irish Archives - Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer

Tesco buys €1.6 billion of Irish food & drink products

Linda Stewart — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:41:12 +0000

Tesco purchases €1.6 billion worth of Irish food and drink each year, according to a report commissioned by the retailer.

Of that, €730m is sold in its Irish stores while €960m worth of goods is exported to its outlets in other countries.

The company said this makes it the biggest retailer buyer of Irish produce in the world and a bigger buyer than any country in the European Union.

“Remarkably, Tesco’s overall domestic purchases and exports of Irish food and drink exceeded Ireland’s overall agrifood exports to each of France, Germany, the Netherlands and the US in 2021,” said William H Batt, Indecon’s economic consultants who led the assessment.

“Given the scale of these purchases, Indecon’s research suggests that Tesco is the single largest retail purchaser of Irish food and drink in the world,” he added.

The report by international economic consultants Indecon was commissioned to mark the 25th anniversary of Tesco’s arrival in the Irish market.

It says Tesco’s total expenditure here – including wages, produce and services – was €2.44 billion – a 26% increase on 2007.

It put the retailer’s gross contribution to Ireland’s GDP at €1.87 billion, up 16% in the past decade.

“Our significant spend with Irish businesses helps to secure the jobs of local people and many local Irish suppliers,” said Tesco Ireland’s CEO Natasha Adams.

“In addition, the success of Irish farmers and food processors supplying us domestically and exporting to Tesco internationally reflects the outstanding quality and unwavering commitment of the Irish agri-food sector,” she added.

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MACE retailers discuss retail ideas and opportunities at national event

Linda Stewart — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 10:30:36 +0000

Ireland rugby captain and MACE Ambassador Johnny Sexton joined MACE retailers from around Ireland at a special business forum.

The event discussed the ideas and opportunities facing the grocery retailing industry, along with revealing a number of technologies and other solutions to support retailers’ businesses that are due to roll out over the next 12 months.

Held at the Kilsahee Resort & Spa in Naas, Co. Kildare, this was the first in-person MACE retailer event in more than three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was very well attended.

Among the new solutions showcased on the day was BWG Foods’ new predictive AI stock management system, ShopLink PRO, which leverages hundreds of complex data points to predict consumer demand for in-store products, allowing for smarter forecasting of stock requirements, while also considering business promotions and category management to deliver the next five-day sales forecasts.

The BWG team also revealed an innovative new HR Support service for retailers to manage this very important part of their business.

BWG Foods, owners and operators of the MACE brand in Ireland, also showcased a number of their latest food and beverage concepts including Háo Chi Bar, The Local Tea Company, Popsicle, Pazza @ Home and I-Scream, the exclusive ice cream offering.

Peter Dwan, sales director at MACE, said: “It was wonderful that so many Mace retailers were able to get together for this very important and informative meeting. It’s been over three years since the Mace family got together which made today’s event even more enjoyable. Retailing evolved over this period, so it was more important than ever that we got together as we all know, retailers learn from each other.

“Businesses are facing huge challenges with the extraordinary rate of increase in energy costs as well as rising inflation, collectively we need to help each other over the coming weeks and months as we navigate this latest challenge. Today’s event showcased how technology ‘ innovation and a joined up approach will support retailers into the future.”

Caption: Padraig Delaney and Ger Kelly, (MACE Moneen, Castlebar) with Ireland rugby captain and MACE Ambassador Johnny Sexton.

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Government to be given powers over fuel distribution under emergency legislation

Linda Stewart — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 10:24:07 +0000

The government is to be given sweeping powers to take over the fuel distribution system in the event of an emergency as part of new legislation to be published this autumn.

The Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2022 will include emergency planning for oil shortages on a statutory basis by giving the Minister for Environment powers to control the use and sale of fuel, establishing an emergency planning register of suppliers and providing for data transfer from Revenue to give proper oversight of national oil consumption in real-time.

The bill will be introduced by Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Environment, in the coming months, according to the Business Post.

It comes as minutes of the Energy Security Emergency Group (ESEG), released under freedom of information, show emergency plans to limit sales of petrol and diesel at forecourts through a “technical solution” at fuel pumps that could cap the volumes that can be dispensed at an individual pump.

