.ie for more information.

14|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Karen Meenan’s News Rack Sales of puzzle titles tend to peak during the key summer holiday period, writes Karen Meenan.

Puzzle titles represent a value-for-money treat for consumers, particularly during holiday season.

Puzzling Figures Make Good Reading PUZZLE season is upon us! Customers love these, they represent a cheap treat which can last a whole holiday (good to know in a caravan when the rain comes down) so retailers in resort areas should stock up and give good display during the summer months – especially in bad weather!

Puzzle titles are usually loathed by retailers: the common complaint I hear is that there are just too many of these titles and that they are all too similar. As a result, many of these titles miss the recall notes and when they are sent back, the un-solds are often rejected and so money has been lost in the past. This sub-category is tricky to manage, because in order to get the requisite amount of sales, you need to understand the titles and more importantly, recognise the puzzle customer.

These are bought primarily by women aged 40+ and market research shows huge cross-purchase between women’s weekly and TV and soap titles, so it makes sense to locate puzzle books below the TV and soap titles for maximum sales opportunity.

Sudoku and Logic puzzles are bought by both men and women, so merchandise these to the right of the stand, close to other men’s interest titles.

The puzzle market is bigger than you think – it is worth over UK£50

million in retail sales value in the UK (no ROI comparable figures available) and the total market is increasing by 2% each year. This is a fantastic performance, well ahead of the total magazine category, and demonstrates the enduring popularity of this sector, despite the current difficult trading conditions in other magazine sectors.

Puzzles By Category

There are various types of puzzle books and this is why retailers hate the category so much. The covers appear to be very similar and the stand can become cluttered very quickly.

These are the best sellers in each puzzle category:

Number Puzzles:

These are bought by both men and women. The top titles include: Sudoku, SuDoKu Puzzles, Sudoku Puzzles Collection, Take a Break Su-Doku, Puzzler.

Crosswords:

Top titles in the crossword sector include: Take a Crossword, Chat Crosswords, Q Crossword Selection, Take a Break Quick Crosswords, Puzzler Crossword.

Mixed Puzzles:

The big winners here include: Puzzler, Q Puzzle Compendium, Puzzler Collection, Take a Break Puzzle Select, Puzzler Brain Trainer.

Word Search:

These are bought mainly by women 40+ and enjoy high cross-purchase with traditional weekly titles. The top titles include: Q Wordsearch, Puzzler Wordsearch, Take a Break Word Searches, Chat Wordsearch.

Logic:

The top titles include Logic Problems, Hanjie and Q Logic Problems.

Q Word Search: one of the most popular Word Search titles on the market.

THE MARKET LEADERS

For more information & to get your share of RSV contact: MARKETFORCE: +44 203 148 3543

16|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Karen Meenan’s News Rack particular note is the Round Tour puzzle – an intricately woven grid with fiendish clues, and the Alphabetical Jigsaw – a crossword in which the reader must solve a Arrowords: set of rhyming cryptic Best sellers include: clues and determine Chat Arrowords, Take the position of the a Break Arrow-Words, answers in the grid, as Puzzler Arrowords. if completing a jigsaw.

New from the Kriss Kross: Puzzler stable comes Puzzler Kriss Kross Quick Thinking, a and Q Kriss Kross are vibrant, good-value, the big sellers here.

Quick Thinking is a vibrant, good- mixed-puzzle magazine value, mixed-puzzle magazine, with a difference.

Children’s Puzzle designed to fit in a pocket or a Designed to fit in a Titles: handbag. pocket or a handbag, Puzzler Quiz Kids, Q it’s perfect for carrying Junior Puzzles. about and dipping into. The magazine contains over 100 light-hearted puzzles The Top Titles that will exercise the mind in many As you can see from the list of titles different ways, with the emphasis on (not exhaustive but a good selection of variety rather than difficulty. Within its best sellers), Puzzler and Q are well 80 pages, Quick Thinking has plenty for represented in almost every category. the seasoned puzzler, but it’s also ideal Still going strong after 35 years, for those new to puzzles who want to Puzzler offers a stimulating selection keep their mind sharp in a pleasurable of traditional and popular puzzles way but don’t know where to begin. with a range of difficulty levels. It is Classic puzzles appear alongside a monthly publication featuring an modern brain-teasers. There are many average 60 puzzles per standard issue small puzzles, and puzzles that can’t and 70 puzzles per bumper issue. be found in any other title, as well as Easier puzzles include Wordsearch, plenty of additional details to look out Straight Crossword, Number Jig, Jigfor along the way. The varied mix of word, Arroword and picture puzzles, entertaining puzzles is supplemented by such as Dot-to-Dot and Spot the feature Brainstorm pages, which offer Difference. More challenging puzzles a variety of novel exercises to challenge include Cryptic Crossword, Alphabetical different aspects of the mind.

Jigsaw, Numerical Crossword, Logic The Puzzler range also includes Problem, Sudoku and Kakuro. a host of Crossword, Wordsearch, A large number of the puzzles Codeword and Arroword titles, as well are hand-compiled by a team of as Hanjie, Logic Problems, Puzzler experienced and expert setters. Of Code Puzzles:

The big sellers include: Take a Break Code Breakers, Puzzler Codewords, Q Code Words.

New Take a Break Mini Puzzles NEW Mini Puzzles are a range of pocket-sized puzzle titles from the top-selling Take a Break stable. There are a whole range of compact titles covering all major puzzle interests but taking only a third of the space of traditional format titles, including Mini Puzzle Mix Collection, Mini Wordsearch Collection, Mini Crosswords Collection, Mini Codebreakers Collection, Mini Su-doku Collection and Mini Wordsearch Lite. Each title contains a twist or innovation to mark it out from its competitor. For example, Mini Puzzle Mix Collection is the only handbag-sized mixed content magazine available. There is a branded clip-on unit available to increase display options.

Puzzler’s Pocket Arrowords Collection: one of the top titles in the genre.

Annual and Puzzle Compendium. See www.puzzler.com for more details.

Brand Loyalty

The two most important things to remember about this category are that while there is very strong brand loyalty, there is very little cross-over, so if your customer is looking for Brain Training or Logic, they will not buy Crosswords or Kriss Kross instead – they will simply go to another store to get the puzzle book they want.

Puzzle Title Sales by Month 1.60 Summer peak +38%

1.40

Easter peak +15%

Christmas peak

1.20 1.00 0.80 0.60

Puzzle title sales

0.40 JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY JUN JUL AUG CALENDAR MONTH

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

There is a strong seasonal factor to this category too – most sales peak at holiday periods when people have more time to do puzzles, so there will always be a seasonal peak at Summer, Easter and as stocking-fillers at Christmas.

The Summer holiday period - July and August – is the strongest of the year, when sales increase by over 38%, so now is the time to make sure you have a full range of the leading titles in each sector available in-store. You should remember to give extra facings at these peak times to encourage extra sales.

IF you need help to grow sales and reduce losses you can contact Karen Meenan at The Daily Profit - ring 086 6027711 or email karen.meenan@ dailyprofit.ie or visit our brand new website – www.thedailyprofit.biz

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|17

Bord Bia Supplier Programme Bord Bia’s innovative Retail Market Entry & Development Supplier Programme is helping food and drinks suppliers to increase their level of business with multiples, symbol groups and discounters.

Bord Bia Helps

Products to Market

BORD Bia have launched a new innovative Retail Market Entry and Development Supplier Programme, which aims to help food and drink businesses develop their retail skills and increase their level of business in the multiple, discount and symbol group retail channels.

The programmes were established to support profitable and sustainable business growth for Irish food and drinks companies.

These programmes are a key factor of Bord Bia’s wider retail strategy, and they focus on sharpening participants’ skills by providing them with up-todate and relevant market information while helping them build capability through a series of workshops and one-to-one mentoring sessions.

The programmes, which started in February and run until November of this year, have been designed by Bord Bia and are delivered by former Retail

Participating Companies Name

Location Product Description

More info

Batchelors

Dublin

Canned foods - Beans, Peas, Veg

T: 01 8380133 www.batchelors.ie

Country Cooking/ Boxty Bakers

Leitrim

Frozen Ready Meals / Boxty

T: 071 9650700 www.countrycooking.ie

Dee’s Wholefoods

Cork

Whole-food burgers

T: 086 0831500 www.meatfreemondays.ie

Foods of Athenry

Galway

Bread, cakes, pies & gluten T: 091 848152 free ranges www.foodsofathenry.ie

Goatsbridge Trout

Kilkenny Trout

T: 086 818 8340 www.goatsbridgetrout.ie

Irish Fish Canners

Donegal

Canned fish products

T: 07495 21100 www. irishfishcanners.com

Joyce Meats

Mayo

Pork & Bacon products

T: 087 996 3232

JM Food Services

Meath

Hot meal solutions (lasagne, quiche, savoury pies etc)

T: 046 905 1800 www.jmfoodservices.com

Kells Wholemeal

Kilkenny Stoneground Wholemeal and Bakery Pre-Mixes

T: 056-7727551 www.kellswholemeal.ie

M&M Products

Dublin

Breadcrumbs & Stuffings

T: 01 8424033

Milne Foods Ltd

Offaly

Prepared Veg, Salads, Fruit & Veg

T: 057 9120325 www.milnes.ie

O’Donoghue’s Bakery

Offaly

Batch Breads, Crusty Pan Breads, Health Breads, Soda Breads

T: 057 9321411

Olhausen’s

Dublin

Sausages

T:01 869 5600 www.olhausens.ie

Buyer Dermot O’Connell.

The Market Entry programme consists of four day-long workshops, in addition to 10 hours of one-to-one mentoring for the companies. The aim of the Market Entry workshops is to provide companies with an understanding of the retail channels, route to market planning, commercials and key account management. Clear objectives and targets are set for each company in respect of achieving opportunities identified for their business on the Irish retail market.

Advanced Mentoring

The Market Development programme focuses on advanced mentoring for participating companies. The Development programme aims to develop their advanced commercial and key account management skills, as well as adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to business planning, involving the clients’ finance, production and marketing functions.

Participants can also avail of consumer research through the Bord Bia ‘foresight4food’ innovation programme. ‘Foresight4food’ encourages small food and drink producers to use consumer insight more often to improve the success rate of innovations and new products.

This year, 13 companies are participating on the programme (see panel).

For further details on Bord Bia’s Irish Retail Programmes, please contact Gillian Swaine on (01) 614 2291, 087 693 2974 or gillian.swaine@bordbia.ie

18|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Buying Irish: The Benefits

Keep Irish Aisles

Smiling The love affair between Irish consumers and homegrown brands shows no signs of abating.

Irish consumers love Irish brands: fact! Despite the continued rise of own label, the Irish consumer remains steadfastly brand loyal when it comes to certain key categories. Only last month, in our Retail News Interview, David Berry, Commercial Director of Kantar Worldpanel, noted how “Irish people love brands. There are certain categories where brands remain important and always will.”

Indeed, indigenous Irish brands remain category leaders across many food and drink staples, including hot beverages, bread, milk, cereals, breakfast meats etc. The simple truth is that stocking Irish brands makes sound business sense, both in terms of satisfying your customer base and helping the wider economy.

“By stocking and buying Irish products, you are supporting Irish jobs,” explains Paul Kelly, Director of Food & Drink Industry Ireland. “The food and drinks industry now has a very high profile and it is seen as one of the most important elements of export growth and general economic renewal in the country. Obviously, that means that if people are purchasing Irish goods, they are supporting the economy. There is now a greater recognition of that fact. It is very

much a positive feedback loop, or a win-win situation, in that people who are putting Irish goods on their shelves for sale are feeding a ready appetite amongst consumers in terms of wanting to purchase those products, because consumers understand that is having a positive impact on the overall economy.”

One retailer who prides itself on the amount of Irish food on its shelves is SuperValu, who source 75% of their produce from Ireland, across approximately 600 indigenous suppliers. This includes 100% of their meat and poultry, 67% of fruit and vegetables and 75% of their dairy produce. Indeed, SuperValu sell approximately €460m of Irish fresh food each year. According to Martin Kelleher, Managing Director, SuperValu, the retailer’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and promoting the Irish food industry is “in our DNA”.

It’s not just the bigger, household names who benefit from the retailer’s Irish sourcing, however, with many small food companies and startups also seeing their produce sold on SuperValu shelves. Indeed, the SuperValu Supplier Development Programme, run in conjunction with

Paul Kelly, Director, Food & Drink Industry Ireland.

Enterprise Ireland, is now in its fifth year and has to date delivered €16m of direct sales from participating companies to SuperValu.

The 2011 Programme sees 10 young Irish food start-up companies receive customised training and one-on-one

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|19

Buying Irish: The Benefits

Pictured at the launch of the 2011 Enterprise Ireland SuperValu Supplier Development Programme are (l-r): Mike McAuliffe, Truly Irish Meats; Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD; and Martin Kelleher, MD, SuperValu.

mentoring support. The companies involved are typically small businesses and this year, include suppliers of organic and innovative food products.

Participating companies include Kearney’s Gluten Free Breaded Fish, Killowen Yogurt, Dee’s Wholefoods, Kilbeg Dairy, Irish Organic Milk Producers, Walsh Gourmet Foods, Yogies/Petzert, Danucci, Donegal Rapeseed Oil Co. and Truly Irish.

Launching the Programme, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, said that it “represents a great example of a coordinated attempt by government and the private sector to use the strengths in the food industry in order to enhance enterprise and job creation.”

The importance of the agri-food sector to the overall economy cannot be overstated, according to Paul Kelly.

