Introduction
Our Core Purpose and Values define the way we do business, how we treat our customers, our people, each other and our suppliers. They help to define our responsibilities to the communities where our business operates and create the culture and environment in which our business strategy continues to deliver strong results. Our philosophy of "Every Little Helps" underpins these wide-ranging responsibilities.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility policy objective is to earn the trust of our customers by acting responsibly in the communities we serve. We recognise our impact on society at all levels and work to maximise the benefits we bring.
Customers are at the heart of everything we do. CSR is good for our business and good for the communities where we operate. By building goodwill and trust with our customers, we can earn their lifetime loyalty, which is our core purpose.
Corporate Social Responsibility reflects our Values:
No one tries harder for customers
- Understand customers better than anyone
- Be energetic, be innovative and be first for customers
- Use our strengths to deliver unbeatable value to our customers
- Look after our people so they can look after our customers
Treat people how we like to be treated
- All retailers, there's one team … The Tesco Team
- Trust and respect eachother
- Strive to do our very best
- Give support to eachother and praise more than criticise
- Ask more than tell, and share knowledge so that it can be used
- Enjoy work, celebrate success and learn from experience
Our CSR Strategy is supported by an established cross-functional CSR Group based in Tesco Ireland's head office in Dun Laoghaire. It meets a minimum of four times a year and is chaired by a Board Director. Its membership is made up of senior managers from all parts of the business.
This report documents current practice in Tesco Ireland in our relationships with Customers, Staff, Community, Suppliers, Property and the Environment.
Introduction
Our primary concern is to serve our customers to meet their shopping needs and expectations, serving over 1.2 million customers a week in our network of 95 stores throughout Ireland. Our customer service staff, in stores and in head office, are focused on ensuring that we continue to make a positive contribution to consumer welfare in Ireland.
Our Brand Values embody the core purpose of our business as - 'To create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty'. We express this through our 'every little helps' customer commitment theme. We aim to:
- Offer Value through:
- competitive prices
- product choice
- high food quality - Be Helpful through:
- customer service
- product availability
- customer communications - Be Inclusive by:
- ensuring that we continue to appeal to a broad range of customers and that we offer something for everyone through an extensive product range, offering price and product choice, in food and non-food) - Be Innovative by leading new customer developments:
- new product development
- retail services and technology, including Ireland's largest Internet Shopping service, and Tesco Personal Finance, offering credit cards and life insurance.
Value for Money
Tesco Ireland's strong commitment to improving consumer welfare is also demonstrated through our continuing drive to lower grocery prices. Over the past few years we have invested over €40 million in bringing down the prices of everyday grocery staples, and keeping them down - items such as bread, milk, butter, sugar, potatoes as well as many leading branded groceries. We identify products to include in our price cutting campaigns by asking customers through ongoing research programmes which products, and prices, would mean the most in savings to them and their families.
Our Value own label range offers over 1,000 products in every section of the store, including fruit and vegetables, meat, groceries, drinks, cleaning products and clothing. It represents the best value low price range of groceries available to consumers in Ireland.
Our sustained price cutting campaign has helped bring down Ireland's national inflation figures - food price inflation has consistently run below the overall inflation rate.
Tesco own label offers customers extended choice across a variety of products under the following headings: Tesco Value, Tesco Finest, Tesco Standard Brand, Tesco Healthy Living, Tesco Organics, Tesco Wholefoods and Tesco Kids. Each brand has a growing product range and offers value for money in the category within which it trades. These ranges complement our extensive range of other familiar branded products.
Value Price Promise
Our Tesco VALUE price promise states that we will not be beaten on the price of our Value Brand products. We are so confident of our price position that we promise that, if a customer buys an equivalent product cheaper in another store within one mile of our store, we will refund the difference in price.
In addition to our low price policy, we also offer customers a regular supply of short term price promotions including 2 for 1 offers, percentage discounts and multi savers, where customers enjoy significant value and choice. We have about 500 products on promotion in any given week. These play a considerable part in helping us to continue to offer value and lower prices to customers.
