Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Feargal Quinn
ShelfLife editor Fionnuala Carolan examines Senator Feargal Quinn's latest efforts to aid the retail sector
Print20 March 2014
Feargal Quinn should don a cape and be done with it as he is fast becoming the superhero of the grocery world. Not only was he extremely gracious by publicly giving his blessing to Musgrave as it did away with his prized Superquinn brand in the past month, he recently passed a bill in the Seanad to undo the upward only rent clause that has caused so much heartache over the past five years in Ireland.
We were assured that due to constitutional obstacles, there was no way in hell the upward only rent clause could be changed. But no job is too big for Quinn it would seem. The bill proposed by the Senator provides for a temporary reduction in commercial rent to a market level without undermining constitutional property rights. The refusal by landlords to give rent relief to struggling businesses has been a major bone of contention between the business community and the government, as the government has refused to move on the issue by hiding behind the constitution. Many businesses have gone to ground because rents were unaffordable and it was only when businesses entered NAMA, that they were given some relief. By this point most businesses were too far gone to recover properly.
If this bill is accepted then rents will be able to find a natural level by taking into consideration the strength of the market and the state of the economy and it will hopefully prevent many more businesses going to the wall. The bill was only carried by 23 votes to 22 and now goes to the Dáil for consideration so we will wait with bated breath to hear the outcome.
This month’s cover story focuses on the thorny issue of the effect of excess sugar in the diet and how the industry is responding to this negative attention. Shane Dempsey of Food and Drink Industry Ireland says that anti-obesity campaigners want to profile food companies as the ‘bad guys’ as this is an easy solution and will undermine consumer trust in certain foods. There is a major challenge for the food industry in the year ahead to show that companies are working hard to find a solution and to convince consumers that there is no quick fix solution to the obesity epidemic.
Dempsey says that when industry and government work together on health issues the outcome can be very successful. He used the example of how the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has been running a highly successful salt reduction programme with leading FDII members and large retailers since 2004. This programme was recently commended by WHO Europe and resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of salt consumed overall, while still protecting the salt industry. It is vital that there is joined up thinking on how to manage the consumption of sugar in our diets without the threat of marketing restrictions and taxation.
On the same issue Gillian Hamill spoke to Safefood CEO Martin Higgins (page 16) to hear what progress the group has had since it requested that supermarkets introduce sweet-free checkouts. This is a very contentious issue and most retailers are yet to make a decision, waiting to see the effects of trials in the UK. We will be following this issue with great interest over the next few months.
And finally I’d like to wish you all a very happy St Patrick’s Day and I hope that the good weather will last over the bank holiday weekend, making it a fruitful one for you all!
Fionnuala Carolan
Editor
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