“A lot of growth is going to come from export markets but even in the domestic market, if people buy Irish rather than foreign produce, that will impact positively on Irish companies and on the economy,” he notes. “The more those companies can sell in the domestic market, the more they will be able to invest in seeking out overseas opportunities as well. In the longer term, it will help both the strength of the Irish food industry and it will help export growth.”

Kelly cites the Love Irish Food campaign as an extremely positive step in reminding consumers, and indeed retailers, of the benefits of buying Irish, a campaign which he believes

really resonates. But in these cashstrapped times, can Irish food and drinks manufacturers compete with their international counterparts in terms of value, particularly when you look at the differences in economies of scale?

“There are always going to be issues over economies of scale,” Kelly admits. “We are a small country, right next to a populous country like the UK and on the doorstep of the large continental market as well. But there are other aspects to value. There are a lot of Irish brands, which are loved by Irish consumers, so there is a value association with those that is recognised by the consumer. Also, Irish companies, who may be manufacturing smaller production runs, can have a much greater flexibility in their dealings with retailers. If retailers are looking for something very specific or a short run, in many instances they will get a faster and better response from an Irish food company because their production and supply chains are configured to do that, whereas the large multinational production facility in the UK, for example, may not have the flexibility to do smaller volumes.”

One of the problems facing Irish food and drinks businesses remains the high cost of doing business in Ireland. While Kelly feels our cost competitiveness has improved, there is still room for further cost-cutting, primarily at a state level.

“Companies themselves have done a huge amount internally in terms of cutting their cost base,” he muses.

“Externally, we have seen some temporary improvements in energy costs but there is a fear that they are going to be heading upwards again.”

Kelly also points to some “problematic proposals” which are in the pipeline. He cites the example of the Government’s proposed Waste Packaging Tax. “Companies are already spending a lot of money on industry schemes like Repak, and now they’re facing another charge, which will affect anybody who is placing packaging on the market, manufacturers and retailers,” Kelly explains. There is no guarantee that this tax will see the light of day (the consultation process begins this month), but Kelly feels that if it is introduced, such a tax “would be another huge cost imposition at a time when we already have very high waste costs, and more importantly, we have already met our packaging recovery targets, as laid down by the EU”.

Kelly feels that the Government has made some progress in helping the indigenous food and drinks industry, he calls for “joined-up thinking at Government level” if the agri-food sector is to lead economic recovery.

“While the Government has proposals which can help the food industry, such as the proposed Fair Trade Bill, which would bring about a level playing pitch regarding commercial relations, there are also other proposals, such as the packaging tax or further restrictions on advertising, which will be a major cost burden on the industry,” he says.

“The Government need to consider these proposals and consider whether they will have a negative impact on the food industry and thus, on the wider economy.

“There is no point in one part of Government rightly promoting the food industry as part of the solution to our economic ills, while another part of the Government is putting forward proposals to place unnecessary tax burdens on it.”

Flahavan’s

Flahavan’s has launched a delicious Multi-Seed Porridge as part of its Quick Oats range to meet the everchanging needs of consumers for a healthy breakfast. The innovative Multi-Seed Porridge is new to the Irish market and will attract healthconscious consumers to the growing hot oat cereal category.

The new Multi-Seed range is available in sachet, portable

20|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Buying Irish: The Benefits welcome addition for porridge users because they see the addition of seeds to Flahavan’s oats as having an interesting double health benefit,” notes John Noonan, Sales & Marketing Director, Flahavan’s. “The new range is an exciting development for us as it introduces a new segment, creating more interest in a growing hot oats category.”

Bord na Móna

Bord na Móna’s FireMagic Fire Maker has won the Marketing Innovation Award at the All-Ireland Marketing Awards. Quicker to ignite and generating heat more quickly, FireMagic Fire Maker has revolutionised the ignition category, coming with a cast-iron guarantee that it will light first time, every time,

Flahavan’s new Multi-Seed Porridge range is available in sachet, portable porridge pot and bag formats and combines Flahavan’s Porridge Oats with Sunflower, Flax, Pumpkin and Hemp seeds to provide an additional tasty boost to breakfast time.

porridge pot and bag formats and combines Flahavan’s Porridge Oats with Sunflower, Flax, Pumpkin and Hemp seeds to provide an additional tasty boost to breakfast time.

The new seeded range is a source of Omega 3 fatty acids, protein and fibre.

Flahavan’s Multi-Seed Porridge contains no added salt, sugar or artificial flavourings, colourings or preservatives and is completely natural.

Flahavan’s Quick Oats Multi-Seed Sachets (10 x 40g) and Quick Oats MultiSeed Portable Porridge Pots, which come in a 40g serving, have a crunchy texture that is simply delicious.

Flahavan’s Quick Oat Sachets, which come with a reusable liquid measure, are ready in just two minutes, while Flahavan’s MultiSeed Pot can be made by simply microwaving or adding boiling water and is ready in just 90 seconds. The cool-to-the-touch exterior makes the Multi-Seed Pot a truly portable product, ideal to enjoy in the office or home. These single serving, dual microwavable and hot water options provide a quick and nutritious breakfast, which releases energy in the body throughout mornings.

“The new range of Flahavan’s Porridge with Added Seeds is a

The product is the first of its kind in Ireland and ultimately takes the hassle and guess-work out of making a real fire from scratch. FireMagic Fire Maker is kerosene-free and economical to use and is a clean and convenient substitute to kindling, paper and sticks.

For over 50 years, Bord na Móna Fuels has led the way in designing innovative and convenient ‘reallife’ fire solutions for busy Irish consumers. Innovation lies at the core of all activity in Bord na Móna and in accordance with the organisation’s strategic business direction that promises a ‘New Contract with Nature’.

The All-Ireland Marketing Award is a testament to the innovation that lies at the core of all activity in Bord na Móna. FireMagic Fire Maker looks set to light the way in terms of real innovation in the ignition fuel sector.

Gem Pack Foods

Gem Pack Foods, a member of Guaranteed Irish, currently employs 85 people and aims to be the most cost-efficient producer in the Irish food packaging business, with a strong emphasis on quality, product safety and service.

Their core activity was originally packaging and distributing dried fruits. Over the years, they have steadily grown, adding additional food products such as rice, cereals, traditional desserts and a full range of sugar, salt and pepper sachets under the Gem and Gold Seal brands.

Bord na Móna’s FireMagic Fire Maker: winner of the Marketing Innovation Award at the All-Ireland Marketing Awards.

and will create the intense glow of a full, real fire within 15 minutes of first lighting it.

The idea behind FireMagic Fire Maker from Bord na Móna was based on the consumer insight that people are moving from home heat to home ambiance, and it represented a key new product in the company’s ecofriendly range of solid fuel solutions.

Having established a new creative process within the company, a crossfunctional team developed the concept with a clear consumer proposition, and successfully overcame many challenges to bring the new product to market at speed. The objectives for year one were exceeded within the first quarter.

Gem Pack’s 1kg sugar has been re-launched, featuring all the details of The Great Irish Bake 2011, encouraging everyone to join in the fun and help raise €100,000 for Temple Street Hospital by hosting a Great Irish Bake cake sale.

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|21

Buying Irish: The Benefits This year, Gem Pack Foods are the official sponsor of The Great Irish Bake, for Temple Street Children’s University Hospital. Gem have already sprinkled hundreds and thousands on the cause in a pledge to raise significant funds for Temple Street Hospital. They are encouraging everyone to join in the fun and help raise €100,000 for Temple Street Hospital by hosting a Great Irish Bake cake sale. Gem Pack’s 1kg sugar has been re-launched, featuring all the details of The Great Irish Bake 2011.

Although sugar is no longer produced here in Ireland, most households will have a packet of Gem Sugar because they are the only sugar packers in Ireland and Irish consumers know the importance of buying Irish.

Boyne Valley Honey

Boyne Valley Honey has brought pure natural honey to Irish families for more than 50 years. This delicious honey is packed in Mell, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Mell takes its name from the Irish word for honey – mil. The Boyne Valley Honey company is situated close to the site of Mellifont Abbey (Fons Mellis – the Fountain of Honey), which was the first Cistercian Monastery in Ireland, founded in 1142. The monks at Mellifont were renowned beekeepers. Today, that tradition is carried on by Boyne Valley Honey, Ireland’s number one brand of honey.

the concept was realised. In the early days, I did everything myself and just under a year later I now have 20 staff in my factory in Rathnew and merchandising on the road.”

Tubs Sweets supplies 60 different variations of sweets, including fizzy jellies, cola cubes, bon bons, fudge and marshmallows, packaged in handy Tubs for easy transportation.

Michael Keenan, Confectionery Buyer from Superquinn, noted how the success of Tubs has been achieved by “a combination of a professional direct-tostore service from Kevin and his team and the continued appetite amongst our own customers to support Irish Kevin Ginty, owner of Tubs Sweets, pictured with products and Irish suppliers.” some of his confectionery products.

“As a 100% Irish owned company, we at Topaz are very keen to support home-grown Tubs Sweets initiatives and we encourage other Tubs Sweets, a new confectionery businesses to do likewise,” summed company based in Rathnew Co. up Judy Wilson, Confectionery Wicklow, have grown from a simple MusMag 13 07:Layout 1 23/11/2007 11:37 Page 25 Category Manager, Topaz. idea to rolling out Tubs Sweets to all 110 Topaz forecourts, in a deal worth €750,000, and all 26 Superquinn stores in a deal worth €500,000.

The company is the brainchild of Wicklow man Kevin Ginty. “This is an amazing opportunity for a start-up company like Tubs Sweets,” he enthuses. “The company was developed from a simple concept – tubs are a handy and portable packaging option so why not put sweets in them!

Superquinn was the first retailer I approached and it was fantastic when they agreed to roll out the We love Ireland so we pack all of our sugar here.

Tubs brand in Guess what? We're the only ones who do! every Superquinn store in the www.gempackfoods.ie country just three months after

t e e w s H o wt i s . . . i

Boyne Valley Honey has brought pure natural honey to Irish families for more than 50 years.

22|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Buying Irish: Magazines

Buy Irish Magazines:

Support 11,000 Irish Jobs

Stocking Irish magazines is great for the economy, but also makes sound business sense in terms of meeting your customers’ needs, writes Karen Meenan.

You are no doubt familiar with the Support Irish Jobs campaign which is very popular with food products and well advertised on TV. But did you realise that there are over 200 Irish magazines (trade and newsstand) published in Ireland, directly supporting almost 2,000 jobs? There are a further 9,000 jobs such as freelance reporters, photographers and models reliant on the sector, so supporting Irish magazine titles means that you are supporting 11,000 jobs!

Irish magazine publishers contribute over €400m to the Irish Economy €100m of which is paid in taxes. Every year, 125m magazines are bought in Ireland, 25m of which are Irish. So if 20% of all magazine sales are Irish titles, is that share reflected on your stand, and to ask a more valid

question – would you recognise all the Irish magazine titles at first glance, or is there so much crossover between UK and Irish titles that the difference is hard to spot?

When we think of Irish magazine titles, the usual suspects come to mind – RTÉ Guide, Ireland’s Own and Woman’s Way – mostly because these are household names and have been on our magazine stands forever – but how many retailers would have instant recall of one of the most successful launches in recent times?

Stellar was launched in 2009, just as the country was heading into the most difficult economic period imaginable! Stellar is a magazine for women aged 18-34 and is proving that if you launch a product people like, any time is a good time for sales.

ABC figures show that this is a great performer, despite the economic climate, because it offers something that is uniquely Irish and inspirational. Priced at €2.30, it is better value than most monthly titles and still offers 25% full sale or return.

Relevance

The Irish Farmers’ Journal and its Irish Country Living supplement: IFJ is the second most popular Irish magazine on the market.

So what makes Irish magazine titles special and why should you stock at least some of them? The one word that keeps coming

The RTÉ Guide: Ireland’s best-selling magazine title.

to my mind when I consider Irish magazine titles is the term ‘relevance’.

Irish brides want to be able to book a wedding band which will play in a location near where they live, and Irish wedding titles like Confetti, Ireland’s Wedding Diary and Ireland’s Wedding Journal can help them to do just that.

Irish gardeners want to be able to get tips on soil that is uniquely Irish.

The Irish Garden is celebrating 20 years of publication this year and has a strong emphasis on practical do-ityourself gardening, so popular today.

Irish teenage girls want to see style makeovers of Irish kids photographed on Irish streets, which Kiss delivers.

In short, Irish magazines have gained popularity because people want to read about what is relevant and local to them.

Irish fashion is well represented with leading titles like Image, U, Prudence, Irish Tatler and Social and Personal. Ireland’s celebrity titles VIP and RSVP follow the lives and times of our homegrown stars, while RTE Guide and TV Now are the two best selling TV listings in Ireland.

The RTÉ Guide retains its place as Ireland’s best-selling magazine,

Magazine

Magazine

RTÉ Guide

RTÉ Guide Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

Magazine

Magazine Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

RTÉ Guide Magazine

Magazine Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

RTÉ Guide Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

1.70 Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

RTÉ Guide

1.70

Avail 15-30 Dec 2010 Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

Magazine

Magazine Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

Avail 15-30 Dec 2010

IT PAYS TO DISPLAY THE RTÉ GUIDE

Readership 588,000* Circulation 84,018**

To stock the RTÉ Guide in your store, contact RTÉ Guide Circulation on 01 208 2145 or email: rteguidecirculation@rte.ie *TGI 2010 **ABC 2010

24|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Buying Irish: Magazines

Stellar, aimed at women aged 18-34, is proof that if you launch a product people like, any time is a good time for sales.

with an impressive weekly circulation figure of over 84,000. For the last 50 years, this much-loved, family-focused magazine has been building a solid reputation, based not only on its comprehensive listing of all terrestrial and popular satellite TV channels, but also on its leading-edge entertainment and lifestyle coverage too. Great TV insights, star interviews and topical articles enable readers to navigate their way through the week’s television choices, keep up with the latest movies, music and book releases and take a critical look at all the latest trends in fashion, beauty, interiors and foods – this title continues to be a consistent best seller on all magazine stands.