Range
Our stores offer a very wide range of products and choices to customers. A typical Tesco Ireland store stocks 20,000 - 30,000 different lines, meeting the needs of different customer groups, stocking something for everyone. For example in tomatoes alone, we stock 28 different types, including loose, vine ripened, organic and cherry, with a wide variety of price points available.
Our household, home entertainment and clothing ranges have expanded considerably in recent years, to very strong customer response, and we intend to widen our ranges of food and non-food items further in the future.
Irish sourcing
Our policy is to maximise the amount of Irish-produced and Irish-sourced product in our stores, subject to competitive commercial criteria. This policy enables us to meet our customers' expectations of stocking local Irish products and support for the local economy. Customers thus have available a comprehensive range and choice of Irish and international products in our stores.
Store formats
We have a comprehensive network of stores throughout the country, giving us a presence in 95 communities (March 2007). Our diverse range of store formats ensures that we develop stores appropriate to each community where we operate, ranging from small 'convenience'-style stores to Shopping Centre anchors to standalone stores in town centres and on the edge of towns.
Petrol retailing
We now have nine Petrol Filling Stations around Ireland – Finglas, Malahide, Dundrum, Maynooth, Killarney, New Ross, Ardkeen, Mullingar and Tullamore. We offer unbeatable pricing on both petrol and diesel and have helped to bring prices down in all of the areas we operate in. Customer feedback continues to be very positive regarding the value we offer on fuel price. We have 6.5% market share at present.
Customer Service
We are committed to achieving and maintaining high standards of service for our all our customers. Ongoing customer research and feedback helps us make customer service decisions on areas such as in-store layout, product choices, car parking, trolley and basket provision. For example - we have nine different types of trolleys available in some of our stores, to cater for the diversity of different customer requirements. Specific customer service training for all store staff and special schemes and initiatives highlight the importance of top quality customer service in our stores.
Listening to customers/customer feedback
We operate Customer Question Times (CQT's) in our stores. Customers are invited to participate in an open panel discussion, sharing their shopping likes and dislikes, and their proposals and suggestions. These sessions are a crucial feedback channel for customers to tell us how to improve their shopping experience.
These sessions have influenced things like what goods we stock, and where we site frozen foods or trolley bays. They also help us to understand local customer needs, including everything from the need to stock specific local products to putting baby changing rooms in place.
No Quibble Policy
Our "No Quibble Policy" is our way of showing customers that we always charge the right prices in our stores. It states that: "in the unlikely event of you being charged a price at the checkouts that is higher that the price mounted on the display, we will give you that item absolutely free and without quibble".
Tesco Quality Guarantee
We underwrite our confidence in the quality of all items carrying the Tesco brand with our "Tesco Quality Guarantee". This applies to all Tesco brand, Value, Finest etc, products and states that we are happy to replace any Tesco product if it falls below the high standard expected by the customer. In this way we ensure that customers are free to trial new Tesco products.
Tesco Clubcard
With Clubcard, we operate one of Ireland's leading loyalty schemes, offering customers a 1% saving on their shopping and further savings in the form of product coupons and special offers with Clubcard partners. Most Tesco Clubcard customers have been with the scheme since it launched in 1997. Clubcard offers us a unique way to understand and therefore react to our customers' changing shopping needs.
Introduction
Tesco Ireland is one of Ireland's top ten private sector employers, with some 12,000 people employed in stores, offices and distribution centres.
Our staff are our best asset and we depend on the skills and commitment of our people. Tesco aims to be a good employer, attracting and retaining the best staff and making Tesco Ireland a rewarding place to work.
Policies
In line with our Values and ways of working, we have in place a range of policies which are designed to ensure all staff have a good working environment, and that we as an employer comply with current legislation. Many policies are designed to develop our people and to provide them with the opportunities to further their careers.
