Celebrations for Tipperary's top award-winning Centra stores

There were celebrations all round for 18 Centra stores in Tipperary, as they were recently recognised for excellence in the fields of hygiene and food safety within their businesses, and graciously accepted distinguished awards at the 2019 Centra Food Quality Awards.

The setting for this prestigious awards ceremony was the gorgeous Great Southern Hotel, Killarney, and during the course of the event the Excellence Ireland Quality Association presented a number of Tipperary Centra stores, six to be precise, with the coveted Q Mark Level 3 Emerald Award. The purpose of this award is to congratulate and acknowledge the on-going dedication from stores to demonstrate exemplary standards of store cleanliness and hygiene. The winning Tipperary Centra stores were chosen in recognition of their ongoing hard work and commitment in these areas and achieved a score of between 75 and 100% in this independent assessment. Winning stores displayed a comprehensive understanding of the importance of providing the best service for their customers, as well as ensuring that quality, hygiene and food safety are continually prioritised by their team of staff.

The six Tipperary winners of the Q Mark for Hygiene & Food Safety Level 3 Emerald Award, which signifies supreme performance were:

• O' Connell’s Centra, Templemore

• Sheedy’s Centra, Nenagh

• Butler’s Centra, Dundrum

• Ryan’s Centra, Cappawhite

• Centra, Carrick-on-Suir

• Casey 's Centra, Toomevara

Also celebrating on the night were a further 12 Tipperary Centra stores, as they too were awarded for their commitment to health and safety within the Irish food sector, scoring between 60 and 74%. These businesses were presented with the Q Mark for Hygiene & Food Safety Level 2 Sapphire Award, which also independently verifies and acknowledges that the highest standards of operational hygiene and food safety were in practice that year in all areas of the selected convenience store.

The 12 Tipperary stores that proudly accepted this Q Mark Level 2 Sapphire Award were:

• Austin’s Centra, Cloughjordan

• Hourihane’s Centra, Killenaule

• Dwyer’s Centra, Thurles

• Kenny’s Centra, Fethard

• Ely’s Centra, Kickham Street Thurles 

• Ely’s Centra, Cashel

• Ely’s Centra, The Mall Thurles 

• Ely’s Centra, Clonmel

• Ryan’s Centra, Newport

• Shanahan’s Centra Borrisoleigh

• Cussen’s Centra, Bansha

• Carroll’s Centra, Roscrea

A total of 444 Irish Centra stores received awards during the ceremony, with 301 receiving the Q Mark Level 2 Sapphire Award and 143 receiving the enviable Q Mark Level 3 Emerald Award, much to their owners and managers delight.

Acknowledging the importance of these esteemed awards, Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of Centra Ireland, commented, “It is fantastic to see such a huge number of stores represented here this evening and even more terrific to see so many bestowed with awards! These well-deserved awards have been presented as a direct result of their constant commitment to ensuring their food service meets – and exceeds – the incredibly high standards laid out by Excellence Ireland. Not only do these awards commend the hard work and dedication of store owners, management and staff, but they also confirm to customers that exceptional food safety standards are being adhered to within each of the winning stores. Our consumers satisfaction and peace of mind with regards to food safety is our number one priority and these awards ensure customers can shop with ease and confidence. I hope that all involved are extremely proud of their achievements.”

Echoing Mr Kelleher’s sentiments, Soraid McEntee of the Excellence Ireland Quality Association also applauded the deserving winners, saying, “We have seen a huge improvement in the standard of food safety in Ireland over the last number of years and during this awards process, we have observed serious commitment to maintaining the highest levels of excellence in quality control by these award-winningCentra stores. We must sincerely commend the hard work and diligence of management and staff that have gone above and beyond the call of duty in the hopes of making their store the ‘jewel of the Centra crown’ so to speak, and thereby making the decision a little easier for Excellence Ireland to award them accordingly. We wish to sincerely thank all of the winning stores for their continuous dedication to the highest level of quality and hygiene standards. We also would like to congratulate and applaud each of them on this fantastic achievement.” 

Centra is Ireland’s leading convenience retail group, with bright, accessible stores in over 465 locations throughout the country. Centraemploys almost 11,000 people and serves over three million customers per week. Centra invests more than €240 million in local communities per annum, which is the equivalent of €4.5 million per week through a combination of payments to local suppliers, acquisition of local business services, wages, charitable donations and local sponsorships.