Norah Casey, the newest face on Dragon’s Den, is the CEO of Harmonia,

The hugely popular VIP magazine, following the lives and times of our homegrown stars.

which is the largest magazine publishing company in Ireland, printing more than 4m magazines each year.

Some of their titles include the newly launched Irish Tatler Man, Irish Tatler, U Magazine, Food & Wine Magazine, Woman’s Way, Ireland of the Welcomes, Eat Out and Auto Ireland.

The most recent ABC report for the January to December 2010 period shows that Harmonia has maintained its position as publisher of three of the top four Irish women’s magazines.

With U magazine selling 27,564 copies of every single issue (that’s 55,128 copies per month!), it tops the listings, while Irish Tatler (23,536 copies per issue) and Woman’s Way (22,197 copies per issue) retain 3rd and 4th positions respectively.

Style Bibles

Targeted at the Irish male, Irish Tatler Man delivers the same high quality interviews and photography that is synonymous with the original style bible for women. Exclusive interviews with iconic and stylish men and expert advice on how men can look and feel their best grace the pages of this beautifully designed magazine. Other Irish titles read primarily by men include Hot Press, The Phoenix, and Magill.

The U Magazine Ultimate Girls Guide to Absolutely Everything proved to be a roaring success, with its launch issue coming out at the end of 2010.

With up-to-the-minute style ideas, affordable high street fashion, latest shopping news, celebrity gossip, beauty news and catwalk to reality, this guide is a must have – and uniquely Irish!

Having hit stores in May 2011, the Woman’s Way Cookbook is a compilation of recipes for every occasion. At the fantastic cover price of just €1.59, the Woman’s Way Cookbook is an annual that is sure to fly off the shelves.

The Food & Wine Magazine Restaurant of the Year Awards are amongst the most prestigious and authoritive culinary awards in the Irish calendar. Regional categories awarded include Best Chef and Best Restaurant, while national awards include Best Wine Experience, Best Sommelier, Good Value, Good Cooking, Best Ethnic/World Cuisine, Best Service, Style Award and a Readers Choice award. The Dubliner 100 Best Restaurants 2001 Edition is a pocket size treasure – this features all the best restaurants in Dublin, with a big emphasis on value and choice.

The Food & Wine Magazine

Ten Reasons to focus on Magazines for Sales and Margin 1) Sale price above the average sale price - €5 2) No electrical running costs 3) No maintenance contract 4) Acceptable gross margin – 25% 5) Full sale or return 6) Recession resistant without having to discount 7) High customer appeal 8) Irish magazines offer relevance for Irish consumers 9) Impulse and planned purchases 10) Magazines are bought 7 days a week at any time of the day

Christmas Show is back from November 25-27. This three-day food and drink extravaganza will show you how to recreate world class dishes in the comfort of your own home! The Chef’s Kitchen will be the heart of the show, while the Wine Experience Theatre is the perfect oasis for wine enthusiasts and experts.

New Stubbs Gazette Monthly, with a cover price of €8.95, is targeted at business men and women.

Eight years on the go, the Woman’s Way Mum of the Year Awards are as popular as ever, with thousands of entries received. The Awards honour mums who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. The competition is open to mums all over Ireland, with three finalists from each province and Dublin selected.

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|25

Buying Irish: Magazines Ireland’s Own and Ireland’s Eye are the favourites of the mature market – the tag line of the former title is synonymous to the whole notion of a weekly planned purchase – ‘the week wouldn’t be the same without it”.

There are no Irish comics on the market but the best selling teenage title on your shelves is the Irish title, Kiss. This should be merchandised on the shelf between the pre-teen titles and the UK teenage fashion titles such as Look and More.

Top Lifestyle Titles

Easy Food and Easy Health & Living are Irish titles which are just about to have a new addition to their family – Easy Parenting. The first issue will be launched in June 2011 and will speak to parents of children of all ages from Easy Health & Living is Ireland’s number 0-18, with well researched advice and one health and lifestyle magazine and information from childcare and health contains a healthy mix of lifestyle and fun. experts.

Easy Health & Living is Ireland’s The overall winner is announced at number one health and lifestyle a wonderful luncheon where a cash magazine and contains a healthy mix prize of €2,500 plus a pampering spree of lifestyle and fun. With a budget valued at €500 is to be presented. All friendly price of €3, the magazine finalists receive a pampering pack covers everything from beauty, worth €250. relationships, lifestyle, to celebrity profiles, serious health issues, fitness, weight-loss inspiration, and much more.

Readers are primarily female Nationwide Distribution of – health conscious Newspapers & Magazines 28-55-year-old women who are AN ALL IRELAND SERVICE FOR passionate about ALL IRELAND’S PUBLISHERS improving the physical, mental and emotional aspects of their lives, as well as their families’ lives too.

Another new Irish title just launched is Stubbs Gazette Monthly.

M News Distribution (Ireland) Ltd This is a new business magazine Unit 7, Willsborough Industrial Estate, with a cover price Clonshaugh, Dublin 17. of €8.95 (25% of Tel: 01 – 802 3200 that, full sale or return, is very Fax: 01 – 867 1866 nice!). Stubbs Email: dublin.customer.enquiries Gazette Monthly @emnewsdistribution.ie is targeted at business men Web: www.emnewsdistribution.com and women – it

e

Top 25 Irish Titles 1) RTÉ Guide 2) Irish Farmers Journal 3) Ireland’s Own 4) TV Now 5) U 6) Easy Food 7) VIP 8) Irish Tatler 9) Kiss 10) Woman’s Way 11) Stellar 12) Image 13) Hot Press 14) Social & Personal 15) Auto Trader 16) House And Home 17) The Phoenix 18) Wedding Journal 19) Irish Field 20) The Irish Garden 21) Ireland’s Homes Interiors and Living 22) Prudence 23) Easy Health and Living 24) Image Interiors 25) Food & Wine Magazine

provides information on judgments, liquidations, administrations, winding up orders and insolvencies – in other words, everything you need to know to stay informed and make astute credit decisions.

Top selling Irish business titles include Business and Finance, Business Plus, Business Eye and WMB (Women Mean Business).

One sector that has still been selling despite the downturn is Home Improvement Magazine titles, including Image Interiors, The White Book, House & Home, Ireland’s Homes Interiors and Living, Self Build, Extend & Renovate. The emphasis recently has been on make-do and mend – how to renovate your home on a budget.

Similarly, car titles are still selling well (Auto Trader Ireland Group, Car Buyers Guide) helped along no doubt by the soon to be scrapped scrappage deal.

IF you need help to grow sales and reduce losses you can contact Karen Meenan at The Daily Profit - ring 086 6027711 or email karen.meenan@ dailyprofit.ie or visit our brand new website – www.thedailyprofit.biz

26|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Market News New Aero Biscuit A CHOCOLATE biscuit with your afternoon cuppa needn’t be naughty with the new Aero Biscuit. Aero’s famous bubbly chocolate is layered over crunchy biscuit bubbles and wrapped with smooth milk chocolate and they’re 99 calories – incredibubble! The new biscuits are extremely chocolatey; for a delectabubble experience that consumers will feel great about treating themselves to. The treat sized biscuits are great when consumers crave a sweet something and the handy pack of seven biscuits is perfect for sharing with all the family. For more information visit ‘AERO® bubbly chocolate’ on Facebook.

Bulmers Light Sponsors Celebrity Salon BULMERS Light has announced a new broadcast sponsorship of Celebrity Salon, which began broadcasting on TV3 recently. The six-programme show follows Rosanna Davidson, Calum Best, Georgia Salpa, Abi Titmuss, Alan Hughes and Aisleyen Horgan-Wallace (pictured with Orlaith Fortune, Bulmers Light Marketing Manager, and Elaine Butler Doolin, presenter) all vying to win the title of ‘Best in Beauty’. “Celebrity Salon is a great fit for Bulmers Light,” said Orlaith Fortune, Marketing Manager, Bulmers Light. “Since launch in 2003, Bulmers Light has been associated with style, glamour and fashion.”

Green-Up Energy Drink Launches GREEN-UP, the newest and most natural energy drink on the market, has launched in Ireland. GreenUp, which contains no colours or preservatives, contains 80mg of caffeine per can (the equivalent of one strong cup of coffee) and comes in three delicious flavours: Cranberry, Pomegranate and Tropical. What makes Green-Up stand out from its competitors is that it contains no taurine and only natural caffeine, from Guarana, making it a health-safe alternative. Manufactured by Polish company, Herbapol, Green-Up will initially be available through 70 Tesco stores throughout the country, before being rolled out to other retailers in the coming months. Green-Up retails at €1.19.

Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre GLOBAL premium spirits business, William Grant & Sons Ltd., the owner of Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, is to assume control of the Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre. It will turn the Centre into a modern, top-class brand experience, which will ultimately attract up to 40,000 tourists annually to Tullamore and the Midlands region. “We want those that love Tullamore Dew to be able to come and see its true home, with a first class visitor experience that will deepen their engagement with the brand,” said Tullamore Dew Global Brand Director, Shane Hoyne, pictured with Tadhg O’Brien, outgoing Chairman of Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre.

Wining & Dining

THE Irish wine trade have been spoilt recently with spectacular wine tastings from members of two of the most prestigious family owned businesses in the world of wine. Mitchell Taylor, recently appointed President of Australia’s First Families of Wines, Wakefield Wines, hosted dinners in One Pico, Dublin, and Jacobs on the Mall, Cork, where he showcased some of the finest wines in the Wakefield portfolio.

Meanwhile, Allegra Antinori, a family member of one of the leading wine families of the world, and part of the exclusive Primum Familiae Vini, treated guests to an exclusive tasting in Thornton’s restaurant, where she is pictured with Philip Robinson, Marketing Director, Findlater Wine and Spirit Group, who distribute both Antinori and Wakefield wines.

Santa Rita Rewards Restaurants THE recent Santa Rita/Life magazine Irish Restaurant Awards were a huge success, with 800 members of the culinary industry in attendance. The RAI awards honour restaurateurs the length and breadth of the country.

Pictured are Sallly Anne Cooney, GM, Gilbeys Incorporating Gleeson; Brian Fallon, President, RAI; and Marie Cooney, Director, Tipperary Natural Mineral Water. Sally Anne presented the Louis Latour Wine Experience Award to Green Acres from Wexford, while Marie Cooney presented the Tipperary Water Best Chef Award to Gregans Castle’s Mickael Viljanen.

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www.newspread.ie

Publisher Enquiries: E-mail marketing@newspread.ie Tel. 01-7084237

28|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Londis Sponsorship Londis’ sponsorship of Come Dine With Me is one of the biggest of the year, including the first ever Irish version of the popular TV show, and a heavyweight in-store promotion.

Londis

Leverages ‘Dining’ Opportunities In January of this year, Londis saw off numerous other interested parties to secure one of the most eagerly anticipated TV sponsorships to come on the market in recent years. The Londis sponsorship of Come Dine With Me began in January, with TV3 airing the UK series for 12 months, five days a week from 18:30 to 19:00, along with an omnibus at the weekend.

The sponsorship also includes the UK Celebrity version of Come Dine With Me which ran for 10 weeks from January, and most excitingly of all, the first ever Irish version of Come Dine With Me, which was launched on our screens, to a fantastic response earlier this month.

“The Come Dine with Me sponsorship opportunity was a very attractive property for Londis from the outset and one which we balanced within the context of our overall media budget,” explains Sue O’Grady, Trade Marketing Manager, Londis. “Indeed, the Group’s sponsorship of Come Dine with Me increases our abovethe-line media spend in 2011, which

reflects our commitment to supporting our retailers through these more challenging times.”

The Perfect Association

With many companies cutting back on sponsorship and promotional spend, why did Londis feel that this particular sponsorship offered value?

“We believed this was a perfect association for Londis and our offering, given the dinner party theme of Come Dine with Me reflects the movement towards at home dining and entertaining which has been embraced by households throughout the country,” Sue explains. “Londis stores are the perfect place to pick up those key dinner party ingredients, and as reflected by our sponsorship stings, ideal for those last minute hiccups! In addition, not only is the idea of Come Dine with Me a great fit with our brand, but its popularity amongst our target market and its daily primetime broadcast gives Londis an unprecedented degree of brand exposure.”

Integrated PR & Marketing Campaign

The sponsorship demonstrates the convenience of, and wide range of products available in, Londis stores, and is supported by a largescale integrated PR and marketing campaign, including 12 specially developed TV stings. Each 10-second sting shows a dinner party emergency – knocking over red wine on a white tablecloth, burning dinner, or dropping dessert when taking it out of the fridge – and is concluded with the Londis ‘solution’, each disaster being easily resolved with a quick trip to your local Londis store. The disasters have all been inspired by insights from the show, and are perfectly in tune with the tone of the programme. This creative route positions Londis as the dinner party saviour!

Crucially, the sponsorship gives Londis a very strong presence on TV all year round with stings running 6 days a week for 12 months.

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|29

Londis Sponsorship Leveraging the Sponsorship at Store Level

In order to leverage the brand’s sponsorship of Come Dine With Me at store level, Londis have developed The Big Dish Out, a national promotion that creates a seemless connection between the show and the Londis brand. Playing on the cash prize mechanic, The Big Dish Out gives Londis customers the chance to win cash on-the-spot whilst also driving retailer sales. When a consumer spends €20 in-store, they receive a 12-panel scratch card: if customers match four symbols successfully, they can win cash prizes of between €15 and €50 on-the-spot, as well as specially designed Come Dine With Me Aprons.