Training and Development
As an innovative and energetic company in the highly competitive retail environment, learning and progression from within the company is core to our operation.
Training forms an important part of staff development, focussing on our key business priority of continually improving our service to customers.
We support our people to achieve their potential through access to specially-tailored training programmes, and core skills workshops including effective meeting management, presentation skills, influencing, root cause analysis, personal efficiency and communication skills.
All staff have regular performance reviews with their managers and agree personal development plans (PDPs), setting clear personal performance objectives. This ensures that all staff have the right skills to do their jobs.
Tesco Ireland recently launched a new way of helping people develop their careers called "Talent Spotting". On an annual basis, each individual has a career discussion with his or her manager to plan career progression. This information is pooled and used to determine who fills future vacancies and to identify cross-functional movement and development opportunities.
Options is the Talent Spotting scheme for our retail operations in stores. It also takes account of succession planning, looking at people's career moves and managing those moves and appointments strategically.
These career discussions and planning sessions, alongside PDP reviews and training programmes all support and develop our people and help them create a successful career path within our business where there are many options and possibilities for personal growth and career development.
Staff feedback
"Viewpoint" is Tesco Ireland's annual staff survey, which provides all employees with a channel for communicating their views and opinions, and informs company management on how things could be done better and simpler for staff. Areas covered include: emotional loyalty, satisfaction with current role and manager and clarity of role purpose alongside level of satisfaction with career progression, pay and benefits as well as general demographics.
Each line manager receives a report on their team's overall responses, and they then work with the team to address areas which the survey has highlighted as requiring attention. Over 90% of staff contribute to Viewpoint surveys.
Rewards and Benefits
Tesco Ireland's Rewards and Benefits Policy aims to ensure that people are rewarded appropriately for the role they do and for the value they bring to our business. We are currently looking at ways to include more flexible benefits.
Tesco Ireland also provides a wide range of voluntary benefits for staff including special schemes and discounts from the AA, Jurys Hotels, SpecSavers, Irish School of Motoring, Advance Pitstop, Club Travel, Budget Travel, Stena Line and Irish Ferries.
Pensions
Tesco Ireland believes in providing certainty and security for employees for their retirement.
About a quarter of our 12,000 staff participate in the company's pension scheme. All staff aged over 21 are eligible to join the scheme after completing one years' service. PRSAs are also available to staff who prefer the option of personal pensions.
Save As You Earn
Staff at every level in the company are encouraged to share in the company's success by owning an equity stake in Tesco PLC through the Save As You Earn (SAYE) Scheme. Staff sign up to saving an agreed amount, deducted directly from their pay, over 3 or 5 years. The accumulated savings are then used to purchase shares in Tesco PLC at an attractive price.
Approximately 3,500 staff participate in the various SAYE schemes.
Family Friendly Working
Where possible, we work with our people to accommodate more flexible forms of working - sometimes due to family, study or other commitments. Working in Tesco's stores gives parents, students and other people a wide range of hours from which to choose, and a mutually agreeable schedule is often put in place. More regular hours are worked by non-front line staff, and management, and as a caring employer, we allow people the flexibility to arrive or leave early or late in order to attend to any personal issues that arise, with no detriment to their work.
Trade Unions
Tesco Ireland currently recognises two main trade unions, Mandate and SIPTU, in its stores, distribution network and office. Over the past year,
we have developed a new working relationship with our Unions which has proved beneficial to our staff, the company and the Trade Unions alike. A steering group of leading trading union figures and senior human resources managers governs this relationship.
Tesco is the first retailer in Ireland to embark upon such a programme whereby common agenda items are addressed in such a spirit of partnership.
Introduction
Tesco Ireland trades 102 stores around the country, operating a diverse range of store formats, from small local stores to supermarkets and hypermarkets. We are a major employer in each of these local communities and we have a strong community support programme in place as part of our commitment to maximizing the benefits we bring.
