December Issue – ShelfLife

Kick-starting our industry’s Christmas social calendar with aplomb, our cover story this month takes a look at the huge success of the latest Irish Grocers Benevolent Fund (IGBF) Christmas Lunch, and the charity’s vital, completely confidential work to help those in need of assistance.

In our December store profiles, Shauna Bernard speaks with Pallas Green Centra Limerick’s co-owners Ray and Brendan Lee about what it means to be named Centra Ireland ‘Store of the Year’ 2023. Meanwhile, Fionnuala Carolan gets a tour of Spar’s pop-up shop on Dublin’s Johnson Place from operator Thomas Ennis, which was created to commemorate Spar’s 60th birthday in Ireland.

Within our Advisor section, The HR Suite’s Caroline Reidy explains the importance of having a Dignity & Respect Policy in place; Excel Recruitment’s Nikki Murran highlights how offering the right bonuses and benefits can greatly improve your attractiveness as an employer; and Colin Gordon outlines why Christmas is the ideal time to showcase the 4Ps of marketing; product, price, place and promotion.

As always, our category features provide an in-depth look at the brands and innovations generating sales in-store. This month, we highlight the ‘best of the year’ products that have achieved noteworthy results in 2023, and the vaping sector.