The promotion runs for eight weeks and will see thousands of euros worth of cash claimed by customers in Londis stores nationwide. As well as driving immediate sales in-store, the promotion and its positive link to Come Dine With Me will be used to drive footfall.

High TV Ratings

Thus far, the TV3 ratings for Come Dine With Me have been very strong, with both the celebrity and UK versions proving significant draws.

However, it is the Irish version of the show which has proved to be a real hit with viewers. The first episode was aired earlier this month to a record beating audience, with over 480,000 people tuning in! That’s more than the number of viewers who tuned in to see the first episode of last year’s ‘Apprentice’!

The Irish version, produced by the same team that makes the UK version, also includes the star of the show, narrator and comedian Dave Lamb, whose dry sarcastic humour has been at the centre of the show’s success to date. Indeed, the popularity of Dave’s witty and sarcastic voiceovers prompted Londis to secure Dave as the main voiceover for their current radio advert which promotes The Big Dish Out promotion.

The Irish shows, which were filmed in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, see Irish contestants battle it out to win the €1,000 cash

prize. In total, there are six full shows airing over six different weeks throughout the course of the summer, while the UK version continues at its usual time of 6.30pm on week-nights.

“I can’t wait to see the public reaction to the Irish version of Come Dine With Me,” enthuses Sue O’Grady.

“TV3 have already advised us of the culinary and comedic delights that await, with the final cut guaranteeing nothing short of classic entertainment.

We are a small island with a wonderful sense of community and there is immense anticipation of knowing you may recognise someone on the show! Now that the Irish show has launched, every Londis store will become the gossip hub of the locality, with extensive discussions in the fruit and veg department over what “she” cooked and what was hidden in the sock drawer!”

Highlighting Key Attributes So what are the benefits Londis hope to accrue from the sponsorship?

“In this market, our communications spend is focused very much on highlighting the exceptional value

Londis retailers bring to communities throughout Ireland,” Sue O’Grady concludes. “However, no brand can rely exclusively on pricing as a key competitive advantage and it is critical that we highlight the other brand benefits which Londis consumers experience every day. As mentioned above, this sponsorship aligns our brand with a hugely popular programme and allows us to highlight other key attributes of the Londis offering.

“In addition, the heightened awareness we are achieving through the strong viewership performance of the programme is a key benefit.

Furthermore, our activation of the sponsorship throughout our business in terms of PR and other consumer activities, such as our current in store promotion, ‘The Big Dish Out’, strengthens the link between Londis and Come Dine with Me. In particular we expect ‘The Big Dish Out’ promotion, with its excellent prize fund, to be a strong footfall driver in-store.”

Each 10-second TV sting shows a dinner party emergency and is concluded with the Londis ‘solution’, each disaster being easily resolved with a quick trip to your local Londis store.

30|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Waste Management

Repak

Continues to Deliver

Results

Andrew Hetherington, CEO, Repak, advises on retailers’ obligations when it comes to packaging waste and recycling.

Andrew Hetherington, CEO, Repak.

REPAK has made significant achievements since it was established in 1997. It has helped, through its members, to increase Ireland’s recycling rates from 15% to over 65% today. Repak has invested over €200m in ensuring that we have a properly funded system to recycle end-of-life packaging from consumers. Packaging recycling obligations are a complex area. In order to try to help those in the retail industry understand the scheme better and to determine if they are legally obligated, we put some questions to Andrew Hetherington, Repak CEO.

What obligations do those in the retail industry need to be aware of?

“The retail and wider business arena in Ireland have two broad sets of legal obligations to firstly, recycle back door waste, and secondly, to fund the

segregation, collection and recycling of end-of-life packaging on goods they sell to customers.

“Firstly, backdoor waste such as cardboard boxes, shrink wrap and other waste generated in transit must be collected, stored, segregated and recycled.

“Secondly, the rules for compliance under the Waste Management Act are contained in Irish legislation and are governed by two variables – the turnover of the company and the amount of packaging supplied on the market. These are known as ‘de minimis’, or the threshold above which a company is obligated to fund/ collect for recycling the packaging they supply on goods or services sold. In Ireland, this means having a business turnover of over €1m and supplying over 10 tonnes of packaging on the goods sold or supplied to customers.”

How does the Repak scheme operate?

“Repak is a packaging recycling compliance scheme, not a recycler of packaging. Repak helps fund packaging recovery/recycling on behalf of the Irish Government. Repak collects fees from companies who by law are obligated to pay towards the recovery of the packaging they supply. These monies are then used to fund recycling systems for packaging from the household recycling bins (green bins), recycling centres and bring banks. Householders dispose of their dry recyclables through these convenient collection facilities, rather than taking packaging back to where they bought it. Local authorities and waste contractors collect, separate and then send these materials for recycling.

Once they prove to Repak by audit that they have been recycled, Repak pays a subsidy towards the recycling cost.

PACKAGING REGULATIONS are putting your business under

pressure Repak membership will lighten your load.

Any business with a turnover of €1million that places 10 tonnes, or more, of packaging on the market, must comply with the newly amended packaging regulations – or face prosecution. Compliance is as easy as joining Repak, from as little as €1per day. Repak is the most effective compliance option chosen by over 2300 companies. Over 50 companies have already been prosecuted and, with over 2,000 inspections a year, your business could be next. Why risk heavy fines and even prison?

Find out more about your company’s obligations under the amended packaging regulations - and how Repak membership can help – by visiting repak.ie or call 01 – 4670190.

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32|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Waste Management “Recycling costs money and the more material we recycle, the more expensive it gets. The recycling infrastructure covers collection trucks, staffing, separation facilities and transport to end recyclers. Local Authorities and waste contractors get some income from selling these materials, but this amount varies substantially and does not cover the cost of the collection and sorting process.”

How are the funds generated used and what have they achieved?

“Over 85% of the annual fees paid to Repak are spent funding packaging recycling collections. The remaining amount, excluding overheads, is used to help promote packaging recycling education, while the packaging prevention programmes aim to reduce the amount of packaging on the market in the first place. Educational programmes undertaken by Repak have been critical to the success in helping to drive Ireland’s packaging recycling rates from under 15% in 1998 to almost 65% over the last 12 years.

“Repak members can take pride in knowing they financially help support 1.2m household recycling bin collections; 2,000 bring banks; and 90 recycling centres.

“Repak has ensured that Ireland achieves its EU packaging recovery targets, diverting over 5.2m tonnes of used packaging from landfill and contributing €220m to support packaging recycling over the last 12 years.

“Repak assists organisations in reducing the packaging they produce through its ‘Prevent and Save Programme’. Its annual recycling awards ceremony encourages, promotes and acknowledges best practice in packaging recycling and prevention. Previous winners have included Glenisk, Diageo Bailey’s, Irish Distillers, Symantec and Cadbury, as well as a number of smaller businesses such as SuperValu Dungarvan,

SuperValu Ballincollig, the Ferrycarrig Hotel and Glenlo Abbey Hotel.

“Repak also funds a number of programs to ensure that householders continue to recycle and to ensure we meet our EU targets. Repak are proud sponsors of the National Spring Clean, the Tidy Towns Competition, and An Taisce’s Green Schools Program. Repak also run awareness programmes throughout the year, with Repak Recycling Week, Repak Green Christmas and Repak Easter Appeal encouraging people to recycle more and smarter during busy packaging intensive times.”

What options do companies have?

“Under the Irish Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations, if a business exceeds the above mentioned threshold, also known as ‘de minimis’, then they have two options, either self comply (fund the collection, segregation and recycling of packaging itself) or alternatively join the collective recycling scheme called Repak.”

How much does it cost to comply and how are the costs structured?

“Repak is the preferred route of compliance for the majority of companies. Repak’s minimum fee is just €400, with 55% of members paying less than €1,000 per annum for their compliance. Repak, when benchmarked against comparative schemes (particularly in the initial European 15 countries), ranks as one of the lowest cost recycling schemes.

Recycling is expensive and obligated companies must contribute to this cost. This is known as Producer Responsibility. The Repak scheme, in effect, is a packaging tax and operates on a shared responsibility model with all in the packaging supply chain paying, but at varying amounts. Those importing or who are the local brand holder of the packaging pay the most, while those selling others’ brands pay a lesser amount.

“In the Repak scheme, companies pay proportionally, based on the amount and type of packaging that they produce, making it as equitable as possible and ensuring that those who cannot make packaging decisions pay substantially less.

“Repak, as an industry led initiative, is also significantly more cost effective than the proposed Government-imposed packaging tax that is currently in the programme for Government. This

proposed tax is targeting to collect €60-80m - which is three times what Repak currently collects from industry.

Repak is responsible for targets for packaging recycling and has been very successful in delivering Ireland’s EU used packaging targets.”

What are the implications of self complying?

“Self compliance is the alternative to joining Repak but it can be complex and is a more onerous route for most companies. Registration with the respective local authority, per premises, is a minimum fee of €500 (up to €15,000) and this is only one of a number of obligations. Businesses are also required to accept back used packaging supplied on the goods sold or packaging of a similar material not only from customers but from the general public. This means outlets need to have staff trained on collecting, storing and recording used packaging on-site, whilst managing waste contractors and ensuring they have dedicated additional space to hold returned packaging. This can have implications for Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP) procedures. Businesses must also put up signs notifying the public that used packaging will be accepted back, submit quarterly packaging returns and advertise this fact twice a year.”

What happens to ‘free riders’ or companies who ignore their obligations?

“Companies who break the law are a continual hindrance to business in Ireland. Enforcement of the regulations is the responsibility of Local Authorities. Currently Local Authority enforcement personnel are calling on businesses all over the country and can enact court proceedings against non-compliant organisations. Last year, there were over 2,500 inspections

by Local Authority enforcement personnel, with over 50 businesses prosecuted for non-compliance. The fines, which can be on average €15,000 per business, excluding court costs, are generally multiples of the Repak fee.

In addition to these costs, law breaking companies also face the negative publicity generated through court reports and local newspapers.

“Repak operates very much as a partnership organisation and our membership team is happy to meet and assist with any queries its individual members may have regarding membership issues.”

RETAILERS, ARE YOU PREPARED FOR JULY 1ST 2011?

THE DEROGATION FOR STORES PRODUCING LESS THAN 50kg OF SURPLUS FOOD PER WEEK WILL FORMALLY END ON 1ST JULY 2011

Q. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOUR STORE? A. ALL SURPLUS FOOD MUST BE SOURCE SEGREGATED FROM NON BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS AND OTHER WASTE IN YOUR PREMISES FOOD SURPLUS MANAGEMENT HAVE A SERVICE IN YOUR AREA.

• FROM JULY 1ST ALL UNSOLD FOOD MUST BE SEPERATED FROM GENERAL WASTE • CATEGORY 3 ANIMAL BY PRODUCTS MUST BE COLLECTED BY LICENSED COLLECTOR • FSM SERVICE REQUIRES NO DEPACKING OF FOOD PRODUCTS BY RETAILER

FSM operate a fleet of 15 vehicles ranging from 7.5 ton rigids to 45ft articulated trailers. Included in our fleet are 6 of our own designed double deck bodies which were designed specifically for supermarket collections.

We are servicing businesses in the 32 counties of this island.

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

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

FSM ARE FULLY LICENSED OPERATORS OFFERING A FULLY COMPLIANT SERVICE CURRENTLY PROVIDE THIS SERVICE TO OVER 750 LARGE AND SMALL SUPERMARKETS NATIONWIDE SERVICE ALSO PROVIDED TO FOOD MANUFACTURING, WHOLESALE AND DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES

CONTACT US NOW Food Surplus Management Limited, Oaktree Business Park, Trim, Co. Meath Tel: 046 948 3002 Fax: 046 948 6750 Email: info@fsm.ie

www.fsm.ie

34|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Store Focus: Donnybrook Fair Joe Doyle, owner of the Donnybrook Fair group, pictured outside the new Stillorgan store.

Retail News talks to Joe Doyle, owner of the Donnybrook Fair group, as they open their fourth premium store in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin.

All’s Fair

for

Premium Food Group

OPENING a new premium retail outlet in the midst of the biggest recession in generations may not be everybody’s idea of sound business sense, but for premium food retailers, Donnybrook Fair, the recent opening of their fourth store in Stillorgan Shopping Centre, Co. Dublin, is the right one.

“We looked on it as an opportunity to expand,” explains Joe Doyle, owner of the Donnybrook Fair group. “After a lot of discussion, looking at the practicalities like the cost of fit-out etc, it made financial sense for us to look at it seriously. It was also an opportunity for people employed within the company to move up through the

ranks. Now that the shop is open, I feel happy and proud of it.”

Three shop units at the shopping centre have been transformed into a sleek new fine food store, which maintains the group’s ‘Devoted to Food’ ethos, with its extensive fresh food offering. With a large centre deli and a hot wok, the store enjoys a great amount of theatre, with chefs preparing and cooking ready-to-eat fresh dishes in front of the customer.

Donnybrook Fair’s full range of salads and ready meals are also available in the 4,000 square feet store, which also encompasses a butcher counter, grocery and fine wine section and extensive fresh produce.

Job Creation

With the opening of the new store, 40 new jobs have been created in the local community, between the new shop and the in-house production kitchens, bringing the total number employed in the Donnybrook Fair group to over 250 across its four stores, restaurant, cookery school, catering service and production kitchens.

