In a new series by Checkout Magazine, we will be examining the biggest news from Irish retailers across the year.
Tesco Ireland is a popular choice for Irish shoppers, maintaining its number-two spot in Ireland’s supermarket share for the year, passing defending leader Dunnes Stores briefly in July, according to Kantar.
Through store openings, community engagement, charitable initiatives and more, the retailer has solidified its place as one of Ireland’s favourites.
Here is a summary of Tesco in 2024.
Store Openings
It was a bumper year for the retailer’s Irish store openings, as eight new Irish stores opened between April and December.
Tesco opened four stores within two weeks in April – two in Dublin, one in Laois and one in Limerick – and has continued with shop openings until as recently as last week.
Speaking at one of the openings, Tesco Ireland CEO Geoff Byrne said, “We are continuing to invest in new stores around the country, and we look forward to embedding ourselves into these communities for many years to come.”
The retailer now operates 177 stores around the country.
Awards
Tesco Ireland saw a successful year in terms of awards recognition for its products and its standing as a retailer.
The group was honoured at the prestigious Monde Awards in Brussels this year, taking home eight gold medals for its meat products.
Advantage Group UK and Ireland subsequently named it suppliers' retailer of choice in a new ‘Voice of the Supplier Report.’
It also took home 63 accolades at this year’s Blas na hÉireann awards, as well as eight awards at the World Steak Challenge 2024.
Irish producers
Tesco Ireland has continued its support of Irish producers this year, renewing contracts with old partners and building on deals.
Last December, they announced an extension to its three-year partnership with Cork-based cheese company Bandon Vale, and in April it renewed its supply deal with Keohane Seafood, in a move worth more than €21 million.
When Tesco announced the contract extension with Keohane Seafood, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment at the time Simon Coveney welcomed the news.
Coveney said, “Tesco Ireland’s commitment to supporting great Irish producers, like Keohane’s, is important for securing and maintaining future jobs, particularly in rural and coastal areas.”
In March, Love Irish Food (LIF) revealed that its retail sales had increased by 40% since it began its partnership with Tesco Ireland.
Following the announcement, the commercial director at Tesco Ireland Joe Manning spoke about the retailer's wider goals, saying, “Championing a sustainable food industry is at the heart of the Tesco Ireland business.”
Sustainability
In January, Tesco Ireland announced that it had spent €15 million ahead of Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) – which launched 1 February – by installing reverse vending machines (RVMs) in every store.
Ahead of the installation of reverse vending machines in Tesco’s stores, its country operations manager Darin Horner noted that the scheme “will require significant change in consumer behaviour.”
Speaking about the investment, Tesco Ireland COO Natasha Adams said, “We’re hugely committed to playing our part in building a more sustainable world.”
In May, Tesco began rolling out a new meat ‘pillow pack’ following a successful trial in an effort to cut plastic waste.
The packs use 70% less plastic than the previous packaging method.
In June, Tesco took a delivery of 50 biomethane-fuelled trucks, which are part of the retailer’s commitment to reduce emissions all across its production line.
As well as this, the retailer built each new store with sustainability in mind, adding features such as fridge doors to fight excessive energy consumption.
Charity Initiatives
Tesco’s Community Fund has always served each community the stores are located in, ensuring a thousands of organisations are supported.
On top of this, Tesco this year expanded its Stronger Starts Programme, so now it provides 240 DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) primary schools around the country with weekly fresh-food packs.
As the summer holidays began, the retailer turned its attention to helping Family Resource Centres (FRCs) to prevent children from going hungry while not at school.
In August, it gave a donation of €6,794 to the Cappagh Hospital Foundation and Cappagh Kids to support their work in ensuring a positive hospital experience and exceptional care for young people.
It also this month launched a fundraising initiative for its charity partner, Children’s Health Foundation (CHF) with Simon the Sloth, created by a 12-year-old boy from Greystones Co. Wicklow called Oisín.
Simon the Sloth and a special Christmas card are now available in-store so customers can support the care of sick children at CHI Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght and Connolly hospitals.
What Now?
Most recently, Tesco has enthusiastically moved into the Christmas season.
It released an uplifting ad campaign – ‘Helping Feed Your Christmas Spirit’ – to get the nation in the festive mood.
As part of the campaign, it carried out a survey with Bounce Insights to uncover the nation’s favourite, uniquely Irish Christmas traditions.
On top of this, Tesco announced 1,200 temporary festive jobs nationwide, offering a boost in seasonal employment.
Looking ahead, the retailer announced this week that it is investing €14 million in increasing colleague pay, as well as improving benefits such as longer parental leave and continuing its initiatives of free virtual GP service and the annual bonus.
Speaking about this latest initiative, Tesco Ireland’s people director Maurice Kelly said, “We are really striving to be industry leaders in this space, and, to this end, I am very pleased to announce this increase in our family leave.”