Charity of the Year
The Tesco Ireland Charity of the Year programme lies at the heart of the company's community programme.
Every year, Tesco Ireland forms a year long partnership with a national charity which is community based and which provides practical support for children, education, healthcare, elderly, and people with disabilities.
This becomes the key focus for staff fundraising activities throughout the year, including song contests, hill climbs, raffles, parachute jumps and fun days, as well as through collection boxes at each of our checkouts for the entire year.
We introduced the COTY programme in 2001 and this has raised over €6M for the various national charities such as:
2001 - Irish Cancer Society
2002 - Alzheimer's Society
2003 - Down Syndrome Ireland
2004 - Childline
2005 - Hospice
2006 - MS Ireland
2007 - Temple Street Children's University Hospital
Make-A-Wish Foundation is our Charity of the Year 2008
The participating charities have also reported additional benefits as a result of the increased profile and awareness and built strong relationships with staff.
Tesco too benefits from the way in which participation in the Charity of the Year activities strengthen staff morale, motivates staff, team spirit and engagement with customers.
Sponsorship
In recognition of the importance of our role in local communities we are committed to supporting community-based projects and groups that bring practical benefit locally. Our stores donate Tesco Community Vouchers to charities and good causes in the area.
We support projects and initiatives that benefit children, education, healthcare, people with disabilities and the elderly in areas local to our stores. Decisions on how to support local requests are taken by local stores, while requests for national support are decided by head office.
Tesco Ireland - Adding Value to the Economy
Introduction
Tesco Ireland makes a significant contribution to the national economy every year. We are one of the largest private sector employers in Ireland, employing some 12,000 people in towns and cities all over the country. Every week we serve about 1.2 million customers.
As such, we are very aware of our importance to the Irish food industry, being its largest customer. We invest substantial time and expertise in forming long-tem partnerships with our suppliers, so that their businesses can grow alongside ours.
We are active participants in consultation processes with government agencies and bodies such as Enterprise Ireland, Bord Bia, Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Food Safety Authority and Local Authorities. Playing our part and contributing to national debate and consultation on issues related to our industry is a key principle of how we operate.
Supplier Relationships
Tesco Ireland has a firm commitment to stock products from Irish suppliers wherever possible. We build long-term working relationships with suppliers of all sizes throughout Ireland. Many of our suppliers began as small local suppliers and have grown with us to become major national businesses. We have a strong commitment to open and transparent relationships with our suppliers, actively seeking opportunities to share knowledge and improve transparency within the supply chain. We share data on projected demand to help improve efficiency and minimise waste, and we share information on customer trends to assist with new product development.
Centralised distribution
We work with our suppliers on an ongoing basis to find innovative ways of improving the way we work. For example, we have recently improved the efficiency of our distribution system, moving the majority of goods delivered to a centralised system, serving our national stores network from warehouses in Ballymun, Tallaght and Ballymount, in Dublin. These savings benefit both suppliers and Tesco, and we have passed on savings to our customers in the form of lower prices on many of their groceries.
Products
Our customers expect the food they buy to be safe, good quality and reasonably priced. They also expect the food to have been produced to high environmental and welfare standards.
A selection of ranges
Tesco has developed a selection of own-brand ranges which offer customers a wide range of products suitable for different needs and at different price points. Every customer, every budget and every taste is catered for by one of these Tesco ranges - Finest, Organics, Kids, Value, Healthy Living and Free From. Finest offers a premium range of products, while Value offers the lowest price on everyday grocery and household items. Healthy Living, Organics and Free From appeal to customers conscious of what they eat, while the Kids range provides mothers with easy choices in some areas.
Genetic Modification
Tesco has removed GM ingredients from all own brand products and has increased the non-GM options for our customers by adding to our popular Organic range.
Organic Foods
We are one of Ireland's largest retailers of Organic foods and drink. Our extensive range conforms to all approved organic standards and it covers nearly all sections of the shop; we can therefore offer a near-100% organic lifestyle to those customers who want it.