“Becoming part of the local business community is important to us and it’s great to be in a position to create 40 new jobs,” notes Joe Doyle, who feels that the latest addition to the group will complement Donnybrook Fair’s existing three stores, the flagship store in Morehampton Road and sister stores in Baggot Street and Greystones.

“We’ve tried to model the Stillorgan shop on the Donnybrook store as much as possible, so it’s essentially the same grocery offering as our first store in Donnybrook. It is a little smaller than the Donnybrook store, but it translates well,” Joe notes. “The new store widens our customer base, so I believe it will strengthen the Donnybrook Fair brand.”

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Store Focus: Donnybrook Fair High Quality Fresh Food

Fresh food is the key ingredient in the success of Donnybrook Fair to date.

Indeed, the high quality of their own label range of freshly made products, both pre-packed and fresh from the deli, are produced daily by a team of in-house chefs. All Donnybrook Fair’s ready meals are produced in-house and are preservative and additive free, while their beef is hand-selected by a meat specialist and matured for a minimum of 21 days.

“Our main component is our delicatessen, which employs a lot of chefs,” explains Joe. “All of our food is freshly made – the longest shelflife of any product we sell is four or five days, and most of the food is made and sold within a day. We start our production at 2am for that day’s products, like our speciality foods and breads, with most of our produce made in our Morehampton Road production kitchen.”

Sticking to the Knitting

So what has enabled Donnybrook Fair to thrive in an economic climate that is seeing regular closures of other retail outlets?

“Our secret ingredient, if you like, is what I call ‘sticking to the knitting’ and hard work,” Joe notes. “I think a lot of people got into retailing over the last few years without quite

understanding the business, and then when the tough times come, they struggle to stay in business. I think knowing your customers and understanding your business are the keys to success.

“In the current climate, it is important that we bed down the business financially, and enhance the product mix that we’re selling to customers. That is what we see ourselves doing for the next couple of years.”

Career Opportunities

As an Irish entrepreneur and an employer of more than 250 people, Joe feels that there is a big opportunity for business and Government to work together, particularly in the area of career opportunities in food retailing, working on an apprenticeship model similar to that of other countries.

“Perhaps, we could look at something like the French or Danish model where young adults’ skills are developed a lot earlier,” Joe suggests.

“If people are going into the food or retail business, they need to get involved at a young age. There is not enough encouragement for people to get involved in our food industry at a young age and that’s down to the education system.

“Your staff are a key element in your success, and if you don’t put the training in and try to give them the skill-sets they need, you will be in trouble. You can’t import skills all the time; you have to develop skills within your own business. I think there is a great opportunity to introduce a structure whereby young adults can get into a training programme a lot easier and gain a trade and a set of skills.”

Valuing Your Staff

At Donnybrook Fair, quality of service is second to none, which is directly attributable to the high levels of

in-house staff training and the fact that every member of staff is valued highly: “It’s not an us-and-them scenario: it’s a team. We’re all working towards the same goal.”

Indeed, the group’s dedication to service has resulted in Donnybrook Fair lifting a host of awards over the last decade. Recent accolades include ‘Best Extra-large Store’ at the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards 2010 and a ‘Certificate of Excellence’ at the National Off-Licence of the Year Awards 2011. With this commitment to quality of both service and product, don’t be surprised to see this family run business thrive even more over the coming years.

Fact File Donnybrook Fair Stillorgan, Unit 47 – 49, Stillorgan Shopping Centre, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.

Tel: 01 2091004 Email: info@donnybrookfair.ie Web: www.donnybrookfair.ie

Program Shout Proves a Partnership for Faced with a more price conscious customer, retailers experience a daily challenge to hold onto business and attract new customers. Convenience retailers have been particularly hard hit, as price becomes a bigger factor in consumers’ choices. Cuisine de France carried out extensive research at the end of 2010 into the changing attitudes of consumers.

Over 300 questionnaires were analysed, 111 store visits made and 6,600 products checked over a four week audit. 1,500 photographs helped to record the landscape of retail business in Ireland and helped the project team to create an innovative approach to their retailer partnerships. From an extensive period of consultation and evaluation of retailer needs, Program Shout was born.

Over 300 Irish retailers have joined Program Shout over the last few months and many more have applied to join. Retailers are signing up because the partnership offers real benefits that help them increase their revenues and protect their margins.

Cuisine de France Sales Director, Alan Gilson explains the thinking behind the Program. “Program Shout is a partnership between retailers and Cuisine de France,” he says. “It’s aimed at giving retailers the support they require and the tools they need to improve their in-store bakery offering. We know that shoppers have a strong affinity with our products but we were concerned that in-store bakery products were losing share of consumer mind due to the increased level of offers and noise in store. We wanted to shout about our products and our complete service offered to convenience retailers. Program Shout is helping us, and helping retailers to do that.”

Each of the elements within Cuisine de France’s “Program Shout” was extensively trialled to ensure that they delivered for retailers. “We worked with leading retailers to design new Point-of-Sale material. We also re-examined and significantly improved the training that we were providing to our customers and their staff. Product range by store segmentation and product range by day part were critical in the development of the program. At all times, we were driven by the aim of

increasing sales for our participating retailers. The results of the trial showed that the benefits of membership really did deliver.”

One of the first retailers to join Program Shout was Shane Cantillon. Shane operates 10 SPAR outlets, eight in County Cork and the others in Carlow and Limerick, all of which are participating. “The decision to join was an easy one,” notes Shane. “We met with our Cuisine de France Strategic GROUPS Manager, Aisling Kearney, and she discussed the benefits of the program and what was involved from our end. They provided the new, vibrant Point-of-Sale and helped to merchandise the product range in an attractive and inviting way. They worked through the product offerings with us to ensure we had the best range and that we optimised our offering at different times of the day. Then they provided all our team with the training they needed to really improve our service to customers and manage our return. The results were immediate. For example, our store

From left to right : Garry Morton ( Store Manager), Shane Tyrrell (National Account Manager, Cuisine de France)

Contact your Category Sales Specialist or our telesales

Success

From left to right: Alan Gilson (Sales Director, Cuisine de France), Veronica (Spar O’Connell St), Barry Thompson (Store Owner, Spar O’Connell Street)

in Eastgate saw a 5% rise in value of sales, and our Ballintemple store showed a 6% rise in volume.”

Increased sales are not the only aim of the Program as Jerry Twomey of Twomey’s EUROSPAR in Abbeyside, Dungarvan told Retail News; “Branding image is at the heart of the Program Shout concept. The new professional Point-of-Sale gives a value perception to the customer. In the current market conditions, we are focused on giving customers value and making it easier for them to recognise that value. Through effective use of multibuy products that give customer value, and the more distinctive Point-of-Sale, we are seeing turnover increase. Through full implementation of Program Shout, we have not only increased sales but also reduced wastage. Our wastage fell by 4% since joining. This has had a big effect on our revenues.”

Barry Thompson of SPAR in O’Connell Street, Dublin, signed up for Program Shout membership in January. “We have always done well with the full range of Cuisine de France

From left to right :Jackie Tobin ( Eurospar Dungarvan), Jerry Twomey (Store owner, Eurospar Dungarvan), Ciara Crowin (Eurospar Dungarvan), Sharon Moore ( Category Sales Specialist, Cuisine de France)

team on

products,” he notes. “The slowdown in the economy hit us in all aspects of our business, including our in-store bakery and our hot deli offerings. When our Cuisine de France Category Sales Specialist, Lesley Whittaker, talked to us about Program Shout, we were open to suggestions to drive sales. The results have been phenomenal so far and we are confident that they can get better.”

Following the initial sign-up and implementation of the program, retailers continue to get support. This is a critical part of the success of the program, according to Ger Ellis of the iconic South Dublin chain, Morton’s. “The Program Shout team continue to work with you to ensure that after the initial buzz of enthusiasm from staff that the initiative is maintained,” Ger says.

“Special offers available to members only also help to maintain the momentum and drive sales. Most importantly, though, is the advice that you get: this is a real partnership. We are building the Morton’s business and Cuisine de France is building theirs.”

From left to right : Ber Nicholl ( Spar Eastgate), Keith O’ Sullivan (Category Sales Specialist, Cuisine de France), Kamila Janus (Spar Eastgate)

1850 777000 (ROI) or 0800 9732 82 (NI)

38|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

On the Vine

South of the Border

Jean Smullen looks at some of the top wines from South America, including those from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

SOUTH America is the world’s second most important wine producing continent, after Europe. Argentina is by far the largest in terms of production, followed by Brazil and then Chile. Other South American countries who produce wine include Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, but of these, only Uruguay features in Ireland, imported directly

by O’Briens Wine Off Licence group and Superquinn.

In fact, when it comes to the Irish market, there is really only one significant South American player and that is Chile. Chile accounted for 20.8% of the 8.7m cases sold in Ireland in 2010. This equates to 1,642,506 cases, a very large

share of the Irish market. Argentina on the other hand, has a negligible 0.9% of the market, down from 1.0% in 2009, roughly 75,000 cases (Source: Irish Wine Association 2010).

Chile

The Chilean wine growing areas are grouped into five large regions from North to South: Atacama, Coquimbo, Aconcagua, Valle Central and Sur. Of these, the last three are the most important, with the greatest concentration of quality wine production centred around the Valle Central, which begins near Santiago and ends just below Cauquenes.

South American Wines Under €10 2010 Dona Paula Los Cardos Sauvignon Blanc (Mendoza), RRP € 9.99 (Edward Dillon & Co.) Argentinan winery Dona Paula is owned by the mega Chilean company, the Claro group.

Claro bought 760 hectares in Ugarteche in Argentina in 1997 and created the Dona Paula brand. Today, Dona Paula is one of Argentina’s best known wine brands, particularly on this market.

Los Cardos means “the thistles”, native flowers known for their vivid colour and sharp thorns.

In Mendoza, the high altitude vineyards produce white wines with a steely elegance and this well priced Sauvignon Blanc is a very good example of this.

2009 Castillero del Diablo Chardonnay Reserva DO Casablanca Valley, RRP € 9.90 (IDL/Pernod Ricard) Conchy y Toro is the giant of the Chilean wine industry. This, their most recognised brand, Castillero del Diablo (Castle of the Devil) has huge consumer recognition.

This is a must-stock brand but the price/ quality ratio shines through. This Reserva Chardonnay punches way above its weight.

2009 Yali National Reserve Merlot DO Colchagua Valley,RRP € 9.99 (Barry’s of Mallow) Yali wine is named after the El Yali Wetland located in the same valley as the company’s winery. It is a part of Chile’s National System of Wild Areas Protected by the State, which is home to 25% of Chile’s bird species. Produced by one of Chile’s leading wineries, Viña Ventisquero, they are currently highlighting a consumer promotion, with sponsorship of events with Bird Watch Ireland, to highlight their commitment to good environmental practices. This is a good entry level Merlot.

The Merlot National Reserve is a deep ruby red colour, with aromas of plums & cherries, damson and blackberry fruits on the palate with hints of dark chocolate on the finish. It’s ideal with spicy meat and mature cheese or just on its own. From the same brand, the Sauvignon Blanc National Reserve is pale gold in colour with hints of green.

Its young and attractive aroma stands out, with fresh fruit such as pineapple, papaya, lime, white peach,

melon and pear, together with mineral notes. This is fruity and full of life with a juicy attack, fresh body and clean end. It is ideal with white meat, seafood and Asian dishes or on its own.

2010 Black Tower Chilean Merlot Valle Central, RRP € 8.99 (Gleeson Incorporating Gilbeys) Black Tower is one of Germany’s best know brands. The distinctive black bottle was much loved by many of the “over 50’s” generation. Produced

by German wine giants, Kendermann, they have now replaced their distinctive black ceramic bottle with a new design that reveals the wine itself. The new “half and half” design features a clear lower half that lets the wine varietal show. The upper half retains its iconic black colour. This is an easy drinking, entry level Chilean Merlot: a perfect party wine.

2009 McKenna Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, RRP € 8.99(Coman’s Wines ) Captain Juan MacKenna (1771-1814), was born Seán Mc Cionath in Clogher, Co Tyrone. He migrated to Spain in 1782 where he started his military career. In 1791 he

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|39

There are 14 main wine producing valleys: Elqui, Limari Valley, Choapa, Aconcagua, Casablanca, San Antonio, Maipo, Cachapoal, Colchagua, Curico, Maule, Itata, Bio Bio and the most southerly, Malleco Valley, located 700km from Santiago.

Chile is the second most popular country of origin for wine drinkers here in Ireland. Nearly 50% of Irish regular wine consumers drink Chilean wines. Research carried out in 2008 found that the Irish consumer strongly associates Chilean wines with ‘good value’, and those surveyed indicated that their perception is that Chilean wines are reasonably priced sociable wines. This research is validated by Chile’s very high volume share of the Irish market.

Although Chile is known for its good value wines, that is only one side of the story. Chile produces an enormous range of top quality fine wines. At a comparative tasting to assess top quality French wines from Bordeaux against some of Chile’s top ‘Bordeaux style’ wines , 36 of Europe’s most highly regarded wine journalists, writers and buyers met in Berlin to blind taste 16 wines - six Chilean, six French and four Italian from the 2000 and 2001 vintages. Chile out-gunned the French and scored the highest points overall. This famous tasting took place in Berlin in 2004, which was a great boost to the young and very talented wine makers in Chile at the time. See www.winesofchile.org for more information on Chilean wine. arrived in Chile, where he joined Bernardo O’Higgins to lead the fight for Chile’s independence against the Spanish. This is a lovely fruit-forward Cabernet with a firm tannin, making it good to match with red meat.

2009 Cono Sur Pinot Noir, RRP € 9.99 (The Findlater Wine & Spirits Group) This is an iconic wine, the best value Pinor Noir that there is at this price.

