Category Archives: retail

Come and visit us at HOST – Milan!

Back from Dubai – but planning to go back soon since many are the projects and the events linked to sustainability and retail in the whole Middle East Area – we are already very busy organizing our participation at the upcoming HOST exhibition taking place in Milan from Oct. 21 to Oct. 25

With its 1445 exhibitors, 40 countries involved, 125.000 trade visitors and visitors from 141 countries, HOST can be certainly defined as the most important event for the HoReCa and Hospitality business sector worldwide. Host confirms itself the leading international date for the b2b system of hospitality with 6 specialized events: Professional restaurant services, Bread/Pizza/Pasta, Bar/Coffee Machines, Ice cream parlors/Confectioner’s, Coffee, Hotel&Spa Emotion.

We have been invited to bring our expertise by three exhibitors: FCSI, Smeg and Emainox.

FCSI (Pavillion 6 – A 03/ C 02) Meet the FCSI expert:  Norman Cescut will be available to offer you a free 30 minutes consultancy. Please check availability at the FCSI booth or contact norman(at)desita(dot)it  previously to fix an appointment.

FCSI has also organized a well balanced set of conferences and public seminars. We would like to bring to your attention the conferences scheduled on Saturday 22nd, where Sustainability will be the protagonist, with the presentation of an interesting case study – NH Hotels – and a public seminar about technology and sustainability in the Catering industry.

Smeg (Pav. 3P Stand B54 C57) Smeg Foodservice Solutions is Smeg division dedicated to satisfying the requirements of catering professionals. As Smeg’s Foodservice agent for the Middle East area with DESITA SHOWFOOD division, we will be available to present you the full line of equipments and new interesting products, providing you with all the requested technical information.

Emainox (Pad. 14 – Stand: H28-H34) – Emainox is specialized in the production of elements for professional use for the distribution and display of food. SHOWFOOD by DESITA is EMAINOX official agent for the Middle East area and our technical knowledge of their production is available to you to reply to all your questions concerning also the newest appealing products.

As you can imagine, our agenda will be a very hectic one, but we will be really happy to meet you – we suggest you to send us an email, contacting Norman directly at norman(at) desita(dot)it with you preferred meeting date and time.

Looking forward meeting you at HOST!

TWG Tea leads the way in tea luxury

TWG is a luxury tea brand like no other.  It is a luxury concept that incorporates an international distribution network to professionals, unique and original retail outlets, exquisite tea rooms and tealeaves of every name for you to take home and enjoy too. The TWG stands for The Wellness Group and anyone who has been to one of their amazing outlets certainly feels good afterwards.

They have recently opened up several new premium and expensive tea rooms at the luxury Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (Singapore’s premium version of a Las Vegas integrated resort and much more successful). There is no stopping their march to place tea at the heart of all that wealthy Asian residents aspire to. Visitors and wealthy residents alike queue for hours just to experience afternoon tea at TWG.

TWG offers over 800 single estate fine harvest teas and exclusive blends, as well as tea patisseries and other tea infused delicacies. Ironically England, the home of tea, has a long way to go to match the TWG experience. Fortnam and Mason don’t even come close. They have one boutique at Harrods but it’s really a Singaporean experience.

You name it, TWG have a tea called it!

TWG Tea combines the best of Asian and European traditions of elegance and beauty on which it is based and have some of the most amazing names that could possibly be imagined for their products. Drinking tea called Weekend in Casablanca tea or Silver Moon Tea, Christmas Lights tea or  Immortal Moment tea, Geisha Blossom tea or Valentine Breafast tea, Miracluous Mandarin tea or Happy Birthday tea is just so much more refined and exotic than PG Tips or Lipton!

via TWG Tea leads the way in tea luxury | Chris Reed on Partnership Marketing | Brand Republic blogs.

Anuga, the Fair

Anuga, the world´s leading food fair for the retail trade and the food service and catering market, will take place in Cologne (Germany) from next October 8 to 12. My scheduled attendance has been cancelled because I have been urgently required to fly to Dubai to discuss new DESITA and ECOFFEE projects.  As I wrote to all those who contacted me privately to set up meetings at Anuga, I will be more than happy to meet you during the upcoming events, just contact me at norman|at|ecoffee.it

Anuga this year this fair is expected to be very interesting not only for the many – 6.500- exhibitors but for the collateral events that will take place during the 4 days. I am particularly interested in the Wellfood Forum – showcasing the latest trends and the newest developments from all over the world in the areas of Wellfood and Functional Food – and the Fully Organic Special Show.

Organic foods will be expertly presented for the fourth time since Anuga 2003, in cooperation with the editors of bioPress. In addition to the approximately 1,600 exhibitors offering organic products and the more than 300 exhibitors of exclusively organic products in the Anuga Organic hall, visitors will also find more than 2,000 organic products for the food retail trade concentrated in the “Fully Organic” special show.

