BWG Foods has celebrated prestigious marketing award wins in recent weeks – for its SPAR, MACE and LONDIS brands – at the Irish Sponsorship Awards and the Digital Media Awards. Launched in 2012, the Irish Sponsorship Awards recognise and reward the brands, rightsholders, agencies and media owners that play a critical role in the delivery of world-class sponsorship programmes executed in Ireland. SPAR won ‘Best Low-Budget Sponsorship’ for its #10second SPAR, with athlete Israel Olatunde, and LONDIS won for ‘Best TV Broadcast Sponsorship’ for Ireland’s Fittest Family on RTÉ One. LONDIS also won this category last year. At the Digital Media Awards, held on Friday 29 September, MACE took home silver in the ‘Best in Retail and Consumer Goods category’, for its ‘MACE Jokes with Johnny’ campaign, featuring MACE ambassador and rugby captain Johnny Sexton. SPAR won silver for the ‘SPAR Community Road Trip’ with Kellie Harrington, in the ‘Best Integrated Media Strategy’ category, and a bronze medal in the ‘Best Creative’ category for its Christmas advert, ‘SPAR Ireland: SPAR Finding Christmas.’ Commenting, Suzanne Weldon, chief marketing and communications officer with BWG Foods, said, “We’re thrilled that SPAR, MACE and LONDIS were all singled out for their fantastic campaigns at this year’s Irish Sponsorship Awards and Digital Media Awards. Our teams work hard to create and cultivate impactful campaigns, and to be recognised in this way on the national stage is very satisfying.”
McCarthy’s EUROSPAR Kilkenny was celebrating this week, after being awarded silver and bronze medals at the prestigious Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards. Now in their 16th year, the Blas na hÉireann the Irish Food Awards are the biggest competition for quality Irish produce on the island of Ireland and provide producers and retailers the opportunity to showcase their products, engage with customers, and enjoy the high calibre of food and drinks that reach the finalist stage. John McCarthy’s EUROSPAR took home the bronze medal in ‘Craft Bakers’ Soda Bread’, for its sumptuous tin loaf, while its gourmet lamb noisettes took home the silver medal in the ‘Added-Flavour Lamb’ category. Commenting, Peter Dwan, EUROSPAR sales director, said, “EUROSPAR is extremely proud of the achievements of John McCarthy and all the team in McCarthy’s EUROSPAR Kilkenny. It’s a great honour to be recognised at these most prestigious Irish food awards. We are all delighted to celebrate with John and his team on their achieving silver and bronze medals in two distinct categories, which highlights the high quality of their overall offering.”
Groupe Casino has completed the sale of the first set of 61 stores in France to Groupement Les Mousquetaires and extended its purchasing alliance with the French retailer to include private-label food products, reports Reuters. The sale of the 61 stores, including hypermarkets, supermarkets, Franprix grocery shops, and convenience stores, represents revenue of €563 million, excluding value-added tax (VAT), based on an enterprise value of €209 million, including service stations, the statement noted. The stores’ transfer to the Intermarché or Netto banners will take effect this month, following on from necessary conversion work, Casino noted. In addition, under the agreements signed in May 2023, Groupe Casino granted a call option to Groupement Les Mousquetaires – exercisable within three years, at the latest – for a second group of stores, representing €510 million in sales, excluding VAT. Les Mousquetaires acquired a 49% non-controlling interest in these outlets, making an initial lump sum payment of €140 million to Casino at the end of September 2023.
Auchan Retail Portugal and Portuguese non-profit organisation Dariacordar have launched a new mobile app that calculates food waste. The Calculadora Contra o Desperdício Alimentar (Calculator Against Food Waste) app is designed to help consumers understand the amount of food that they waste and the environmental and economic impact of their actions, reports ESMmagazine.com. Auchan seeks to help consumers make more informed and conscious decisions about food waste through this initiative. It was developed in collaboration with Portuguese consumer protection organisation Deco Proteste. It is available free of charge to all iOS and Android users and can be accessed directly through the Auchan.pt website. The app is easy to use and provides users with personalised information about their food waste patterns. Users can track the amount of food that they waste by weight and cost, and the app calculates the environmental impact of this waste. The app also provides users with tips on how to reduce food waste.
PLUS has announced that it is planning to gradually switch to organic potatoes in the fresh segment. The Dutch retailer has launched unprocessed organic potatoes in 1kg bags, which are priced the same as regular potatoes. PLUS will pay the difference in price to farmers, it noted. The potatoes offered by the retailer are part of the Laagblijvers range, which includes everyday products at permanently low prices, to make organic food accessible to everyone. In a statement, Eric Leebeek, commercial director, PLUS, said, “The fact that we are gradually converting the potato shelf to organic is a conscious choice because this gives our growers the time they need to expand their volume of organic potatoes. More organic products means more customers that we reach with organic, without increasing the price. With this, PLUS supports a large group of organic growers, so that together we contribute to a more positive impact on the environment.”