Also owned by the Claro Group and part of Concha y Toro, Cono Sur has hit the ground running with a number of firsts! In 1997, it was the first Chilean vineyard to start organic production; in 2002, it was the first Chilean winery to use screwcap; and in 2007, it was the first winery to obtain carbon neutral status. By 2009, they started to use lightweight bottles. The organic credentials are very impressive, but so too is the wine. If you never try any other Pinot Noir from Chile, try this one.

Argentina

The name Argentina comes from the Latin for silver “argentums”. Argentina has very strong consumer recognition in Ireland because of tango, world class soccer and their rugby team, the Pumas.

However, their wines have yet to make any significant in-roads into the market place here.

In the UK, that is changing, and Argentina is slowly starting to strengthen its position in the on-trade, but here, Argentina has been slow to take off, partly because of lack of brands but mostly because of a lack of interest from the Irish importing trade.

The vineyards in Argentina are spread across the country from north to south. The most important vines are found largely in the west, following the Andes down from Salta, in the region of Rio Negro, all the way south to Neque. The key grape varieties found in Argentina have been cultivated for over 150 years, resulting in diverse styles of wine from each region: as well as French grapes, Spanish and Italian grapes also feature prominently here. The key Argentinean wine producing regions are: Salta; Catamarca; La Rioja; San Juan; Mendoza;

Commissioned by the first Chilean government to prepare a plan for the defence of the country, Juan McKenna was a key military leader during the Chilean War of Independence.

When Chile gained its independence in 1810, as a reward for his heroism Juan McKenna was appointed Commandant General of the Chilean Army.

Following his heart and his convictions he died in a duel after a life of adventure and heroism.

Many wear the name McKenna with pride. General McKenna is a symbol of patriotism and courage in Chile.

Undurraga commemorates this Irish hero with The McKenna Collection, Chilean Wine, Irish Heritage.

www.comans.ie ‘Battle of Chacabuco’ courtesy of Pedro Subercaseaux (1880 -1956), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires

40|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

On the Vine Rio Negro and Neque.

Mendoza accounts for almost 90% of the total production of wine from Argentina.

See www. winesofargentina.org for more.

Uruguay

With a population of 3.2m, Uruguay is a relatively small Latin American country.

Situated between Argentina, Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean, between the 30 and 35 parallels, the Uruguayan climate is influenced by Atlantic breezes, much like Bordeaux, although warmer. Winemaking has been practiced in Uruguay for over 250 years. In 1870, the fathers of modern winemaking in Uruguay – Don Pascual Harriague and Don Francisco Vidiella – first introduced the French Tannat and Folle Noire varietals; Tannat has been the preferred “noble” grape of Uruguay as it is ideally suited to the local terroir. Tannat yields intense, powerful wines with varied characteristics, ranging from rustic to elegant, producing wines that are captivating, with their own unique identity. See www.winesofuruguay.com for more.

South American Wines Over €10 2009 Miguel Torres Santa Digna Gewurztraminer, RRP €10.99 (The Findlater Wine & Spirit Group) This is a blend of Gewurztraminer and Riesling.

This is a really delicate, aromatic wine, with elegant floral aromas, but the hit of acidity that comes from the Riesling fruit gives this an edge.

Well made and very different, the fruit is sourced from Miguel Torres’ (Chile) Estate in Curico. The Torres family were amongst the first Europeans to see Chile’s potential. They acquired a small Estate in Curico Valley in 1979, which has now grown to an impressive 400 hectare estate.

2007 Ciclos Malbec/Merlot Michel Torino Estate, RRP €17.99 (Classic Drinks) Michel Torino is a family-run estate based in the Cafayate Valley, that began its life in 1892. Now one of Argentina’s best known family firms, the wines are distinctive and well made. This is a blend of Malbec and Merlot. Aromas and flavors of red plums, black currants and dried cherries are common. Perhaps the greatest of all Malbec comes from Argentina, where it is now the most widely planted varietal. This is a stunning wine and one for keeping: this will age beautifully.

carefully selected vineyards in many of the key Chilean wine regions in Maipo, Rapel, Casablanca and Curico. Carmenere, considered part of the original six red grapes of Bordeaux, was once known a Grande Vidure. It remained hidden among Merlot vineyards for over a century. In 1994, Carmenere was rediscovered in the Carmen vineyards. Carmenere is now uniquely a Chilean grape.

It has wonderful black pepper characteristics and dark berried fruit. This Gran Reserva Carmenere is a benchmark example of how well Chile produces this grape variety.

2008 Errazuriz Estate Max Reserva Merlot DO Aconcagua Valley, RRP €14.99 (Cassidy Wines)

2009 Carmen Gran Reserva Carmenere (DO Casablanca Valley), RRP €14.99 (Edward Dillon & Co.) Carmen is the oldest winery in Chile, founded in 1850 by Christian Lanz, who named the winery after his wife. Carmen owns 1,626 acres of

Situated in the high altitude Aconcagua Valley, the winery was founded in 1870 by Don Maximo Errazuriz. Today, his descendant Eduardo Chadwick (the 7th generation of his family) runs the winery. The winemaker is Francisco Baettig, who has worked all over the world making wine.

The grapes for the Max Reserva range are sourced from Aconcagua from their own vineyards. This is a well made mid-priced Merlot from Chile. It shows all the lovely plum and chocolate character so associated with Chilean Merlot, but the high altitude vineyards and granite soil give this wine an edge.

For That Special Occasion 2009 Casa Silva Sauvignon Gris DO Colchagua Valley, RRP €18.00 (Febvre & Co) The Silva family brought grape varieties from France a century ago. In 1997, Mario Pablo Silva’s innovate approach transformed his bulk business into a fine wines venture under their own Casa Silva brand label. Sauvignon Gris is thought to be an older version of the Sauvignon Blanc varietal. Sauvignon Gris has more of a pinkish hue to its skin (it is also known as Sauvignon Rosé) and has similar levels of acidity to that of Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Gris produces fruit with higher sugar levels than its cousin, which contribute to greater aromatics and a more rich and round feel to the wines. This is something different and unique from Chile.

2007 Santa Rita Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon DO Maipo Valley, RRP €18.99 (Gilbeys Wines) Another Chilean icon, Santa Rita is the top selling Chilean wine brand on the Irish market. It outsells them all by a mile. This is their mid-priced Medalla Real wine. It is a huge, powerful wine, and beautifully structured: the Cabernet has taken on a savoury tone and oozes class. This is an up-sell for people who want to buy a treat or want to impress their friends and colleagues at dinner. Classic, classy Cabernet from Chile.

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Pet Food

Bet On Pets Irish pet owners love to treat their four-legged friends to premium products in a market that continues to grow.

THE pet care sector remains buoyant and has not been affected by the recession nearly as much as other food sectors, according to the latest report into the category by Euromonitor, who found that the Irish pet food market continues to experience growth, albeit marginal.

Rather than a straightforward trading down trend, there were stronger signs of polarisation in 2010, with consumers opting for both premium products and value offers.

Loyal premium purchasers continue to be attracted to high-end trends, such as humanisation and health and wellness, though as spending was impacted, some consumers were increasingly drawn to ‘premiumised’ economy and mid-market products.

This ‘premium loyalty’ is evidenced by the continued success of multinational brands on the market here, which continue to lead the market in both cat and dog categories.

According to Euromonitor, these players managed to hold on to their positions based on the degree of brand awareness, reputation for quality and product diversity, particularly as the recession and its after effects made Irish consumers less inclined to experiment with new entrants to the market or to sample other products.

Euromonitor predict that value growth will remain at low levels in the coming years. Economy brands are set to continue to benefit from consumers trading down. Nonetheless, premium products will also continue to attract specific consumer segments, and mid-priced products may suffer as the market skews to either ends of the value spectrum.

The impressive pet food portfolio from Nestlé Purina PetCare Ireland.

Nestlé Purina PetCare

Irish dog food shoppers are continuing to move from wet food towards complete dry food with Dry growing +7% MAT while Wet Food has declined by -7% (figures sourced from AC Nielsen Total Market (Multiples, groups, forecourts) MAT, w/e March 20, 2011).

Bakers Complete is the key brand driving this transition, growing by 20% MAT, and is the only brand growing sales in this segment YTD, with impactful advertising and promotional activity continuing to drive the brand forward, according to the company.

Treating our beloved pets is another trend driving the market and now more than €1 in every €4 in the dog category is spent on dog treats, chews and biscuits, with the segment growing by +7% MAT. Bakers Treats and chews are growing value within this segment at 10% with their range of indulgent treats such as Bakers Sizzlers, occupying chews such as Bakers Meaty Twists and the Bakers Dental Delicious range of healthy treats, meaning that Bakers has a solution for every treating occasion for dogs.

Go-Cat remains Ireland’s favourite Complete Dry Cat food brand with 45.9% market share and is becoming even more popular with a 9% increase in value sales YOY. Go-Cat’s new packaging has also contributed to removing 195 tonnes of cardboard packaging annually through reducing

the box size while still delivering the same amount of product to consumers (based on 2009 actual sales figures across UK & Ireland).

Within complete dry cat food, the Advanced Nutrition segment is growing at 29%, with Purina ONE the leading brand in the market, delivering optimum nutrition for cats with market leading innovation such as Actilea, specifically formulated to optimise cats’ health.

Felix Single Serve has had another outstanding year, growing by 17% MAT and helping the wet cat single serve segment to grow by 5%.

Nestlé Purina’s innovation in single serve continues this year with the introduction of Felix Sensations, a range of products made with quality tender meaty steaklets and served with flavourful jellies, which will help to grow the brand even further past its current 25% share of the market.

The luxury end of the single serve segment is also increasing its appeal to shoppers, with 31% value growth in the category. Gourmet Single Serve offers consumers a luxurious variety of recipes, textures and formats, giving consumers an everyday indulgence to feed their feline friends and is growing sales at 15% YOY.

Mackle Petfoods

Mackle Petfoods is Ireland’s leading Irish manufacturer and distributor of branded pet food products, specialising

42|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Pet Food Liver, Beef & Game and to keep a dog’s teeth and gums healthy.

Salmon & Trout. Their With daily feeding, they’re clinically three-pack offering is proven to help reduce tartar build-up by ideal for the convenience up to 80%. Pedigree Daily DentaStix are sector, while their variety available in four different sizes, from a 6-for-5 and 12-for-10 seven-stick pack to a 28-stick pack. packs are ongoing The Whiskas brand includes promotional offers. options for kittens, adult and senior Mackle also carry the cats, like Whiskas Pouches, Whiskas Jessie Dog and Jessie Oh So, Whiskas Dry and Whiskas Cat ranges, offering Simply, as well as a range of snacks Brandy, from Mackle Petfoods, one of the most popular retailers a competitive and treats. Recent addition, Whiskas dog food brands on the Irish market. value line. It is important Simply features a selection of recipes for retailers to have a that are grilled and steamed to provide value entry level offering in their pet a tastier meal for cats. Each individual in canned and dry dog food and canned food category. Jessie Dog Food comes pouch contains succulent meat or fish cat food. Based in Co. Armagh, the in Original and Chicken, while Jessie in jelly that provides all the nutritious company prides itself on using only Cat Food is available in Chicken and goodness cats need to stay fit, healthy 100% Irish meat in its pet food recipes.

Rabbit. All varieties are available as and happy.

2012 sees the company celebrate 40 400g single serve cans. years working within the Irish pet food market.

Brandy, Mackle’s flagship dog Mars Petcare food brand, continues to maintain its The Mars Petcare position as the number one Irish dog range includes food brand and the second largest household names like branded dog food in the Irish market, Pedigree and Whiskas, according to the company. Brandy and two of the leading Brandy Complete boasts a full range of brands in the dog and flavours, including Original, Chicken, cat food categories Beef, and Rabbit, as well as pack respectively. sizes to suit the needs of all retailers Pedigree Daily and consumers, from the convenience DentaStix is one of driven Brandy three-pack to the the leading products variety six and 12-packs, appealing to in the Mars Petcare larger store formats and meeting the snacks and treats ever increasing needs of customers who portfolio. DentaStix The Pedigree Daily DentaStix range includes products for want to trade up to multipacks. have a unique x-shape small, medium and large dogs, and has been performing Mackle also offer Brandy Meal and special texture that, extremely well on the Irish market.

Times as a variety three-pack, with as they’re chewed, help chunks in gravy, while their Brandy Complete range in Original and

Dublin SPCA to Benefit from Purina Recycling Campaign

The hugely popular Cat Club brand from Mackle Petfoods.

Chicken & Rice varieties, offers a 2.5kg pack size, as well as 9kg and 15kg bag sizes for bulk purchasing. Mackle continue to offer retailers strong promotional activity.

Also from Mackle Petfoods comes cat food brand Cat Club in chunks and jelly, which is available in a range of flavours, including Chicken &

LORI Davis, Dublin SPCA, and Jennifer Quinn, Purina PetCare, are pictured at the launch of Together We Can, the pet food can recycling initiative which aims to raise over €11,000 for the Dublin SPCA during the month of June. Supported by on-pack sticker promotions and in-store activity, the campaign encourages consumers to visit www.purina.co.uk/recycle and log how many pet food cans they have recycled, with the company incentivising this recycling behaviour by pledging to donate up to a total of £30,000 (€33,800) to Cats Protection, Canine Partners and Dublin SPCA. Purina Ireland also announced earlier this year that they will provide 180,000 cat and dogs meals to the Dublin SPCA this year. This is the sixth year that Purina will support the Dublin SPCA, saving the charity €100,000 annually.

44|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Retail Security The Irish Security Industry Association provide advice on protecting your staff and premises from crime.