Labelling
To address customer concerns about GM food, additives, allergies and ingredient information, Tesco is committed to providing clear and honest labeling on all own brand product packaging, so customers can make an informed choice when shopping. The information given on our product labels exceeds what is required by law. Labels are written in a clear and descriptive manner, with illustrations helping to communicate where appropriate.
Animal Welfare
Tesco Ireland aspires to the highest standards of animal welfare and best industry practice in its supply base.
We use up-to-date knowledge of research, ethics, scientific facts and legislation to ensure that this happens. This is what our customers expect. Animal welfare policies are written into our codes of practice covering poultry, beef, lamb and pork.
Animal Testing
None of our own brand suppliers tests products on animals, and we do not have products tested on our behalf. By using known ingredients, human volunteer trials and laboratory methods we can guarantee the safety of all Tesco brand products without using animals.
Biodiversity - Nature's Choice
Tesco Ireland aims to sell products that not only look and taste good but also are grown with care for the environment by applying best agricultural practice through its supply chain. Tesco developed "Nature's Choice" to help achieve this.
All food production causes some disruption to the environment. Nature's Choice is about identifying and adopting farming management systems and practices which will lessen these impacts. The scheme identifies key principles and practices to ensure production and handling systems are sound and responsible.
The scheme is currently being rolled out to our fruit and vegetable suppliers. We anticipate that all our growers will be accredited to Nature's Choice by the end of 2004.
Business Ethics
Tesco Ireland is committed to conducting business in an ethical and socially responsible manner.
This relates to all aspects of our business, treating employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders in a fair and honest manner and ensuring that there are constant and open channels of communication.
Tesco Ireland has Codes of Ethics for its staff, which include a policy on the receipt of gifts and a grievance procedure that covers employment issues.
Supply Chain Labour Standards
It is our aim to act responsibly in our commercial and trading activities. The welfare and safety of the employees of our suppliers is important.
We expect all our suppliers to extend fair and honest dealings to their employees and to all with whom they do business.
We have developed a new course for our technical managers to raise their awareness of ethical issues and worker welfare in the supply chain. We will continue to train all new technical managers in this way.
Managing standards across our large and complex own brand supply base is a challenge, but Tesco is committed to working with our suppliers to maintain, develop and improve standards.
CASE STUDY : Tesco Ireland Quality Supplier Programme
One of Tesco's key business strategies on entering the Irish market in 1997 was to build close relationships with the Irish supplier-base to increase the amount of business with Irish suppliers producing Tesco own brand products and branded goods for stores in Ireland and for export to the UK and to the wider Tesco Group.
Tesco Ireland put a 12-strong team of technical, quality and trade development experts in place to work with supplier companies building their product development skills and market expertise, to help them prosper in a rapidly changing commercial environment. Over 130 companies have benefited from the programme to date, including Bewleys, Country Crest, Dublin Meath Growers, Glanbia, Goldstar Meats, Irish Yoghurts, Lir Chocolates, Largo Foods and Shannon Minerals.
These 130 approved Irish suppliers of Tesco brand now supply over 1,000 food and non-food products to Tesco Ireland, and to the wider Tesco Group, including eggs, ham, rashers, beef, fish, milk, cheese, bread, burgers, bottled water, biscuits, ice cream, jam and the full range of Irish fruit and vegetables. Only 20 companies were approved suppliers in 1997, before the programme started.
As a result of this programme, and other support for Irish suppliers, Tesco now buys over É1.5 billion worth of goods from some 800 Irish companies, over 80% of which are small to medium sized enterprises. É400 million-worth of products are exported to Tesco in Britain annually. Supplier companies have created 1,025 new jobs as a result of increased business from Tesco. Tesco is now the largest buyer of Irish food in the world.
