Did you know… It's National Bread Week? The Flour Confectioners and Bakers Association (FCBA) launched National Bread Week at the Bord Bia headquarters on Monday in an effort to encourage consumers to “Love Your Loaf". National Bread Week runs from October 13 to 18, and is supported by TV cook and author Rachel Allen and Senator Feargal Quinn, as well as Dr Mary McCreery, dietician at Blackrock Clinic. The campaign aims to celebrate the rich Irish bread heritage, educate, and change negative perceptions about bread that have come about over the years. Some of the events over the week include: Patrick McCloskey, president of the FCBA, will be revealing the largest ever soda bread in Dublin's St Stephen's Green; Jack Cuthbert Breads will be holding tastings at Dunnes Stores, Blackpool (Friday 17) and Douglas Court, Cork (Saturday 18) and O’Haras of Foxford are running a competition for Mayo Primary Schools to write a song about bread. The full list of events is available at www.nationalbreadweek.ie or @loveyourloaf on Twitter.
Did you know… Retailers in North Dublin, many of whom are members of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN), have called for a serious clamp-down on the illegal sale of cigarettes, as it is seriously impacting their business? They have also expressed concerns over Government proposals to introduce a tobacco license fee next year, arguing this will also have a serious negative impact on their businesses. North Dublin Member of NRFN, Joe Sweeney, who runs a shop in Donaghmede, told the Fingal Independent: “Inevitably a certain percentage of tobacco retailers will not be able to afford the proposed license fee and will be forced to opt out of the market. In doing so the market share of legitimate retailers will decline as criminals reap an increase in profits from additional sales.” The largest seizure of illicit tobacco to take place in Europe occurred at Drogheda Port three months ago, illustrating the demand for illicit tobacco. An NFRN spokesperson told the Fingal Independent, “This contradicts claims by the former Minister for Health James Reilly that the scale of the problem is inflated, if this were true, why would such a large quantity of the product be smuggled into Ireland?”
Did you know… The price of milk will remain low over the coming months, as Irish dairy farmers scale up for the abolition of milk quotas next year, according to a report? A new report from Rabobank has signalled a “prolonged period ahead of low prices”, while farmers are appealing to get a fairer share of the market price for food. The Dairy Quarterly Report warns international dairy prices will be low for one year, due to a combination of strong supplies from exporting countries, a Russian ban on certain imports and weaker Chinese demand. International prices were already 30-40% lower than February levels, however, this had taken longer to filter through to the farms themselves. Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil agriculture spokesman Eamon O'Cuiv warned in the Dail that the Irish family farm was “being whittled away by mounting pressure on price and market manipulation.” Recent Central Statistics Office figures show that the price of milk paid to farmers dropped by 7% in the year to July 2014.
Did you know… Musgrave Group has been working on plans to offer customers financial services products over the past year? The group’s entry into the sector will see it focus on 222 SuperValu stores, most of which are operated by franchisees. Industry sources have told the Sunday Independent that Musgrave is also in talks with Liberty Insurance regarding offering home and motor insurance through the SuperValu chain from next year. A spokesperson for SuperValu confirmed this, also telling the Sunday Independent, “We will launch SuperValu travel insurance in the coming weeks with ACE.” Earlier this year, SuperValu also launched a ‘click and collect’ service for online shoppers at a store in Cork, and opened its first gluten-free supermarket bakery. Rival Tesco has offered insurance products to customers in the past through RSA insurance, although it no longer offers these to new customers.
Did you know… An app designed to track beef factory prices has been released, which the Department of Agriculture hope will help bridge the information gap that has exacerbated farmers' troubles this past year? News of the ‘Beef Pricewatch’ app came in response to a parliamentary question by Kerry TD Tom Fleming to the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney. Minister Coveney also responded that controlling factory beef prices was outside of his department’s remit, saying, “The price paid to farmers for their animals by meat processing factories is a commercial transaction and neither I nor my Department has any influence on prices. I do, however, have an important role to play in providing strategic direction and investment support to the sector.” The initiative is the result of meetings of the Beef Forum, which included representatives of organisation such as IFA, Teagasc and Bord Bia.
Did you know… Lidl is the fourth most popular place to work in Ireland among students? According to a survey by gradireland.com, which polled 8,000 students in the Republic and the North, Lidl climbed from 21st last year to fourth this year. Ruairi Kavanagh, editor of gradireland.com told the Irish Independent that Lidl's impressive climb up the rankings showed that retail is becoming recognised as a serious industry for graduates. He said, "When you have a company like Lidl in the top ten, it shows that it has kind of changed the perception of what a career in retail is.” Google placed as first favourite firm to work for, while Deloitte took second. Consultancy companies Accenture and PwC took third and fifth respectively. Kavanagh said that the top ten favourites demonstrated that graduates are looking at areas where employment might actually be available.
Did you know… Girolomoni has announced the recall of a batch of Organic Penne Rigate Whole Emmer Wheat Pasta, due to elevated levels of the mycotoxin, ochratoxin A detected? Point of sale recall notices are being displayed in the supplied shops, and customers are advised not to eat the implicated pasta. The affected batch retails in packs of 500g, and can be identified by the batch code: ‘Best before 15/06/16’, ‘Country of Origin: Italy’.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson and Emily Horne.
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