Securing Your Business IT is critical that a retail business has the right procedures in place to ensure that their premises and their staff are secure and protected. Having the right systems and procedures in place allows you to minimise the impact or likelihood of criminal activities such as breaking and entering, theft or tiger kidnapping. So, what does a retail business need to consider?

Alarm

Have your alarm set up so that it is linked to a monitoring station and that when the alarm is activated, the key holder is notified immediately. A key action you can take to protect staff is to have a duress code on the alarm that is perhaps one digit different from the normal code. This ensures that if a staff member is forced to enter the code, when they enter the duress code the monitoring station will pick up on that and be able to act on it appropriately by notifying the authorities. Additionally, you can set up an out-of-hours alert, whereby the monitoring centre will query the alarm being de-activated and request a password.

CCTV

CCTV is of key importance to securing the premises. The system should be designed so that the parameters of the system are clearly defined. For example, each camera should have a specific function in terms of what it is viewing, whether it should give facial recognition, whether it should work in low light situations. The recording equipment should have the length of image retention, the frames-per-second recording and playback. The DVR should be in a secure location that is purpose built or has additional security features such as a secure door with access control. This secure area should also contain the alarm panel and safe.

can be done either by making regular lodgements (at irregular intervals) or by employing the services of a Cash in Transit provider. For a list of Cash in

Security at the Till

You should always ensure that there is a panic button that can be used by a member of staff when required. In terms of securing cash, there should be an anti hold-up safe with time delay, which means that it is impossible to get to the cash quickly.

Cash on Premises

Ideally, you should keep cash levels on premises to a minimum and this

Pictured are ISIA President, John Lawlor, and Sarah Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Donnell, ISIA Communications Director.

Safe, secure shopping Running a retail centre is a challenging job. There are multiple suppliers, stakeholders and customers to satisfy and this places demands on management time and resources. At G4S we can help you to run your retail centre as efficiently as possible.

Our extensive experience in both shopping centres and retail sets us apart as true security and facility management experts who are ideally placed to work with you for the ongoing success of your business. A number of Irish retail centres have chosen G4S as their security and services partner.

We ensure that our security operatives are trained to meet the specific needs of your retail centre, utilising handheld reporting devices to deliver bespoke, fault and incident reporting, lost property logging and car park management.

Combine this with our wider capabilities in risk consultancy, technology, cash management and facilities management and you have a totally integrated solution designed to fulfil your needs.

We are always available to answer any questions you may have on how G4S can help your business.

Contact our Retail Expert, Maura Lynch on 01-217 9100 email info@ie.g4s.com or visit us online on www.g4s.ie

46|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Retail Security www.isia.ie/isia/Main/2008_ML_ Guarding.htm.

Transit companies visit http://www. isia.ie/isia/Main/2008_ML_Transit. htm.

If cash is held on a premises, it must be kept in a safe which is rated for the amount kept. You should talk to your insurance company about their requirements in this regard to ensure that you are fully covered in the event of a theft. It is recommended that a time lock safe is used, so that staff or management do not have access to the safe out-of-hours.

Publicise your Security Practices

A retail premises should ensure they use labelling and stickers in visible locations announcing their security practices. This acts as a deterrent to criminals and means it is much less likely that your premises will be a target for criminal activity.

Selecting you Supplier

Knowing what you need is one thing, but selecting the right supplier is equally, if not more, important. A good starting point is to consider the standards and reputation of the company. If you are looking for a list of security suppliers The Irish Security Industry Association (ISIA) provides a listing of their members with contact details on their website, www.isia.ie. Always get three quotes and make sure that the security companies you select carry out a thorough review of your premises before issuing you with a quotation.

You should also ensure that a maintenance contract is in place.

Electronic Security

Always check that the installer of your alarm is licensed. The company that installs your alarm will more than likely be able to also install your CCTV system and any other type of electronic security systems.

The relevant standards you should look out for are EN 50131 and SR40 for alarm installers. Members of the Irish Security Industry Association operate to the highest standards in the private security industry and checking if the company you intend to use is a member of the ISIA is a good starting point. If the company is involved in electronic security and a member of the ISIA, they will have Qualsec, the Irish Security Industry Association’s own quality standard, which is explained below.

For a list of companies providing electronic security services (Alarms,

About Qualsec

CCTV and Access Control) visit http:// www.isia.ie/isia/Main/2008_ML_CCTV. htm.

Guarding

Always ensure that the provider of guards for your premises is licensed and operating to IS 999. Again, look for membership of the Irish Security Industry Association and Qualsec.

Guarding companies who are members of the ISIA will not only be licensed, but they will also hold Qualsec certification. For a list of companies providing guarding services visit http://

Qualsec is the mark of quality used by the Irish Security Industry Association. Members of the ISIA are not only licensed but also use Qualsec.

In the area of electronic security and guarding, it is a requirement for membership and by the end of 2011, all members of the ISIA will have Qualsec.

Qualsec has three tiers, Qualsec Silver, Qualsec Gold and Qualsec Platinum. The Silver award is the minimum seal of approval which will guarantee customers a professional, quality-driven security provider. To achieve the Silver award, companies must comply with 37 criteria, which cover licensing, staffing/human resource issues, financial/accounting procedures, training and customer satisfaction procedures. The Gold standard includes an additional 15 criteria, while the Platinum level adds an additional five criteria, which includes certification to ISO 9001:2008, achieving the Excellence Through People award and operating Corporate Social Responsibility practices.

Counting the Cost of Cash CASH360, from G4S, is the world’s only complete end-to-end cash management solution. It allows customers to do their business in a smarter way, reducing costs and security risks, while giving them back the time to focus on their core business.

David O’Meara, Director of Business Development, feels that its appeal lies in its adaptability: “CASH360 is bespoke to suit the individual needs of the customer and a versatile suite of CASH360 solutions is available, depending on the size, scope and needs of each retail operation.”

CASH360 has multiple benefits for those in the retail sector, including: • Minimising the amount of cash held on site by customers and the access staff have to cash, thus eliminating opportunities for robbery, burglary and fraud; • Offering operational efficiencies at no upfront cost for the user. The customer makes savings from day one; • Completely automating cash handling from the point of sale to the bank account, thus eliminating cash shrinkage and reducing in-house labour costs; • Allowing businesses to monitor their cash situation for several outlets from one central point; • Allowing users to focus on core functions by substantially reducing the time previously spent performing till counts, float dispensing, float hand-over and cash-ups; • Helping to eliminate miscounting.

CASH360 works by requiring the user to deposit cash into an intelligent safe, which detects and removes counterfeit notes, then counts and deposits banknotes into a tamper-evident cash bag. This cash bag is located inside a security-certified safe that is not accessible by the cashier. The cash bag is collected by G4S and transported by a secure vehicle to its cash centre in carry cases that have special ink protection. The intelligent system may even have an online connection to the customer so that cash can be reconciled to the business’ ePOS on a daily basis without the need to pick up and reconcile cash locally.

See www.g4s.ie for more information.

www.retailnews.ie|June 2011|Retail News|47

Retail Security AGuard Helps You Stay Securew 2010 RETAIL crime is a growing epidemic in Ireland. Each year, millions of euros are lost by the retail market and with every passing year the problem becomes worse. Crime in all its forms, petty crime, vandalism and theft, affects all retailers, from small to large.

The first step in effective retail security is to secure the building envelope. AGuard Security Services are a manufacturer and supplier of products specifically designed to offer a visible and strong barrier system to prevent crime for the retail market.

AGuard Security Services can provide security systems for securing entrances, car-parks, building envelopes and internal offices.

Physical security solutions manufactured by AGuard are modern, attractive and are available in a variety of automated solutions, helping to not only protect retailers’ premises, staff and stock, but to also enable effective retail display and merchandising.

Retailers are vulnerable at a variety of points and it is important that each business owner uses the correct type and level of security in the right area. Through AGuard’s range of roller shutters, retractable gates, security doors, parking barriers and shop fronts, they can offer a solution for every application.

AGuard manufacture a vast range of roller shutters, suitable for use with in window displays and also on external windows and doors. They can offer customised roller grilles that allow up to 75% vision-through, as well as commercial steel shutters for shielding and protecting. By combining AGuard produced shop fronts with their shutters, AGuard can ensure a secure building envelope.

AGuard’s range of high security doors have been tested and approved to ENV1627 Class 3&4. Their doors can be supplied with beautifully crafted timber effect panels, therefore offering a discrete and aesthetic approach to internal office security.

For more information on AGuard Security Services, see www.aguard.ie.

Equipment Asset Finance

Aluminium & Steel rollershutters Steel Security & Fire doors Aluminium & Steel Shop fronts Rubber Crash Doors Insulated Sectional Doors High Speed Cold & Clean Room Doors Maintenance & Repair Department

48|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Retail Security Cash Handling Systems’ extensive portfolio includes cutting-edge technologies designed to actively manage and optimise in-store cash flows, physical handling and movement of cash within a retail store.

Defending

Your Cash

CASH Handling Systems’ portfolio includes GLORY’s CASHINFINITY, the high quality, total solution to managing money flow efficiently, protecting cash throughout your store. The CASHINFINITY system is designed using high performing bank-note/coin recycler equipment and cash inventory management software, delivering real time central supervision of cash.

As the cash is processed through the machines skimming and shortages are eliminated.

Some other notable benefits include:

• Heightened security against attacks and theft; • Simplified cash collection and accurate return of change; • Improved Staff productivity and customer service; • Faster checkout time; • Integrated cash management; • Easy log-on; • No need to issue cash floats for each cashier.

Using its Front Circle Server Software, every ‘cash in’ and ‘cash out’ transaction at the point of sale is monitored, providing a real time denomination analysis for the entire store, available through a web browser.

The simple to interpret graphical presentation of cash balances allows managers to make informed decisions about the cash flow within the store and to and from the bank.

Meanwhile, the banknote/coin recycler, RBW-10/ RZ-50/RCW-8, makes cashier operation secure and speedy. Mixed denominations can be inserted, dispensed and counted, while the recycler will remove suspect coins and foreign objects, while counting, authenticating and securing the bank notes. Bank notes are then taken to the cash office in collection cassettes, with each movement tracked by a unique bar-code on the cassette.

The RBW-10, with superior styling and performance, is an efficient, automated banknote recycler for stress-free cash handling, The RZ-50 has more capacity than RBW-10 and has a secure alarmed safe. And when combined with the coin recycler, RCW8, is suitable for cash handling around the Point of Sale.

ECB Banknote Regulations

Also from Cash Handling, GLORY’s new USF-50 is the cashiers’ front line defence against forgeries. This two-

pocket banknote value counter for mixed banknotes offers a simple and efficient solution. The USF-50 will also fitness sort your banknotes in line with ECB Banknote Recycling Framework regulations which came into effect in January. These regulations apply to retailers who self-fill their in-store ATMs.

For more information on how Cash Handling can help you to save time and money, see www.cash-handling.ie.

For more information about GLORY and CASHINFINITY, see www.cashinfinity.net

Cash Handling Systems Unit H7, Maynooth Business Campus, Maynooth, Co Kildare Tel: 01 6510630 Fax: 01 6510116 Web: www.cash-handling.ie

50|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Seafood

Seafood Innovations Set to New

Shake Up Market

Keohane’s of Bantry, in conjunction with BIM’s Seafood Development Centre, have launched an innovative range of gourmet Irish convenience seafood products.

The new Keohane’s packaging allows consumers to see exactly what they are buying, as well as substantially increasing the shelf life of this fresh fish product up to nine days.

FOLLOWING the recent official opening of their bespoke factory in Cork and the announcement of the creation of 12 new jobs, Keohane’s of Bantry are now officially launching their new gourmet Irish seafood range of convenience products to an eagerly awaiting market. The new product range includes a number of species of microwaveable fresh Irish fish, the first of its kind in Ireland.

Projected sales over the next three years are valued at €6m as the company targets customers both on the home market and abroad.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Marine Simon Coveney TD; Rose McHugh, Chairman, BIM; and Michael Keohane of Keohane’s of Bantry, pictured at the official opening of the Keohane’s new facility in Kinsale Road, Cork City.

The packaging used allows consumers to see exactly what they are buying, as well as substantially increasing the shelf life of this fresh fish product up to nine days. In addition, the product can be microwaved in just over two minutes, with no need to remove the outer skin packaging. The company have worked closely with BIM’s Seafood Development Centre on many aspects of the product innovation and development process, as well as some aspects of their business planning.

Adding Value to Seafood

The latest figures from BIM show that pre-packed fresh fish now accounts for 68% of the total fresh fish market in Ireland and this new product range fits the market need perfectly, adding total convenience and a healthy option to the equation.

The company is run by father and son team, Michael and Colman Keohane. Last year, they were among the first graduates of the inaugural BIM/West Cork Enterprise Board

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Seafood BIM estimate that an additional €50m in value added seafood sales can be created by 2012. The industry already employs 11,000 people and it is on target to create 3,000 new jobs by 2020 by increasingly adding value to our products and developing our aquaculture industry.

The Keohane’s product range includes Tiger Prawns and the hugely popular Seafood Mix.

Seafood Business Development Programme and they also completed the BIM Specialist Business Development Programme.

Having carried out extensive feasibility research, the Keohanes set about positioning their new product range at target consumers who want to enjoy delicious seafood in their own home, but without the hassle or fuss of preparing complicated fish or shellfish dishes from scratch.

Broader Market Opportunities

Michael Keohane says he’s delighted that the label will bring fine Irish seafood to a broader market. “In particular, we’re really pleased that the new Keohane’s Seafoods range will help bring seafood to a wider target market,” he notes. “The convenience of our ready-prepared range means that busy families and individuals will have the opportunity to enjoy tempting 100% Irish seafood, even on days when they find they’ve very little time to cook.

