Generating heat

As Ireland’s number one ignition brand, Zip continues to innovate and pioneer high performance kerosene firelighters and fire logs

With a 33% chance of a white winter this year, retailers will find their sales growth left out in the cold if they fail to stock up on consumers' trusted fuel brands

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Brand Central

Research shows that 68% of all Irish households have fireplaces. Of these households, 76% light a fire more than three times a week and 60% light a fire daily. This makes for encouraging news for the fuels category, especially considering that another cold winter has been forecast by the meteorologists this year.

A clear majority (86%) of all Irish winter fire makers use a firelighter as their fire lighting method, and 60% of winter fire makers use coal or peat fuels.

Consumers are increasingly looking for quick-lighting and convenient products. To meet this demand, manufacturers are continually investing in new product development to attract their attention. This is helping to wrest sales away from private label alternatives while still providing retailers with a robust margin.

As Ireland’s number one ignition brand, Zip continues to innovate and pioneer high performance kerosene firelighters and fire logs

Zipping into first place

Zip is the number one ignition brand in Ireland. What’s more,  Zip’s Croi na Tine is the fastest growing firelog in Ireland. (Source: Nielsen, September 2011)

Zip continues to drive category growth through innovation and pioneering high performance kerosene firelighters and fire logs. Standard Brands, the manufacturer of Zip, invented the domestic kerosene firelighter back in 1936 and believes that today Zip is the most recognised and trusted brand in the ignition sector. Zip’s comprehensive range not only offers a wide range of fire lighting solutions, including cubed, wrapped, odourless and natural options, it also includes charcoal, firelogs and a range of ancillary products to fulfil all home fire requirements.

Zip is a brand leader of the solid firelighter category, with a 35% value share. Safe, clean and easy to use, Zip’s high quality firelighters are ideal for home fires.

The fuels used to make fires in Irish homes are notoriously hard to light and that is why Zip has designed all of its products to work fast and efficiently with all fuel types. As Zip’s firelighters are so powerful, the brand states that they deliver consumers excellent value for money and will light fires first time, every time.

The Zip ‘Croi na Tine’ high performance fire log continues to rapidly grow in market share and consumer popularity. This innovative new formula is 100% natural, grown from 100% Irish Willow as its main ingredient.

Zip continues to invest in retailer marketing activities to support its products, with well designed and impactful merchandising units for easy display.

Zip, a Guaranteed Irish brand, is manufactured in Castlebellingham, Co. Louth, and available nationwide. Contact mark.hayden@Jaymark.ie or telephone 003531 4081400 for more information or merchandising support for the complete Zip range.

Going with the flow

Last winter’s bitterly cold conditions prompted a record consumer demand for Superser mobile heaters, distributed by Flogas. Sales increased by more than 10% with a number of retailers running out of stock at critical times and thereby missing out on valuable sales opportunities,” said Eoin O’Flynn of Flogas Ireland, the exclusive distributor for Superser in Ireland and the UK.  

“Long-range weather forecasters are predicting that December, January and February will be colder than average in Ireland with a 33% chance of a white Christmas.  With this in mind, we are urging retailers not to be ‘left out in the cold’ and to stock up on Superser heaters to meet the potential demand,” O’Flynn continued.

Retailers who want to stock up on Superser mobile heaters for the winter months should contact Flogas, the exclusive Superser distributors, on  041-9831041 or visit www.flogas.ie.

“Flogas Superser heaters are the perfect solution for cost-conscious customers looking to control their heating bills.  They are extremely useful as an instant, economic and portable way to ‘spot-heat’ a room quickly, as many customers find it far cheaper than turning on the central heating for an hour or two,” said O’Flynn.

For homeowners who want instant heat that’s both stylish and useful, Flogas supplies two very contemporary looking and stylish mobile heaters, the Superser Radiant and Superser Catalytic. In particular, the Superser Catalytic burns without a flame and has lower touch temperatures, making them safer and it’s fitted with easy glide castors, which allows for trouble-free moving from room to room.

Cylinders on a roll

Flogas cylinders are a familiar sight at retail outlets throughout the country.  The butane cylinder is a clean and economical choice for consumers and is hard to beat as a low cost, versatile energy package.  

Propane direct dealers have been reporting strong annual sales growth and many of Flogas’ customers want the benefits of gas in the home for fires and cooking but are either not on the natural gas grid or don’t want to go through the hassle of changing, so find propane cylinders in a discreet corner of their back garden a very practical alternative.

Flogas was the first company in Ireland to introduce the Securiseal  (gas cylinder seal) for propane cylinders, once again proving total commitment to its bottled gas brands. Similar to the butane seal, the Securiseal is a solid, tamper-proof cylinder seal made from a resilient polyethylene material of the highest quality; which Flogas states is far superior to other shrink-wrapped bottled gas seals currently on the market. 