Building and operating our stores
In seeking to meet the needs of our customers, we develop store formats which are appropriate to the retailing and environmental requirements of specific areas and customers locally.
We comply with all statutory planning and development requirements including Environmental Impact Assessment regulations, and we address all planning and environmental impacts of our stores when putting any proposal together.
Our contractors or developers are obliged to comply with all relevant approvals required under the current Local Government Planning and Development legislation, Health and Safety legislation, Building Regulations, Highways, CDM Regulations, Environmental Protection legislation and other relevant legislation including comments/approvals made by the Environment Protection Agency.
All the equipment and materials required for different services and systems used in the construction and operation of our stores comply with the best European Standards and proprietary brands that are readily available to the relevant Industries. All equipment and components for the stores' various services and systems have durability and spare parts potential commensurate with the design life of the elements of the buildings.
When proposing a new store development it is our policy to actively develop community relations, anticipating and addressing local concerns, and meeting with local community representatives, elected and administrative officials and members of the public. We will comprehensively address all issues raised by local interests in the planning process.
Our approach to sustainable development in building new stores focuses on our construction techniques, materials and processes. Examples of this include significant reductions in the quantity of steelwork and concrete in the construction of our latest concept stores, and the replacement of traditional brickwork and blockwork with composite sandwich panels. Both of these have dramatically reduced the amount of embodied energy used in the construction of our stores, and also represent our overall approach to store design - minimising the capital costs at the same time as ensuring the business develops using sustainable methods of construction.
Store Access and Car-parks
We design our stores and sites to ensure that we provide separate access for delivery vehicles and for customers. Where this is not possible, we ensure that delivery vehicles are segregated from customer traffic as quickly as possible following entry to the site.
We provide specific car parking spaces, close to the store entrance, clearly marked for use by people with disabilities and others for Parent & Child use.
Disabled car parking bays are at least 4.80m x 2.40m in size with an additional 4.80m x 1.00m clear zone to the side. They are all located beside a walkway to the store and represent 6% of total car parking allocation for schemes with up to 200 spaces (minimum 3 spaces) and 4% of total car parking if over 200 spaces (minimum 4 spaces). The area is clearly denoted on a specific sign.
Parent & Child parking bays are the same size as disabled parking bays and they are all located beside a walkway to the store. 3% of the total car parking allocation is dedicated to Parent and Child parking. Each space is individually marked with the area clearly denoted.
Landscaping
We ensure that our store sites are landscaped to a standard approved by the Local Authority Planning Department, including where necessary restoration of existing retained landscaping, which are maintained by quality landscape companies.
Introduction
Tesco Ireland is committed to protecting our environment by doing what we can to reduce our impact. We aim to use our commercial strength to put sustainable environmental principles into practice, both within our own operations and through the sharing of good practice with our suppliers.
Tesco Environment Policy
We aim to apply the principle of sustainable development, meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations:
- Tesco, its directors, officers and employees will at all times comply with all applicable laws and regulations relating to the environment
- We will develop, maintain and implement policies, procedures and management systems to assess and monitor, on a continuous basis, the environmental impact of our operations
- All senior management shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Tesco policy, including the establishment of programmes and reporting requirements throughout their organisation
- We will incorporate in our environmental practices the best available technology that is economically available
- We will minimise the use of all materials and energy and not use any material derived from endangered species
- We aim to apply the principles of reduction, reuse and recycling to the management of our products and their packaging
- We will communicate regularly with our stakeholders, including shareholders, staff and customers on matters of environmental policy and practices
Training packages are in place to ensure that our staff are aware of environmental issues and that we maximise the operational effectiveness of our environmental initiatives.
Climate Change
Tesco Ireland supports the government's commitments to the Kyoto protocol on climate change. Tesco is committed to reducing its energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gasses responsible for climate change.
Waste Management and Recycling
Tesco Ireland is committed to minimising the amount of waste produced and to recycle it wherever possible.