“By selecting only superior quality fresh ingredients, we enable customers to enjoy an authentic gourmet seafood experience in their very own homes.

It’s just a matter of reading our easyto-follow instructions and serving!”

When customers see the Keohane’s label, they know they’re guaranteed premium Irish seafood that’s sourced from fishermen in Union Hall, Schull, Castletownbere and throughout the picturesque fishing villages of Bantry Bay. “We don’t use artificial colours

Keohane’s range can be microwaved in just over two minutes, with no need to remove the outer skin packaging.

or flavours,” Michael stresses. “This is supreme Irish seafood, prepared with only the best entirely natural ingredients.”

Wide Range of Flavours

In addition to offering quality and convenience, Colman Keohane says it was important for them that the new range catered for both traditional and contemporary tastes. As a result, Keohane’s products incorporate European, as well as Irish, culinary influences.

“Our range has been specially designed for broad appeal,” Colman explains. “We know that there are those who want simple traditional dishes, while others prefer more adventurous dishes, inspired by European cuisine. That’s why we’ve combined our own Keohane family favourites with several dishes based on Southern Mediterranean and French style cooking. Flavoursome plaice, salmon, sole, whiting, trout, smoked haddock and much more, can be enjoyed with the subtle nuances of a simple herb and butter sauce.

For those who prefer fuller or richer flavours, we offer delicious fresh Irish fish with Mediterranean Tomato or a French-style Mornay sauce.”

Ongoing Expansion Strategy

The launch of the new range is just the first step in the company’s ongoing expansion strategy, according to Colman: “We have further expansion plans in mind for the short to mediumterm, including the launch of additional products. Now that our state-of-the art production facility is up and running, we definitely have the capacity to continue to grow and develop. Over the coming years, we’re set to launch new products and grow our export potential by targeting new markets. However, despite our ambitious business plans, we’ll continue to be a true family business at heart – working closely with the fishing community in West Cork and offering our customers the most delicious fully-traceable Irish seafood dishes.”

Product Range ALL dishes in the Keohane’s Seafoods range are sealed for freshness and only require a few minutes homepreparation. The entire range is 100% natural, with no preservatives, no additives, no chemicals, no flavourings, no stabilisers and no GMO ingredients!

Fresh Fillet Range: • Fresh Salmon • Fresh Haddock • Smoked Coley Fresh Fillet with Butter Range: • Salmon with Roast Garlic and Parsley Butter • Hake with Lemon and Cracked Black Pepper Butter The range also includes: • Plaice • Lemon Sole • Whiting • Trout • Seafood Skewers • Smoked Haddock • Seafood Mix Keohane’s seasonal options include: • Tuna • Sea Bass • Swordfish • Tiger Prawns • Shrimp Additional flavoured butter options include: • Lemon & Thyme Butter • Red Chilli & Coriander Butter • Parsley & Watercress Butter • Chive Parsley & Rosemary Butter Additional sauce options include: • Mornay Sauce • Watercress Sauce • Mediterranean Tomato Sauce • White Wine Sauce • Lemon & Dill Sauce

52|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Seafood

Birds Eye Surges Ahead in Seafood BIRDS Eye has continued its strong performance in the fish category, growing its share from 20.3% to 24% in less than two years (Source: ACNielsen MAT, May 15, 2011). The growth has been driven by a combination of driving core products like Birds Eye Fish Fingers, launching successful NPD such as the Birds Eye’s Bake to Perfection range, and re-launching into coated fish.

Launched in October 2009, the Birds Eye Bake to Perfection range has turned the natural fish sector from -15% decline to 11% growth (Source: ACNielsen, December 26, 2010) and is now worth Birds Eye Bake to Perfection is a range of deliciously tasty fish fillets and seafood varieties, each complemented with the perfect sauce.

Birds Eye Fish Fingers are Ireland’s best selling and most loved fish fingers, with almost 80% market share.

over €2.75m, making it one of the most successful launches in recent years in the frozen fish category.

Birds Eye Bake to Perfection is a range of deliciously tasty fish fillets and seafood varieties, each complemented with the perfect sauce. Each variant comes with two individually wrapped portions and Birds Eye’s innovative packing technology, the ‘Bake Perfect Bag’ prevents the fish from drying out during the cooking process, while also preventing unwanted aromas. Birds Eye continues to support the Bake to Perfection range with a TV campaign throughout 2011.

Picnic’s Positive Performance PICNIC is a key player in the canned fish market, with an extensive range of variants, synonymous with quality at an everyday price. Tuna is the fastest growing product in the category.

Tuna chunks are available in both

oil and brine. One of Picnic’s most popular products is a triple-pack 80g tuna in oil or brine with a convenient ring pull. These small cans are convenient sandwich fillers or ideal as salad accompaniment for oneperson meals.

Also available in the Picnic range of canned fish are sardines, mackerel, herring fillets and red and pink salmon.

Kush Shellfish Achieve Carbon Trust Standard KUSH Shellfish, a gourmet shellfish business with production facilities in West Cork and Co. Kerry, has become the very first seafood business in Ireland and the UK to secure the Carbon Trust Standard, a corporate award that recognises ongoing efforts to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Kush Shellfish secured the environmental standard after proving that the business is actively reducing and managing its carbon footprint. In fact, the company has officially recorded an impressive 22.8% reduction in its overall carbon footprint.

With the recent launch of the brand’s ready-to-serve Premium Organic Rope Mussels in SuperValu, Dunnes Stores, Superquinn and Tesco supermarkets and steady sales growth in export markets, the rural-based business is poised for further expansion during the remainder of 2011.

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Drinks News Bulmers is Doing Its Bit BULMERS Ltd has launched a new campaign recognising the changing Irish social, environmental and economic landscape and the part Bulmers can play in affecting positive change. The campaign, ‘Doing Our Bit’ is series of initiatives, some small, some more significant, all intended to make a contribution toward making life in Ireland that little bit better. Featuring the Irish economist, David McWilliams in the Bulmers Orchard in Clonmel, the TV ad sees McWilliams explaining the principles of economics, or “orchardomics”, to familiar characters such as Tom, Dessie and Liam, inviting them to put forward ideas for ‘Doing their Bit’ to get the country out of its current economic mess. Needless to say, the orchard workers interpretation of economics is a little different to the one proffered by McWilliams. Stephen Kent, Bulmers Marketing Director, is pictured with David McWilliams, Economist, on set in the orchards in Clonmel.

Heineken at Oxegen 2011 HEINEKEN, official sponsor of Oxegen, launched its ‘Great Oxegen Giveaway’ campaign with Irish rockers Royseven (pictured) this month. The band, who play the world renowned festival this July 8-10, were on hand to encourage fans to enter the on-pack promotion in off-licences throughout the country and win weekend passes to Europe’s favourite rock and roll weekend. Codes found inside Heineken’s 12 & 20 bottle packs and 8 & 12 can packs give fans the opportunity to get their hands on a pair of the musical golden tickets to Oxegen every day. The promotion is supported with a full marketing campaign. Once at Oxegen, music fans will be treated to the return of the Heineken Cold Rooms, where cans of Heineken can be checked in and chilled to perfection for free, ensuring cold Heineken for the entire weekend.

New Jameson BOOK Launches AN Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD has launched a specially commissioned book, ‘The Spirit We Share’, to mark the global success of Jameson, which achieved sales of 3m cases in 2010.

The launch event at Dublin’s Grand Canal Theatre was attended by Patrick Ricard, Chairman, Pernod Ricard, and Alexandre

Ricard, Chairman and Chief Executive, Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard (pictured with An Taoiseach).

The Bend in the River Links with A Wear THE Bend in the River has linked up with A Wear retail outlets to offer consumers the opportunity to win a €100 A Wear voucher every day for 60 days. What’s more, A Wear are also giving consumers the chance to sample The Bend in the River wines in store during their Girls Night In evenings, as well as offering a further discount in-store. Each unique entrant will receive a 10% discount (via text) at AWear to redeem when they spend €50 at any AWear store in ROI: see neck collars on The Bend in the River bottles for details and T & Cs. This innovative wine brand, constantly on the look out to meet consumers’ changing wine tastes, has just launched a Sauvignon Blanc varietal, and The Bend in the River will be on promotion at €6.99 during July, to co-incide with this fantastic A Wear consumer offer.

Take a Day Off with Yali VINA Ventisquerio winemaker, Alejandro Galaz, visited Dublin recently and hosted the first tutored tasting of Yali wines for the Irish media. He also launched a new consumer promotion, ‘Take A Day Off with Yali’, being run in association with BirdWatch Ireland. Up until July 31, consumers can look for a unique code found on special neck collars on all bottles of Yali wines. By entering the code on www.TakeaDayOffwithYali.ie, they could instantly win one of a selection of spot prizes.

These range from BirdWatch Ireland starter kits to Yali t-shirts, hats and bottles of wine and a special guided visit to one of BirdWatch Ireland’s reserves around the country.

54|Retail News|June 2011|www.retailnews.ie

Shelf Life

PICTURED is model Vogue Wilson, who, along with actress and writer Amy Huberman, were the joint number one choices in a recent West Coast Cooler Citra survey amongst girls, when they were asked who would they like to join their group of girl friends on a night out. The survey coincided with the launch of West Coast Cooler Citra, a sparkly and refreshing citrus wine cooler with hints of lemon and lime, which is now available in the on and off trade nationwide.

THE Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival 2011, which took place in Schull recently, was a resounding success for title sponsors Corona Extra. While the town was emblazoned in the Corona colours (courtesy of a hard-working festival committee), the festival showcased 135 films, numerous workshops and seminars, and brought together first time filmmakers, established directors, producers and film buffs of all ages. The Festival was unique in that several unusual venues (the town has no cinema!!) were used to show films and wi-fi hot spots enabled the public to view submissions on smart phones, laptops, ipads etc.

CONGRATULATIONS to all 50 runners, joggers and walkers who took part in the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon on behalf of Friends of the Rotunda in association with Eumom.ie on June Bank Holiday Monday.

MARS teamed up with Irish and Leinster rugby star Luke Fitzgerald and Ireland’s very own MTV presenter Laura Whitmore, to launch the Mars Play Your Part campaign, which encourages Irish people to make a real difference and give something back in their local community by volunteering. Mars is working in partnership with Volunteer Ireland, the national volunteer development agency, to identify and highlight volunteering opportunities in villages, towns and cities all over Ireland. See www.irelandinvolved.ie for more information.

A NEW sponsorship deal has been announced for the Topaz Donegal International Rally. The three year sponsorship deal between Topaz and the Donegal Motor Club coincides with the 40th Anniversary of the Rally. Over 150 drivers from all over the country participated in this year’s event from June 17-19.

Pictured are (l-r): Topaz Chief Executive, Eddie O’Brien; Irish Tarmac Rally Champion, Gareth McHale; Danny Gormley, Clerk of the Course, Donegal Motor Club; and Damien Crawford, Donegal Motor Club.

PICTURED are John McCormack, CEO, Irish Cancer Society, and Jennifer Codd, Director, Codd Mushrooms, at the launch of The Honest Farmer’s ‘Turn the Pack Pink’ campaign at this year’s Bloom Festival. The Honest Farmer, who have been dedicated to growing the best and most delicious mushrooms in Ireland for the last 20 years, are aiming to reach a target of €10,000 to donate to this very worthy cause. To this end, they have repackaged their nationwide famous mushrooms into distinctive pink punnets, lighting up supermarket shelves for the month of June.

MARKET-leading gluten and wheat free brand DS-gluten free (Dietary Specials) has teamed up with Dunnes to launch the Republic of Ireland’s first ever frozen gluten and wheat free food.

The new frozen range, which launches in 49 stores across the country, includes DS-gluten free Margherita Pizza, Thin and Crispy Pepperoni Pizza and Tear and Share Garlic Bread. The move follows continued growth in sales of gluten and wheat free products and will meet demand from category consumers for quick and convenient meals and snacks.

DCU students Daniel Blanchfield and Brendan Mackey are pictured being presented with an official Guinness World Record for the world’s fastest bed making, from Deirdre Harte, Corporate Affairs Manager, Cadbury Ireland. With a super fast time of just 21.35 seconds, they smashed the world record with their high-speed performance. Daniel and Brendan were given the chance to beat this unique world record when they took part in Cadbury Spots v Stripes Race Season. See www.spotsvstripes.com for more information.

CAPTAIN Morgan will be partying with the masses at Oxegen from July 8-10 in Punchestown, Co. Kildare. This is the first time Captain Morgan has attended Oxegen and it’s also his debut on the festival scene. The Captain will have his own dedicated party tent at the festival, featuring daily shows and live entertainment. The Captain area will also have a bespoke ship shaped bar, serving a variety of Captain Morgan mixes.

‘Since I joined Daybreak my store has gone from strength to strength.

The support I receive from the Musgrave team is second to none.’

Stephen Clayton, Daybreak Kilcullen

‘Open up to better profits’ Are you looking to improve the profitability of your store?

If so, then Daybreak is the smart choice. Here are five good reasons to choose Daybreak: Real Value for Money As part of the Musgrave Group, we will enhance your sales and your margins with our competitive pricing and deep cut promotions.

A fresh look at ‘Food to go’ Our new food solutions will drive your profitability.

Saving you money Our development costs are much more competitive than other symbols.

Our team An experienced and responsive team are always at your disposal.

Our vibrant new image We’ve invested substantially to create a fresh new look.

For more information call us on

086 771 4666

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SMOKING CAUSES CANCER Irish Government Warning