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Over Half of Irish Consumers Claim to Purchase Sustainably Produced Foods Products in Weekly Grocery Shop
With a third of all global emissions coming from the food system, effort is needed to respond to this climate change challenge. Over half of Irish consumers asked (51%) * now claim to actively look for and purchase sustainably produced food products with almost nine in 10 (87%) believing producers should be supported to be as sustainable as possible.
The findings* are revealed in research as part of Nestlé’s KitKat Breaks for Good campaign in Ireland spotlighting the importance of quality production and the integral role of cocoa farming families in the iconic KitKat chocolate treat.
To date, over 30,000 cocoa-farming families are supported through Nestlé’s Income Accelerator Programme** which builds on longstanding work of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. The global sustainability initiative aims to close the living income gap of cocoa farming families through four main pillars – school enrolment, good agricultural practices, agroforestry and income diversification. By 2030, it aims to reach an estimated 160,000 cocoa farming families in Nestlé’s supply chain.
The research findings show a difference among the generations with sustainability front of mind for almost half (48%) of 25-34-year-olds. It finds that this cohort attribute greater enjoyment of a favourite chocolate treat with how sustainably it is produced- in contrast to a little over a fifth (21%) of 65+ year olds. Those aged 18-35 years (63%) said the provenance of items in their grocery basket was important, in contrast to over one in 10 of 45-54 years (16%).
A little over seven in 10 (71%) say they take small, practical, everyday actions such as seeking out ethically sourced goods as part of personal environmental commitments.
Maria McKenna, Confectionery Marketing Manager, Nestlé Ireland said,
“For Irish people it’s clear from the research findings that trying to be a more “conscious consumer” is front-of-mind. The research shows that Irish people are attuned to the impact of committing to taking sustainability actions daily and how this contributes in a positive manner to the environment. Over eight in 10 Irish consumers (85%) believe that being aware and informed of the environmental sustainability of the products they use is a key element of living sustainably.
“Consumers also want brands to support producers to be as sustainable as possible. At Nestlé UK&I, we are using fully traceable and responsibly sourced cocoa in all our Nestlé Ireland chocolate brands as part of the Income Accelerator Programme, something we know resonates strongly with our consumers.
“Building on the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, the innovative new Income Accelerator programme has been created to further address the challenges faced by cocoa-farming communities, with a clear focus on closing the living income gap of cocoa-farming families. At the same time, it strives to advance better agriculture practices and promote gender equality, empowering women as agents for positive change in their communities. The programme provides incentives for cocoa-farming families to enrol their children in school, implement good agricultural practices and engage in agroforestry activities.
“KitKat Breaks for Good highlights the importance of supporting cocoa producing farm families at source, working together to continuously raise the bar for one of our most important ingredients.
“Among the many wonderful things about KitKat, aside from its delicious taste, is the fact that it is associated with having a well-deserved break. Irish people can sit back and enjoy it even more knowing that the cocoa-farming families who play a key role in its production are supported to improve their incomes and the sustainability of production.”
* Conducted by Empathy Research through an online survey across a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+ July 2024.
**Nestlé’s Income Accelerator Programme is supporting cocoa farming families by closing the living income gap of farm families and reducing child labour risk. Since 2022, it has supported over 10,000 cocoa farming families in Cóte d’Ivoire and Ghana and this year is scaling up to reach 30,000. By 2030, it will reach an estimated 160,000 cocoa-farming families in Nestlé’s cocoa supply chain.
There are four key parts to the Income Accelerator programme:
- School enrolment: financial incentives to families for enrolling all children between six and 16 in school
- Good agricultural practices: such as pruning, which increase crop productivity
- Agroforestry: performing agroforestry activities to increase climate resilience, like planting shade trees
- Diversified incomes: cocoa-farming families will receive mobile payment empowering women and encouraging additional sources of income such as growing other crops, beekeeping or processing other products like cassava.
Read more here: Nestle’s Income Accelerator Programme
Uisce Éireann Launches New Text Alerts Service Available to Customers Across 1.6 Million Households
Uisce Éireann has launched a brand-new free-to-use Text Alerts service which will provide water supply updates and information to customers across 1.6 million households. Research carried out by IPSOS B&A* on behalf of Uisce Éireann shows that almost three quarters of its customers want to hear about water services with over half of businesses indicating they are interested in being regularly notified.
The text alert system will be the first time that all of Uisce Éireann’s customers will be able to sign up and receive notifications for their area. The service provides customers with details of supply interruptions that are expected to last longer than four hours. It will also include details on planned and unplanned outages and boil water notices should they be needed to protect public health.
