Madam, – I refer to the Opinion article by John Gibbons (August 27th). It is unfortunate that Mr Gibbons did not contact Tesco on the matter. An agreement has been reached between Tesco Ireland and Unicef Ireland whereby Tesco will no longer use the term “Change for Good” after September 11th, 2009. Tesco will support Unicef Ireland with an in-store fundraising opportunity in the coming months and continue to support Unicef Ireland’s ongoing campaign with Pampers to eliminate maternal and neo-natal tetanus.
With regard to the other points made by Mr Gibbons, we would have been happy to clarify rather than have him make continuous incorrect statements.
For the record, each year Tesco buys almost €2 billion worth of Irish food and drink products. Of this, €655 million is exported to Tesco stores throughout the world, making Tesco Group a bigger export destination for Irish food than France, Germany or the US.
The company is one of the biggest supporters of Irish agriculture, with all fresh beef and lamb coming from Irish farms. All fresh milk in Tesco stores comes from Irish diaries and when in season approximately 80 per cent of fresh vegetables are Irish.
The Change for Good price cuts brought Border pricing to the Republic and has been widely welcomed by customers. Price reductions of an average of 22 per cent apply across 12,500 products. New ranges have been introduced, improving choice for customers.
– Yours, etc,