FAIRTRADE

I have been buying Supervalu's brand of FAIRTRADE tea for a good while now. The fairtrade bit means that the product has been produced and traded to standards set by the Fairtrade organisation which, in turn, means that producers are adequately rewarded for their labour and the traders don't get up to any funny business.

I had been looking for a box for at least a week in my local Supervalu store but there was no sign of it. In one way I wasn't too surprised as they are always running out of things and the first to disappear is usually their own brand.

Anyway, I finally mentioned this to the staff and it sort of rang a bell. Apparently there had been some talk of re-branding and that it would be temporarily unavailable. They do this with things from time to time and it is both annoying and confusing.

Next thing one of the staff spotted the above box on the shelf. Lo and behold, the rebranded version under our very noses.

The style has been kept but the word "fairtrade" is now relegated to a subtitle and the product is now marketed under "Reserve Brand".

Apart from feeling a bit of a fool for not spotting it, I have been mulling over the change and wondering about the logic behind it.

I haven't quite finished my mulling and comments would be welcome below after you've had a think about it.

To facilitate the comparison I have reproduced the two versions together below. You will notice that the 80 bags are now packed into a very slightly smaller space.

http://www.fairtrade.net/standards.html

Woooooo

Supervalu, Raheny, 2012

QR Community Noticeboard

The above is a section of the Community/Ads noticeboard in my local Supervalu.

One ad caught my eye: the one which appears to consist of just a maze of pixels. This is QR coding, an advanced form of Bar Coding and I couldn't figure out why anyone would put up an ad consisting of just a piece of QR coding. If you were trying to sell something or offer a service, you'd imagine that you would pitch it at as wide an audience as possible, and not confine it to the few curious geeks who might bother to follow up the QR coding.

So I wondered was it a secret messaging system and did Supervalu know what was going on.

I followed it up and found that it was a pointer to a page on Facebook, which, when you logged in to Facebook itself, turned out to belong to the Green School of Motoring and offered you the following deal. To enter a raffle to win €250 worth of driving lessons, simply "Like" their Facebook page and "Share" the post.

And was Supervalu aware of the content of this mysterious ad? It looks like they were as they are among the following identifiable Raheny interests who have followed the instructions to date (12/7/2012): Railway Station; Axa Insurance; Supervalu; GAA; Slender Health; Shamrock Athletic Club.

Funny old world.

Euro2012 Fever

Supervalu, Killester, Dublin 3, 18 June 2012

Cuurious Chicken

I was always told to read the ingredients.

It could happen to a Bishop or even a Vice President.

On Guard

People go to great lengths to protect their stock of booze. This guy is standing guard over the Guinness mortuary chapel in All Saints' Church in Raheny. As far as I can see, he is the only gargoyle on the outside of the church.

As well as the remains of Lord and Lady Ardilaun the chapel contains a special can of Guinness (below) commemorating that brewery's 250th anniversary at James's Gate in 2009.



The dragon above has been on guard for nearly a century and a quarter, but the piece of Sharia law below has just been introduced into the Supervalu off-licence in Raheny.




It would need to be a very very Good Friday!