Previously only vulnerable customers and business customers have been able to avail of a Text Alerts service, with the service now extending to all. A new easy to use process means customers can quickly sign up by inputting their Eircode and mobile number via the Uisce Éireann website water.ie.
The text alerts to all customers build on communications already in place and the need to support customers is clear. Data from Uisce Éireann shows it responded and managed over 12,000 planned and unplanned outages in 2023 with over 90% resolved in under 24 hours.
Ensuring customers stay informed is a key focus and this service further enhances Uisce Éireann’s commitment to engage with its customers in an effective and timely manner. The new supports build on services already in place including, 24/7 contact centre, media releases, stakeholder communications, social media @IWcare and a dedicated online outage portal on water.ie.
Geoffrey Bourke, Head of Customer Operations at Uisce Éireann said:
“As Uisce Éireann carries out its day-to-day operational work and maintenance alongside a billion-euro worth of capital investment each year, we are aware that these works can have short-term impacts on water services to our customers. This Text Alerts service along with our current supports including the dedicated online outage portal on water.ie means homes and businesses are kept fully up to date on what to expect and when.
“We are supporting our customers with timely, accurate information which helps to keep all customers up to date on outages to the water supply network.
“In the past year, our figures show that we had more than two million interactions with customers via a range of channels including phone calls, texts and emails.
“From our research, while over half of customers are aware of who to contact in the event of a water outage, we are committed to ensuring that all are fully aware and have information provided in an ease of access manner.
“We are confident that the roll-out of this new service will play a crucial role in driving even more awareness of our work in communities across Ireland to deliver a clean, safe and reliable water supply. The service is easy to use, and I encourage people to avail of it by following the registration steps through water.ie.”
Pictured broadcaster Lucy Kennedy and Geoffrey Bourke, Head of Customer Operations, Uisce Éireann
Research is from IPSOS B&A Q2 2024
- Business. The survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 360 business owners by telephone.
- General Public. The survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults each quarter. Interviewing was conducted face-to-face.
Olé Olé Top of the Cheer Chart for Irish Sports Fans
Olé Olé remains the top tune for Irish sports fans with over six in every ten (66%) * citing it as the go-to song when cheering on their favourite team or athlete, according to new research released by Nestlé Cereals Ireland, ‘Official Breakfast Partner to Paralympics Ireland’. The Fields of Athenry comes in a close second (59%) and the Tina Turner classic Simply the Best (55%) takes bronze in the line-up of the nation’s favourite sports anthems.
In advance of the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Paris (Wednesday August 28th) a rallying call has been issued to the nation to “Bring the Cheer” for Team Ireland as they put it all on the line in the pursuit of glory at one of the world’s biggest sports events. This time around athletes will be able to enjoy the invaluable support of family, friends and fans cheering them on from the stands, in stark contrast to the previous games in Tokyo with Covid-19 preventing attendance.
The unwavering love of Irish fans for their team or athlete knows no bounds with over a quarter (26%) admitting to naming their pet and over one in 10 (16%) naming their child after a favourite team/athlete while 7 percent have dyed their hair in honour of their sporting idols.
Demonstrating the importance of support, over half (51%) of survey respondents claimed it provided energy and momentum while four in every ten (41%) attributed a sense of recognition to support. Women scored higher than their male counterparts, with five in every 10 (53%) citing the personal energy boost in contrast to over four in 10 men (49%).
Interestingly, those aged 18-24 said that seeing an Irish athlete on the sporting stage had a hugely positive impact on their own sense of motivation (35%) while over a fifth (21%) of people aged 55-64 claimed to feel inspired!
To celebrate the partnership, specially created cereal boxes, featuring Nestlé Cereals Ireland Ambassadors para-table tennis champion Colin Judge and para-cyclist Richael Timothy are in-store nationwide. In a first for the brand, the boxes also carry a message of support to the team ‘as Gaeilge’.
Jennifer Walsh, Country Category Manager, Nestlé Cereals said:
“Irish fans really do love to go that extra mile when it comes to supporting their team or athlete. Whether it is belting out ‘Ole Ole’ from the stands or in front of the tv to naming their pets and children, it demonstrates the sense of passion and excitement for our sports stars and the sense of anticipation that grips the nation when big sporting occasions come around.
“With a little over twenty-four hours to the start of the Games and with the athletes now in their final preparation, the importance of support in the run-up to the games and at the games is more important than ever.