Nationwide distribution

Flogas has an excellent distribution system, with maximum coverage.  The company has three marine gas terminals, at Drogheda, Cork and Belfast, and a land terminal at Ballyhaunis.  Flogas operates a nation-wide network of distributors who fill cylinders and deliver bottled gas to dealers in their area.  Distributors are strategically located all over the country to ensure constant and speedy delivery of bottled gas – even in winter on the cold, icy roads, when demand for bottled gas is high.
A nationwide network of Flogas aftersales personnel are on 24-hour call for appliance repairs and maintenance.

Flogas supports all its products and services and plans through innovative dealer promotions, point of sale material, targeted advertising and public relations.  For further information on Flogas products and services, contact 041-9831041 or visit www.flogas.ie.

For retailers looking to save money on their own overheads either at work or at home, Flogas also supplies natural gas to the commercial and residential natural gas market. It currently offers SMEs a guaranteed 11% saving on the price charged by Bord Gais, which makes the one of the most competitive offers in this marketplace.  

Bord na Móna fires up more sales

For over 50 years, Bord na Móna Fuels Ltd, the largest supplier of solid fuel in Ireland, has led the way in designing innovative and convenient ‘real-life’ fire solutions for busy Irish consumers.

Last November, Bord na Móna launched the award winning product FireMagic Firemaker. This innovative product guarantees the faster way to a fuller fire within minutes. FireMagic Firemaker is quick, clean and economical to use, providing a convenient substitute for other fire making products such as kindling, paper and sticks. It offers the ideal solution for consumers who want to build a real fire quickly and conveniently.

For those who are short on time but want the warmth and effect of a full real-fire in one step, Firepak is the ultimate ‘complete fire in a bag’ solution. All consumers have to do is light the pack, sit back and bask in the glow of a fire that will burn for three to four hours. Made of smokeless coal with Irish peat, Firepak is clean to handle and will light with just one match, making it the number one choice in the ‘real fire in a bag’ category.

Firepak and FireMagic Firemaker are part of a top quality range of ignition products from Bord na Móna. Bord na Móna Firelogs are the number one choice among Irish consumers in the firelog category.  As the market leader in solid fuels in Ireland, the company’s compact and easy-to-display range of solid fuel products features the hugely popular line of eco-friendly fuels including Premium Wood Pellets, Bord na Móna Wood Logs, Bord na Móna Eco-Friendly Real Logs – all made from naturally renewable resources and fully CO2 neutral.

All products are available through Allegro Distribution 01 858 0600.

Q&A with… Stuart McCready, country business manager, Zip 

Did you observe a significant increase in fuel sales as a result of the inclement weather last winter? Are you expecting high sales this year as well?
Last year winter started with a very cold snap which kick-started the ignition season mid November. December was also cold and sales increased year on year (YOY). Our records show that the last few months of the winter season were a few degrees warmer than the year before.

Last year, consumers had the added bonus of the la Nina climate pattern which occurs every five years making temperatures on average warmer. This year, the forecast is for a cold winter so Zip are forecasting a healthy level of sales as a result of the inclement weather.

Additionally as households are looking to reduce their utility heating bills we expect that consumers will continue to light fires to help heat their homes. Zip expects strong sales growth.

How have you innovated within the fuels category to deliver greater convenience for consumers and meet their needs/concerns better?

Zip has a history of taking the lead on innovation. The recently launched Croi na Tine fire log epitomises a product that fulfils the needs of the savvy Irish fire making consumer. With two touches of a match, the wrapper lights the 100% natural Croi na Tine fire log which quickly lights with a more immediate and fuller flame and lasts for around two hours. Made from coppiced willow grown in Ireland, the natural log delivers fire with the minimum amount of mess or fuss, plus we are creating Irish jobs.
The fuel used in Irish homes can vary in quality / efficiency and with a preference towards peat and smokeless coal, lighting a fire can be difficult. Our energy firelighters both block and wrapped are formulated to be the most powerful in the market to light any fire first time every time.

Consumer research told us that not all our customers are keen about the smell that they find on their hands when using block firelighters. A number of years ago Zip developed a firelighter that was wrapped,  eliminating odours and making lighting a fire both clean and easy.

Do you believe you offer consumers strong value for money in relation to your competitors’ offerings?

Value for money is important to consumers and can’t just be defined as the price of the product. Zip offers great value for money in a number of ways, from extra fill packs, multi buy promotions and price cuts to drive tactical consumer sales.
Zip firelighters are powerful enough to light fires with a minimum number of cubes. Some of our competitors (branded and private label) sell product at a lower price point, but because they require the consumer to use more cubes, the actual cost of lighting a fire is in fact higher due to the incremental number of cubes used.

Zip delivers better performance as well as better value for money.

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