Did you know… BWG Foodservice has been selected by First Choice Purchasing Ltd to become a primary supplier of chilled, frozen and ambient goods to hotels and nursing homes, in a deal worth €15 million? The deal follows a competitive tender process. John Moane, Managing Director of BWG’s Wholesale Division said, “This contract represents a very significant addition to our business and we are delighted to have been selected through the competitive tender process. The fact that we are an Irish owned and operated company was an important factor in us securing this contract, as was our ability to deliver cost competitiveness through our consolidated supply network.” BWG Foodservice will service customers of First Choice Purchasing in key geographic locations in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
Glacier Consulting, in association with the ECR Future Trends Forum, is hosting the second of three Shopper Marketing Symposium events at the Tony Ryan Academy in Citywest, Dublin, this Thursday morning, from 8am until 10.30am approx. The event features presentations from Robert Flavin, Shopper Planning Manager W. Europe at Diageo, and Eoghan Phelan, General Manager at Visualise, and will be moderated by Ken Hughes of Glacier Consulting. Checkout has once again been named as media partner for the event. The Shopper Marketing Symposium series is held in conjunction with the ECR Future Trends Forum and is sponsored by Visualise. Places are limited, to apply click hereDid you know… The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is hosting another ‘Breakfast Bites’ seminar on May 15? Aimed at small food businesses, the seminar will provide information about what to expect from a visit from an Environmental Health Officer (EHO). Philip Devenish, EHO, will outline what to expect during an inspection and answer some of the who, why and when questions for food businesses. Devenish will also run through the specifics of what the EHO assesses and explain how they convert their findings into an inspection result, as well as how they use that result to decide what they’ll do next.
Did you know… The National Dairy Council & Kerrygold have commeced the entry process for this year's Quality Milk Awards? The Awards seek to highlight and reward high standards on Irish dairy farms, in particular with regard to sustainability, care of the environment, animal welfare and the quality of the milk. Kevin Lane, CEO, Irish Dairy Board said, “The world class quality milk our dairy farmers produce every day ensures that the dairy products we market around the world meet the high standards our customers and consumers expect and enjoy. As the industry prepares to maximise the unique opportunities the post quota environment will bring, it has never been more important to support and promote best practice dairy farm management.” Nominations for the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards can be submitted from co-ops and co-op farm services managers with a nomination form, prepared in consultation with the farmer. Entry forms are available at www.qualitymilkawards.ie and the closing date is the end of April.
Did you know… AIB has launched a new €500 million loan fund for the farming sector? The loan fund has been welcomed by farmers across the country, amidst concerns of the absence of agricultural lending due to ACC bank leaving the Irish market. The AIB fund will supply finance for working capital, asset purchases and other farm investments, as well as allow the refinancing of existing loans from banks that are leaving the Irish market, such as ACC or Danske bank. AIB obtained the funds from the European Investment Bank at a discounted rate but it is unclear at this time if or how much the discounted rate will be passed on to the farmers applying for credit.
Did you know... The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has launched a new online calorie calculator? ‘MenuCal’, the name of the service, is available to Ireland’s 22,000 food service businesses free-of-charge to enable them to calculate the calorie values in the food they sell and serve to customers. It was developed to address the food industry’s concern about the lack of the expertise and resources to accurately calculate calories for display on menus and the associated costs involved. In response, the FSAI sourced a team of nutritionists, computer scientists and food business trainers to create the bespoke, easy-to-use solution for the Irish market that would act as a resource to assist chefs and cooks identify calorie values, taking account of types and quantities of ingredients used, method of preparation and portion size. MenuCal is considered a first of its kind in Europe and the FSAI has already received interest from other countries wishing to adopt the system.
Did you know… Silver Hill Foods has signed up for a new deal with Irish energy supplier Vayu for renewable electricity? The duck meat supplier, based in Monaghan, processes over 3.5 million ducks annually, supplying to local supermarkets and larger grocery multiples. The Vayu deal is valued at €1 million over two years and involves the supply of 100% green energy electricity. Stuart Steele, Managing Director of Silver Hill Foods, said, “Our partnership with Vayu will help us reduce our environmental footprint even further by providing us with green electricity with a 100% renewable rating. Not only does the deal provide us with direct access to sustainable electricity at wholesale market prices, but we are partnering with a company that has demonstrated a deep understanding and expertise of Ireland’s energy market.”
Did you know… The Bord Gais Social Media Awards this year will include two categories for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)? The ‘Sockie’ awards will acknowledge SMEs for ‘Best use of Social Media’ and ‘Best Blog’. Held on June 5 in the Bord Gais Theatre and sponsored by the Irish Independent, the closing date for entries to the awards is April 18. Damien Mulley, founder of the awards said, “We hope that with the focus on SMEs and the inclusion of some new categories, this year's event will be our biggest and most successful yet.” Over 400 submissions were received last year and the organisers expect to beat that figure in 2014.
Did you know… The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has recalled some batches of Wonderbar Dark Chocolate Flavour Cake Covering? The product was recalled as a result of a report of one case of an allergic reaction after eating Home Cook Wonderbar Dark Chocolate Flavour Cake Covering. The affected person is known to be allergic to both milk and egg, and the product was tested with milk protein found in the implicated batch. Milk is not normally an ingredient in this product, however, it is manufactured on the same production line as chocolate products containing milk ingredients. This may make this batch unsafe for consumers who are allergic to or intolerant of milk or its constituents. This batch is also being tested for the presence of egg, however egg is not used as an ingredient on this production line. Depending on the outcome of this test, this allergen alert will be updated, if necessary. The implicated batch is marked as Jan 2015, batch: 094900314; pack sizes: 450g and 150g.
Did you know… Boots is to expand in Ireland with three new stores? The health care company will create 26 new jobs with the planned store openings across Ireland. The jobs will include pharmacists, customer service assistants and beauty advisors. Boots recently opened a store in Carrigaline in Cork and will open a new shop in Glenageary, Dublin at the end of April. In addition, Boots has another store to open in Blackrock in May, as well as relocating its Ilac Centre premises to a larger location this week.
Did you know… Irish meat factories are looking to overthrow the free trade of livestock between Ireland and the UK? According to the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), livestock prices are being controlled and manipulated by meat factories, which is discriminating against livestock marts. Chairman of ICOS, Michael Spellman said, “Irish-owned meat factories have demanded adherence to onerous conditions around the movement of livestock and which have no basis in terms of regulation or quality and no justification on animal welfare or veterinary grounds.” ICOS has brought a complaint to the European Directorate for Competition on this matter, while meat processors have claimed there is no basis for such a complaint.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson
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