“Our survey demonstrates how support can contribute to a greater sense of energy and momentum. As our Irish athletes will enjoy the power of in-person support in Paris, we hope that each of them will be spurred on with the support of Irish fans ringing in their ears and that it will give them that extra push. Hopefully, there will be plenty of chants of ‘Ole Ole’ ringing around Paris in the weeks ahead.
“As the official ‘Official Breakfast Partner to Paralympics Ireland’ we are delighted to play our part and pledge our support to Team Ireland for Paris 2024. Our athletes have been training and planning for this moment for many years and now with only a few days to go it is more important than ever that we ‘Bring the Cheer’ and power Team Ireland to glory.”
Stephen McNamara, CEO Paralympics Ireland said:
“With just days to go until the Paralympic Games officially begin, the excitement is definitely rising within Team Ireland. What makes this Games even more special is the fact that family, friends, and fans from all over Ireland can once again be in the crowd to cheer on our athletes. It is that support that will be the driving force behind Team Ireland.”
Enda McNulty, High Performance Coach said that the research confirmed his lifelong belief that support, and cheer positively impacts performance.
“It really demonstrates the power of support and the energy it provides when you see that over half of those surveyed highlight the incredible momentum that comes from being cheered on and supported. It provides a significant boost, both physically and emotionally.
“We can also see the many ways that sport binds us and brings us together- whether it is watching together or joining in song. It’s no surprise that “Olé Ole” is top of the sporting charts- the soundtrack to so many memorable Irish sporting moments. In fact, some of my earliest memories were supporting Jack’s Army, and some of my fondest memories were supporting Sean Kelly, Jason Smyth and Katie Taylor.
“In these moments we all become one huge tribe of Irish people supporting our heroes. The research confirms what we as a nation have always known; that we are at our greatest when we bring our best energy in support of those who represent us.”
*Pictured Nestlé Cereals Ireland Ambassadors para-table tennis athlete Colin Judge and para-cyclist Richael Timothy
16 Enforcement Orders Served On Food Businesses in July
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that 16 Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses during the month of July for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020. The Enforcement Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Three Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:
- Boba Bar (restaurant/café), 139 Parnell Street, Dublin 1
- Hartigans (public house), 100 Leeson Street Lower, Dublin 2
- Duud (retailer), Unit 2 Pinewood House, Huntstown Road, Huntstown, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15
Nine Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
- The Garden @ The Shannon Bar, Termonbarry, Roscommon
- Fayrouz Restaurant, 117 Cork Street, Dublin 8
- Riverhouse Café, 1 Castle Street, Cahir, Tipperary
- *Eurasia Supermarket, Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
- Evergreen Retail Limited (retailer), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
- Humeera Traders Limited (retailer), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
- *Spice Village Indian Street Food (retailer), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
- *Eurasia Supermarket (Closed area: First floor food storage hall & attached kitchen area only), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
- *Spice Village Indian Street Food (Closed area – First floor food storage hall & attached kitchen area only) (retailer), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
Three Prohibition Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:
- Baltic Market (retailer), 2 Dominic Street, Drogheda, Louth
- Goa Indian Spice Kitchen Ltd (takeaway), Unit 103, St Patrick’s Woollen Mills, Douglas, Cork
- Select Asia (retailer), Unit 103, St Patrick’s Woollen Mills, Douglas, Cork
One Prohibition Order was served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
- Quality Foods (butcher shop), 59-61 Dublin Street, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in July include: evidence of ongoing cockroach activity, which led to the serving of six Closure Orders on food businesses at one location; live cockroaches found in equipment and on traps in the kitchen area; multiple holes and gaps in the walls along with rodent droppings; a rodent carcass in a snap trap; failure to implement adequate pest control measures; failure to implement an appropriate food safety culture; food with either expired, missing or altered use-by dates; food not thawed safely; food items stored at unsafe temperatures; inadequate regular and thorough cleaning throughout the premises; equipment like meat slicers congealed with fat and stale food debris; continuous failure to maintain consistent cleaning standards; filthy cleaning equipment and cleaning cloths.
Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, emphasised that compliance with food safety and hygiene regulations should be of the highest priority for all food businesses.
“Filthy premises, unsafe food storage and inadequate pest control measures are once again the primary reasons for this month’s Enforcement Orders. These violations demonstrate a total disregard for food safety requirements and highlight the ongoing failure of some food businesses to maintain basic, consistent cleaning practices, and this failure poses a significant risk to public health. Food businesses have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of the food they produce, distribute or sell by maintaining proper storage temperatures, ensuring staff are properly trained, having stringent hygiene practices and ensuring their food businesses are fully pest proofed. Achieving a strong food safety culture requires continuous and consistent training for all team members”.