“Fully Organic” is now becoming the future agenda of food retail traders. And nothing reflects the latest developments in the organic product range of the retail food trade as clearly as the special show at Anuga Organic.

I will follow the Anuga Fair via web, but feel free to comment, send updates and news regarding the show posting comments on this post. Thank you!

Are virtual walls the future of retail?

The use of digital technology to enhance high-street shopping took a step forward last month when Ocado and Tesco unveiled initiatives aimed at creating a seamless retail experience.

Ocado opened a pop-up shop in London’s One New Change shopping centre in the Square Mile. It featured a printed window display, or ‘virtual wall’, showcasing some of the retailer’s most-bought items and their barcodes.

Consumers who had downloaded Ocado’s ‘On the Go’ app can visit the window display to order the items – by scanning the barcodes with their smartphone – and book a delivery time. The retailer says it will roll out more displays across the country if the trial is successful.

Jason Gissing, co-founder of Ocado, claims that the experiment is a bold move. “We hope this trial is a hit and, based on its success, we’ll be looking at options around continuing this ‘virtual window shopping’ approach in other locations UK-wide,” he says.

Consumers have already been exposed to this new way of shopping.

Tesco has been experimenting there with an interactive shopping wall for its Homeplus brand, by opening a virtual store in a busy underground railway station in South Korea’s capital, Seoul.

More than 500 products are on offer, and all are displayed in a shelf-like appearance, prompting shoppers to scan them with their smartphones.

A spokeswoman for Tesco says: “You place an order when you go to work in the morning and can have the items delivered when you come home at night. This will help increase our sales via smartphones, which will be the next big sales generator.”

Ocado in the UK, then, seems to be catching on to Far Eastern technologies ahead of its domestic retail rivals. But James Tagg, mobile services director for MPG’s Mobext, is unsure that the technology can be implemented successfully in cities such as London.

“I think it’s clear that, here in London, the main value of a similar campaign would be as an awareness-raising tool, rather than an improvement on our everyday shopping experience,” he says. “The lack of mobile reception on large parts of the Tube system would prevent most people from downloading the app in response to seeing the virtual shopping aisles, and placing an order would have to wait until you were above ground at the end of your journey.”

Tesco says it doesn’t plan to launch similar services in the UK, but with Ocado leading the charge, the ‘big four’ supermarkets of Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s could well be tempted to follow suit in the future.

Increasing smartphone adoption will help, along with plans to install mobile broadband on London’s Tube network. It could be a while, however, before interactive walls feature significantly in retailers’ growth plans. (Source: Andrew Mccormik/Wallblog.co.uk)

Food displays in 800 co-op stores get Nualight LED lighting

A multi-million dollar deal has been recently signed between Co-op UK and Nualight,  a specialist in LED lighting for the food retail sector,  to install its LED lighting in freezers and ice-cream cabinets throughout 800 UK-based stores owned by the Co-operative Group.  LED lighting will be installed in the doors in low-temperature merchandising cabinets and in ice-cream display cabinets throughout the stores.

Liam Kelly, CEO of Nualight said, “Our lighting delivers significant energy savings of over 70% when compared with fluorescent technology and it is also maintenance-free. We’re delighted that our technology can play an important part in The Co-operative Group’s ambitious ethos of responsible retailing.”

“The motivation for introducing Nualight’s LED lighting solutions to our stores arose primarily from our unique commitment to sustainable retailing practices,” explained Alex Pitman, Energy and Carbon Manager at the Co-operative Group.

The Co-operative has over 3000 food stores and supermarkets around the UK. It focuses on quality with honest, ethically sourced products and has an ambitious Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. A survey in 2008 found The Co-operative to be Britain’s greenest supermarket. The company has the toughest carbon reduction targets of any major business in the UK. (Source: LEDsmagazine.com)

 

 

Toys R Us Includes Environmental Features in 44 Stores

As part of its continuing strategy to develop more combined Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores, Toys R Us Inc. said it is incorporating environmental features in 44 new and remodeled locations.

By the end of the year the company will have have 21 new stores, including 11 R Superstores and 10 Side-by-Side locations as part of the initiative to bring Toys R Us and Babies R Us together under one roof in an integrated store format. As part of it portfolio upgrade, Toys R Us is also remodeling 23 existing locations to the Side-by-Side format.