The legislation and the plans being prepared by ESEG would only be used in the event of a serious oil supply shock that resulted in shortages of liquid fuels in Ireland. The ESEG thinks this is a very low-probability, even with wider gas supply issues due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment said the details of the bill were being finalised and would be subject to government approval.

“In broad terms the purpose of the Bill is to strengthen the statutory underpinning of oil emergency contingency and response measures, to provide for Government’s response to a severe and prolonged oil emergency,” the spokeswoman said.

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July spending steady but teenagers still splashing out: Bank of Ireland

Linda Stewart — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 10:24:41 +0000

Bank of Ireland debit and credit card spending in July was fairly flat, with a 1% total monthly fall recorded, as a mixed picture emerged across business sectors.

The bank says that while other age groups mainly decreased their July spending, teenagers are clearly enjoying their summer holidays with a major spending increase of +17% for the month, a trend which was also reflected in June.

There was an uptick in social (+2%) spending throughout July, whilst spending in pubs (+4%), restaurants (+3%) and in fast-food outlets (+1%) all recorded positive figures – having all posted negative spending stats in June. The improved July weather also saw a spending hike in cinemas of just +5%, a stark drop from June’s cinema spending rise of +25%.

Overall spending in the Retail sector was down 3% in total, with outlay on clothing (-10%) and groceries (-1%) both dropping, but spending on petrol (+5%) rose as forecourt fuel prices levelled off somewhat nationwide. Consumers were also evidently not keen to forego their sweet treats in July, with spending in bakeries (+5%) also rising.

On a regional level the spending patterns were broadly flat, with similar spending levels being recorded in Limerick (-3%), Cork (-2%), Kildare (-1%), Mayo (-1%), Donegal (-1%) and Waterford (-1%). Foreign spending rose in popular European hotspots like Croatia (+28%), Portugal (+9%) and Italy (+5%), whilst intense heatwaves in the likes of Cyprus (-13%) and Turkey (-3%) saw a spending drop off in both countries as some holiday makers opted to visit different destinations.

Commenting on July’s spending data, Jilly Clarkin, Head of Customer Journeys & SME Markets at Bank of Ireland said: “The sun was shining in July and we were doing less shopping and more socialising.

“However, the spending picture was a mixed one last month, with some sectors performing well and others flat lining or dropping slightly. This spending restraint was not just in a small number of counties, it was nationwide – and while the overall drop was small, it will be interesting to monitor over the coming months to determine if it’s becoming a trend.

“For the Irish abroad, Croatia was leading the charge in month on month spending increases in popular holiday destinations. Another interesting element in July was that spending among teenagers (13 – 17 year olds) soared, with a notable monthly increase of +17%, which was similar to May and June trends and perhaps reflects a less cautious attitude than the rest of us”.

BoI debit and credit card transactions – July 2022 vs. June 2022

Accommodation +5%

Pubs +4%

Restaurants +3%

Fast Food +1%

Down

Clothing -10%

Bus Lines -8%

Transport -5%

Groceries -1%

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Sales of cocktails and long drinks soared 60% last year

Linda Stewart — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 09:58:13 +0000

Drinks Ireland’s latest figures show that the Ready to Drink (RTD) spirits category is set to continue growing in popularity this summer.

The category includes hard seltzers and ready to drink cocktails, many of which have hit shelves for the first time in recent years.

These drinks took the global market by storm during the Covid pandemic, with the volume of sales up by 14% in 2021 and 26% in 2020.

This trend was mirrored here, according to Drinks Ireland. Sales of cocktails and long drinks in Ireland grew by 60% last year, while hard seltzers were up by 46%.

This comes as overall alcohol consumption continues to decline in Ireland, down by 4.7% between 2020 and 2021, and 33% since 2001.

The majority of sales were imported RTD products, but a number of local producers have entered the market, with sales of Irish RTD brands up by 7.4% between 2020 and 2021.

Vincent McGovern, director of Spirits at Drinks Ireland, said that RTDs are another great innovation in the Irish spirits market that consumers have responded positively to.

“We are seeing Irish suppliers jump on this trend, and this is set to continue,” he said.

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