Details of the food businesses served with Enforcement Orders are published on the FSAI’s website at www.fsai.ie. Closure Orders and Improvement Orders will remain listed in the enforcement reports on the website for a period of three months from the date of when a premises is adjudged to have corrected its food safety issue, with Prohibition Orders being listed for a period of one month from the date the Order was lifted.
IBM Report: Escalating Data Breach Disruption Pushes Costs to New Highs
Intellectual property theft spiked; More than one-third of breaches involved shadow data
Yet use of AI/Automation cut breach costs by €1.73 million
IBM (NYSE: IBM) released its annual Cost of a Data Breach Report revealing the global average cost of a data breach reached €4.49 million in 2024, as breaches grow more disruptive and further expand demands on cyber teams. Breach costs increased 10% from the prior year, the largest yearly jump since the pandemic, as 70% of breached organisations reported that the breach caused significant or very significant disruption.
Lost business and post-breach customer and third-party response costs drove the year-over-year cost spike, as the collateral damage from data breaches has only intensified. The disruptive effects data breaches are having on businesses are not only driving up costs, but are also extending the after-effect of a breach, with recovery taking more than 100 days for most of the small number (12%) of breached organisations that were able to fully recover.
The 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report is based on an in-depth analysis of real-world data breaches experienced by 604 organisations globally between March 2023 and February 2024. The research, conducted by Ponemon Institute, and sponsored and analysed by IBM, has been published for 19 consecutive years and has studied the breaches of more than 6,000 organisations, becoming an industry benchmark.
Some key findings in the 2024 IBM report include:
- Understaffed Security Teams – More organisations faced severe staffing shortages compared to the prior year (26% increase) and observed an average of €1.62 million in higher breach costs than those with low level or no security staffing issues.
- AI-Powered Prevention Pays Off – Two out of three organisations studied are deploying security AI and automation across their security operation center (SOC). When these technologies were used extensively across prevention workflows organisations incurred an average €2.03 million less in breach costs, compared to those with no use in these workflows – the largest cost savings revealed in the 2024 report.
- Data Visibility Gaps – Forty percent of breaches involved data stored across multiple environments including public cloud, private cloud, and on-prem. These breaches cost more than €4.6 million on average and took the longest to identify and contain (283 days).
“Businesses are caught in a continuous cycle of breaches, containment and fallout response. This cycle now often includes investments in strengthening security defenses and passing breach expenses on to consumers – making security the new cost of doing business,” said Kevin Skapinetz, Vice President, Strategy and Product Design, IBM Security. “As generative AI rapidly permeates businesses, expanding the attack surface, these expenses will soon become unsustainable, compelling business to reassess security measures and response strategies. To get ahead, businesses should invest in new AI-driven defenses and develop the skills needed to address the emerging risks and opportunities presented by generative AI.”
Security staffing shortages drove up breach costs
More than half of the organisations studied had severe or high-level staffing shortages last year and experienced significantly higher breach costs as a result (€5.28 million for high levels vs. €3.66 million for low levels or none). This comes at a time when organisations are racing to adopt generative AI (gen AI) technologies, which are expected to introduce new risks for security teams. In fact, according to a study from the IBM Institute for Business Value, 51% of business leaders surveyed were concerned with unpredictable risks and new security vulnerabilities arising, and 47% were concerned with new attacks targeting AI.
Mounting staffing challenges may soon see relief, as more organisations stated that they are planning to increase security budgets compared to last year (63% vs. 51%), and employee training emerged as a top planned investment area. Organisations also plan to invest in incident response planning and testing, threat detection and response technologies (e.g., SIEM, SOAR and EDR), identity and access management and data security protection tools.
Hacking the clock with AI
The report found that 67% of organisations deployed security AI and automation extensively – a near 10% jump from the prior year – and 20% stated they used some form of gen AI security tools. Organisations that employed security AI and automation extensively detected and contained an incident, on average, 98 days faster than organisations not using these technologies. At the same time, the global average data breach lifecycle hit a 7-year low of 258 days – down from 277 days the prior year and revealing that these technologies may be helping put time back on defenders’ side by improving threat mitigation and remediation activities.
