Tesco invests €12.5m in ‘eco-store’ initiative

TESCO is investing €12.5 million in the development of its first eco-store in Ireland while also finalising plans for new stores throughout the country.

The investment in the environmentally friendly store, which will open in Tramore, Co Waterford, in October, is €2.5m more than Tesco would normally invest in a new outlet. The store will include solar panels and Tesco said it will use 45% less energy than a similar size supermarket.

It follows the opening of three eco-stores in Britain.

The store has received planning permission and will be based just outside Tramore town centre. If the company is pleased with the performance of the outlet it will look at adding more eco-stores in Ireland.

Tesco Ireland chief executive Tony Keohane said the company is looking to expand its Express stores and petrol stations across Munster. Mr Keohane also said €655m worth of Irish food and drink products are exported annually to Tesco businesses internationally, which he said makes Tesco a more significant market destination for Ireland than France or Germany.

“However, this adds substantially to our carbon footprint involving sea, air and land transport from Ireland,” he said.

He said Tesco will not scale back on these exports to reduce its carbon footprint and is instead looking at reducing it elsewhere in its operations. The Tesco chief also said the retailer would like to see local Irish produce reclaim its pre-eminence with consumers.

“We have been actively working with farmers in north Dublin to start regrowing certain products, displace imports and extend their growing seasons,” he said.