We have a comprehensive recycling programme in place for our own operations comprising board and plastic balers in our stores and depots. These balers enable our staff to segregate packaging waste from other waste and mean that Tesco stores send no packaging waste to landfill sites. We have made substantial investment in this scheme over the past two years. We ensure that all our waste contractors are EPA-licenced.
Our waste oils are handled and managed by a licenced waste contractor who ensures that the waste is recycled.
Recycling and repackaging
Tesco Ireland is the country's largest provider of Bring Centres - recycling facilities for consumers. We are a major supporter of the Rehab recycling scheme, providing facilities for units where consumers can bring bottles, jars and other waste glassware for recycling. We provide these facilities in 78 of our 82 stores across Ireland. Some of these stores also provide consumers with facilities to recycle waste plastics and clothing.
We continue to work in partnership with Local Authorities to improve and extend these facilities at our stores.
Tesco Ireland is a member of Repak, the voluntary packaging compliance agreement between Industry and the Department of Environment and Local Government. We provide substantial tonnage of packaging waste for recycling towards Repak's overall target of 500,000 tonnes for 2004. Tesco Ireland's network of 82 stores supports Repak's awareness-raising campaigns and promotional activities throughout the year. We also encourage our suppliers to join Repak.
Packaging is a key concern for our customers so we are always looking for ways to minimise product packaging. Secondary product packaging is kept to a minimum, and recycled, where possible.
Tesco Ireland is already planning for the introduction of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in 2005.
Disposal of used products
We have put arrangements in place with specialist contractors to ensure the environmentally compliant disposal of the fluorescent light tubes, tyres, batteries and engine oils that we use in our business.
Plastic Bag Schemes
When the Government introduced a levy on plastic bags in March 2002, we worked to ensure as smooth a transition as possible for our customers. As well as collecting the 15c levy for the Government on all previously 'free' bags, we have introduced a broad selection of strong, re-usable bags for customers, at a range of price points.
The number of 'regular' plastic bags used in our stores has been reduced by 93% since the levy was introduced.
Customer recycling schemes
We have recently established an in-store recycling scheme for customers to dispose of mobile phones, where they can make a charity donation, or collect Clubcard points on their own account.
Case Study: Reusable Plastic Crates
Our reusable plastic crates, known as green trays, were introduced into our distribution chain as an effective and environmentally friendly method of delivering products to our stores. The idea behind the scheme is simple yet effective. The hard-wearing plastic crates, which last for an average of 10 years, are continually reused to take the place of secondary product packaging in distribution.
At any one time some 6 million green trays are in circulation in our business, carrying supplies of fruit and vegetables, bakery goods, meat and health and beauty products between our depots and stores. These trays have led directly to the elimination of about 36 tonnes of waste secondary packaging from Tesco Ireland every year.
Not only have the green trays replaced the cardboard boxes and other packaging that would have been used to deliver the products and display them instore, they also reduce the need for product handling, which reduces the amount of damage to products and thus reduces product waste.
Case Study: Trolley Lock System
In response to customer, neighbour and Local Authority complaints about abandoned shopping trolleys in the housing estates and streets by our Nutgrove store in South Dublin, we introduced the country's first Cart Anti-Theft Protection System, on a pilot basis, in May 2003. The system prevents a trolley leaving the Shopping Centre's precincts by electronically locking the wheels if an attempt is made to push it over the defined perimeter line of the car park.
Prior to the pilot, some 120 trolleys per week were being removed from the Nutgrove precincts, ending up abandoned, littering nearby laneways, rivers, gardens and common ground, all unsightly, and all with potential to cause harm to passers-by. In the month following the introduction of the new system, the store manager reported that only one trolley had been removed from the precinct. Local residents have reported their pleasure at this outcome, and Declan Harper, litter warden for the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has said he is very pleased with the results, and commended the initiative. In addition, our customers are pleased that there are now sufficient trolleys in-store for them when they come to shop with us.