Shorter breach lifecycles can also be attributed to the increase in internal detection: 42% of breaches were detected by an organisation’s own security team or tools compared to 33% the prior year. Internal detection shortened the data breach lifecycle by 61 days and saved organisations nearly €0.92 million in breach costs compared to those disclosed by an attacker.
Data insecurities fuel intellectual property theft
According to the 2024 report, 40% of breaches involved data stored across multiple environments and more than one-third of breaches involved shadow data (data stored in unmanaged data sources), highlighting the growing challenge with tracking and safeguarding data.
These data visibility gaps contributed to the sharp rise (27%) in intellectual property (IP) theft. Costs associated with these stolen records also jumped nearly 11% from the prior year to €159 million per record. IP may grow even more accessible as gen AI initiatives push this data and other highly proprietary data closer to the surface. With critical data becoming more dynamic and active across environments, businesses will need to reassess the security and access controls surrounding it.
Other key findings in the 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report include:
- Stolen credentials topped initial attack vectors – At 16%, stolen/compromised credentials was the most common initial attack vector. These breaches also took the longest to identity and contain at nearly 10 months.
- Fewer ransoms paid when law enforcement is engaged – By bringing in law enforcement, ransomware victims saved on average nearly €0.92 million in breach costs compared to those who didn’t – that savings excludes the ransom payment for those that paid. Most ransomware victims (63%) who involved law enforcement were also able to avoid paying a ransom.
- Critical infrastructure organisations see highest breach costs – Healthcare, financial services, industrial, technology and energy organisations incurred the highest breach costs across industries. For the 14th year in a row, healthcare participants saw the costliest breaches across industries with average breach costs reaching €8.99 million.
- Breach costs passed to consumers – Sixty-three percent of organisations stated they would increase the cost of goods or services because of the breach this year – a slight increase from last year (57%) – this marks the third consecutive year that the majority of studied organisations stated they would take this action.
Download a copy of the 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report.
Seven Enforcement Orders Served on Food Businesses in June
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that seven Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses during the month of June for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020. The Enforcement Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Three Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:
- Board (Closed area: The Upper storey of the building) (service sector), 29 Clanbrassil Street Upper, Dublin 8
- Mercury Eastern European Food (retailer), Unit 25, Midleton Business Enterprise Park, Dwyer Road, Midleton, Cork
- Giraffe Childcare Limited, Elm Park, Merrion Road, Dublin 4
Two Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
- Chinese Gourmet Restaurant (Closed area: the use of the outdoor timber shed in the back yard of the restaurant for the storage/ handling of any open food or food contact materials), The Square, Oldcastle, Meath
- Chrysanthemum (restaurant/café), Unit 1 Old Orchard Inn, Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14
Two Prohibition Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020:
- Johnson Best Food African Take Away, 86 Summerhill, Dublin 1
- The Roadhouse (public house), Clongowney, Mullingar, Westmeath
Also, during the months of May and June two prosecutions were taken by the HSE in relation to:
- Mean Greens Vegan Kitchen Stall, Ballysax Hills, The Curragh, Kildare
- Griolladh 2 Stall, Ballysax Hills, The Curragh, Kildare
Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in June include: two mouse carcasses under a sink and under a toilet; a significant amount of rodent droppings under a sink; evidence of rat infestation; inadequate pest proofing; flies walking on cooked chicken; a dead rodent under pallets on the shop floor; raw meat packaging used to store cooked chicken pieces; mould on walls and ceilings; food prepared and handled in a kitchen which was subject to a Closure Order; inability to establish traceability for frozen raw meat; lack of a food safety culture.
Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, emphasised that food businesses have a legal obligation to comply with food safety legislation in the interest of public health.
“Consumers have a right to safe food. Under food law, it is the legal responsibility of food businesses to ensure that the food they sell to the consumer is safe to eat. If anyone experiences unfit food, poor hygiene standards or notices a breach of food law in a food business, we encourage them to contact us via our online complaint form at www.fsai.ie/makeitbetter. Reporting inappropriate and unsafe food practices provides us with information that we can act upon. Food safety legislation is put in place to protect the health of consumers and to uphold the standards of the food industry. We strongly encourage food business operators to continuously improve their food safety standards via regular training, availing of online resources, as well as promoting a strong culture of food safety within their businesses.”
Details of the food businesses served with Enforcement Orders are published on the FSAI’s website at www.fsai.ie. Closure Orders and Improvement Orders will remain listed in the enforcement reports on the website for a period of three months from the date of when a premises is adjudged to have corrected its food safety issue, with Prohibition Orders being listed for a period of one month from the date the Order was lifted.