Glenisk recorded a four-fold increase in pre-tax profits to €700,337 last year, according to accounts just filed. The organic yoghurt producer's profits rose by 353% after revenues increased by 20% from €14.08m to €16.94m. Vincent Cleary, founder and managing director of Glenisk said, “Glenisk continues to be amongst the fastest growing brands on the Irish grocery scene. We will see further growth for 2013 in terms of revenue. 2013 has witnessed a sharp increase in our cost base, particularly that of our raw ingredients, but we continue to offer best value to our market." Glenisk’s workforce increased by 20% this year, and the business now employs a total of 60 people and supporting 50 organic farmers in Ireland.
A delegation from Spar Shanxi, China, has paid a visit to Ireland to learn about world class convenience retailing in Spar stores in Dublin and Kildare. Spar Shanxi, which primarily operates a larger hypermarket format, is looking to diversify into smaller convenience stores typically seen in Ireland. Commenting on the visit, Willie O’Byrne, managing director, BWG Foods said, “Spar Ireland is, by now, well known in China and the two countries have built a strong affiliation over recent years. Spar Ireland has already facilitated meetings between Spar China and several Irish suppliers and we are delighted to welcome another delegation – this time to showcase some of the world’s best examples of convenience retailing.” Spar Shanxi operates over 70 stores in Shanxi and 10 stores in Inner Mongolia and provides employment for 12,435 people.
Philip Morris has commissioned a legal opinion in response to proposals by the government to introduce plain packaging cigarettes in Ireland. In it, the Marlboro owner warned that such measures could lead to “an extremely high price” of compensation being paid to multinational tobacco companies by taxpayers. The letter, which was leaked to The Irish Times said, “Any proposal to introduce plain packaging or oversize warnings labelling legislation without compensation is likely to be struck down by the European and Irish courts. The alternative is that packaging restrictions come at the extremely high price of monetary compensation.” The opinion, addressed to Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Minister for Health James Reilly, was written by solicitor Michael M. Collins SC.
Monaghan-based Grove Turkeys has announced that it will supply Tesco Ireland with 100,000 turkeys over the Christmas period, in a deal that is worth €3 million. Approximately 275 seasonal staff have been employed by the company to help fulfill the order. "Over the last few years we have seen huge demand for Grove Turkey’s products which has seen our partnership with the company go from strength to strength,” said Andrew Cunningham, Tesco Ireland. “Tesco continues to be the biggest supporter of the Irish food and drink sector. Working with local suppliers is core to our business strategy so we are delighted to be able to bring quality products like Grove’s to our customers.”
Insomnia Coffee has launched a new Christmas range for the festive period. The new products include a wide array of sweet and savoury products, including Hazelnut Hot chocolate, Honeycomb Hot Chocolate, Frosted White Chocolate Mocha and Cinnamon Meringue Latte & Cappuccino. New pastries and cakes include the Red Velvet cake, Banana Pecan & Date Loaf, Spiced Apple Pastry and Nutcracker Brownie. Commenting on the new range, Bobby Kerr, Insomnia Chairperson said, “Christmas is our favourite time in Insomnia and we love to see what our suppliers have created for our customers. It is our job to ensure the festive theme matches product quality and gives our customers a truly festive flavoured experience.”
One4all has welcomed consumer protection action on the sales of all its gift cards and vouchers from The Gift Voucher Shop. New research from Millward Browne on behalf of One4all indicated that as many as 250,000 consumers have suffered financial loss as a result of purchasing goods/services where the supplier subsequently went out of business. On average, the financial loss was considerable at €170. The research revealed that shoppers are confused about whether vouchers or gift cards are protected by consumer regulation and the majority (85%) of those surveyed agreed there should be government legislation to protect the customer. Chief Executive of the Gift Voucher Shop Michael Dawson said, "With Christmas only around the corner, we need to let consumers know that legislation already exists that protects the likes of the One4all gift cards and others that are governed by ‘emoney’ regulation, to give consumers the reassurance they need."
Tesco has completed the sale of its US Fresh & Easy arm to investment firm Yucaipa. The deal will see 150 Fresh & Easy stores and 4,000 employees being transferred to Yucaipa as well as the Riverside distribution and production facilities. A Tesco spokesperson said, “Following the announcement of 10 September 2013 that Tesco had agreed the sale of the substantive part of Fresh & Easy’s operating business to YFE Holdings Inc, an affiliate of Yucaipa Companies LLC, Tesco is today confirming the completion of the transaction.” The deal incorporated a £80 million loan to Yucaipa, secured against the Riverside facility. Tesco announced its intention to leave the US in April this year as part of a plan to reorganise its international operations.
Britvic Ireland and energy supplier Vayu have signed a renewable electricity deal valued at €1.8 million in the first year. Vayu will supply gas and 100% green electricity to Britvic’s three sites in Dublin, Limerick and Clondalkin. A spokesperson for Britvic Ireland said, “Britvic Ireland is a member of Origin Green, a Bord Bia programme that sets out Ireland’s ambition to become a world leader in the delivery of sustainable, high-quality food and drink products. We have achieved enormous progress to date through initiatives that significantly reduce energy consumption, packaging recycling, water use, and waste generation.”
The Food and Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), Teagasc and SafeFood held a seminar on the upcoming changes to food labels last week. The event, held at the Teagasc Food & Research Centre in Dublin discussed the impact to Irish businesses, explored permitted nutrition and health claims, and presented case studies on allergen controls in manufacturing settings were also be presented by food industry representatives. The FDII Skillnet Food & Drink labelling seminar also takes place today in Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Dublin. The event will explore the EU Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers and is being run by the FSAI, The Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, FoodDrinkEurope, FDII, Brandbank and the UK’s Food & Drink Federation.
© 2013 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson
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