In these locations, the company said it has implemented a number of sustainable initiatives that conserve energy, minimize waste, reduce its stores’ overall impact on the environment and diminish the company’s carbon footprint. They include:

  • A state-of-the-art Energy Management System (EMS) that monitors environmental conditions and adjusts temperature, lighting and CO2 levels throughout the store to utilize natural light and reduce energy consumption.
  • A custom daylight harvesting system, which includes a number of design components such as skylights, dimmable fixtures and lighting sensors that reduce up to 50 percent of electric lighting energy used during the day.
  • Energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures in outdoor signage instead of florescent signage, which increase energy savings and reduce toxic materials and maintenance costs.
  • Low-flow toilets and urinals, and automatic faucets and flush valves, which conserve water.
  • High efficiency automatic hand dryers that use 80 percent less energy than standard hand dryers while eliminating the need for paper towel products.
  • A cardboard baler that facilitates recycling and reduces the impact on landfills.
  •  Low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint and floor adhesive are used during construction because they produce little odor during application and no lingering odor once cured.
  • A vestibule entryway system that reduces the amount of outside contaminants tracked into the store, while helping to improve indoor air quality.
  • White reflective roofs that significantly reduce the amount of heat absorbed, reducing the building’s cooling needs.

Wayne, N.J.-based Toys R Us embarked an integrated store strategy in 2006, and since then has converted more than 100 traditional stores in the United States to the Side-by-Side format. In 2007, the company opened the first of its new 60,000-square-foot R Superstores, which feature full-size Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores under one roof. (Source: GreenRetailDecisions.com)

Stockholm hosting the upcoming FCSI Europe–Africa–Middle East Conference

Next September, from 16th to 18th, 2011 Stockholm, the very first Green Capital  will host the FCSI Europe–Africa–Middle East Conference.

Stockholm has been chosen by FCSI for its long-term target green policy, set to make the Swedish capital a fossil fuel free city by 2050.
The Conference speakers are highly recommended and the opening keynote speaker has been awarded speaker of the year 2009.
The program will be of course focused on the relation between sustainability and the Food industry, dealing with important subjects such as “Water and Waste. About water footprints and solutions to global water crisis. Solutions to the lack of sanitation”. Attendees will also have the chance to participate to interesting workshops such as “Food for thought on climate change: Saving our planet one carbon bite at a time!” or “ Why should a SPA be “green”.

Unfortunately, because of previously planned meetings, I will not be able to attend the Conference but I am sure it will be a great successful event and I wish to our FCSI Italia President Mr. Luciano Cattaneo a nice, enjoyable and profitable journey- feedbacks and updates about the Congress are welcomed!.

I also would like to remind all the FCSI members visiting the Milan HOST exhibition (October 21st – 25th ) that FCSI Italia will welcome all of you at Stand A03-C02 – Hall6.

Upcoming Events: our agenda

Here’s a list of all the leading events that we will follow in the next months.

8th-11th September, 2011: Sana, Bologna IT.
15th-17th September, 2011: FCSI FAME Conference, Stockholm SW
8th -12th October 2011: Anuga, Cologne D
16th – 18th October 2011: Qatar International Environment Protection, Doha
17th-19th October 2011:  Green Middle East, Sharjah, UAE
21th -25 October 2011: Host Milan, IT
4th-7th November, 2011: Salone Franchising Milano, Milan IT
9th-12th November, 2011: Ecomondo, Rimini IT
16th – 18th Nomber: Mapic, Cannes FR
22nd-24th November: Diyafa, Qatar
24th November, 2011: Green Awards, London UK
5th-7th December: World Green Tourism, Abu Dhabi

Meeting you will be a great pleasure: just sent me an email norman(at)ecoffee(dot)it to synch our agendas.

Norman Cescut’s Tweets: August 2011

In case you missed my tweets, here’s a summary of the most important ones.                  You are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut to get real-time updates. Enjoy!

You are more than welcome to follow me on Twitter @norman_cescut to get real-time updates!

Fairtrade Italia and ECOFFEE: a sustainable partnership for a better future

I am very happy to announce that last Tuesday, July 19th DESITA and Fairtrade Italia have signed a bilateral agreement providing mutual support for the dissemination of the principles of environmental sustainability, fair trade and social responsibility on the entire Italian market  through a focus on in-store actions.

DESITA, thanks to its ECOFFEE project, will promote Fairtrade products and will support  Fairtrade licensees through its wide range of retail-oriented services and solutions: from architectural design, branding, process analysis, franchise creation. The Fairtrade certified products will also find a privileged placement among the products available at the ECOFFEE franchise cafés.

On the other hand, Fairtrade Italia has committed to share with its stakeholders- Retail business licensees, Association members and consumers – all the services offered by DESITA and   ECOFFEE.

“I am very happy to have reached this agreement,” states Paolo Pastore, Managing Director of Fairtrade Italia “This agreement is very different from the usual one and I am  sure that it will bring a much wider scope and visibility to Fairtrade certified products, the only Fair Trade certification that has deserved consumers’ trust all around the world. “

Being supported by such an important organization as Fairtrade Italia has once again confirmed that what I have created, the ECOFFEE service platform, is a requirement for a better future.This gives me the strength to keep on working in what is still an immature industry, that of sustainability in the Italian Retail and Horeca panorama. I am convinced that this partnership will actually contribute to the creation and dissemination of a more responsible consumption on the Italian market.