Business
Preparing for Life After Shoprite
The move, announced yesterday, will see the supermarket giant take on the stores and most of it staff
Local businesses have been reacting to the news that Shoprite has sold its nine island stores to Tesco.
The move, announced yesterday, will see the supermarket giant take on the stores and most of it staff. Head office staff say they have been informed of redundancies.
One of the local suppliers hoping to build on its existing relationship with Tesco is Isle of Man Meats.
Since Manx meat returned to Tesco’s shelves, the company has expanded to include minced and diced beef, as well as lamb and pork.
MD Rebecca Miah said: ‘Isle of Man Meats currently has a strong working relationship with both Tesco and Shoprite, following today’s announcement we look forward to continuing to work with Tesco and providing an offering of Manx Meat into the future.’
One business’ which doesn’t currently have its produce stocked by Tesco is Bushy’s. Shoprite began to stock Bushy’s during the pandemic, a partnership that has continued and has proved popular with islanders (both human and mongoose).
Martin Brunnschweiler told Gef he was ‘still letting the news about this sink in’. He added: ‘My first reaction is that we have been so grateful to Shoprite for their support in selling our beers for many years and indeed it was their agreement to allow us to trial our fresh beer in their fridges that allowed us to sell the TT20 stockpile and continue trading during Covid which in turn kept our necks above the waterline.
‘I know that Shoprite have been extremely supportive of many local producers and we can only pray that Tesco are prepared to continue this policy.’
Locally Together
While some are looking to the future with Tesco, other companies are putting together plans on how the island’s producers and suppliers can work together.
Robinson’s post on Facebook: ‘Calling all local producers! Here at Robinsons we want to support your business, we are always on the look out for new products and ideas. Please contact janna@robinsons.im to arrange a chat & how we can help you!’
While Isle of Cider’s founder Philip Jolley said on its page: ‘When we first heard about the local supermarket buyout we were shocked to say the least. We could go on about the onward effects of reduced competition in the marketplace and how worried we are for local jobs and local small businesses; but I’m sure you are already as concerned as we are.
‘What we will say is that we are still in full support of local businesses, especially those in the local food and drink sectors. So we will be pressing ahead with our local produce hamper launch very soon. We will still be offering free home delivery to all Isle of Man addresses and have distribution contracts in place to offer a 48 hour door to door service for mainland Britain at a fair price. Not to mention of course we have our alcohol off-licence in hand; so you will be able to get your local booze from us too.
‘With that we want to hear from all local food and drink producers that are ambient, non perishable, home delivery and hamper ready. We will list you on our e-commerce site www.isleofcidershop.im free of charge and will buy wholesale from you at a fair market rate. If you haven’t already got in touch send us a message to get set up.’
