Impact of Tesco on People's Lives

  

Tesco are such a big company that has a really big global presence so they must make some sort of impact on peoples lives for better or for worse. In this post I will investigate the impact that Tesco makes on people's lives in Ireland.

In 2007 Tesco spent €1.28 billion on Irish products and services. This goes into the Irish economy and makes up peoples salary. 50% of the food that is sold in Tesco in Ireland is produced in Ireland. This provides employment for Irish people in particular to the farmers.  Tesco's annual contribution to the Irish economy is about €2.7 billion.  Tesco change children's lives all across Ireland by having Tesco for school and club schemes.  They have invested almost €15 million into Irish schools to date. It is estimated that over half of all schools in Ireland have got free equipment from Tesco since 1997 when they entered Ireland. They directly employ over 14,000 people in Ireland and this is a huge benefit to the national and local economies.

Sustainable Tesco

One of Tesco's main goals is to attract customers and sell produce. To do this they employ a very effective strategy. They source and sell sustainable food which attracts customers because now days people are more and more conscious of their carbon footprint and the effect that they are having on the environment.
I have found some video clips on the Tesco website and have put a link here so you can see them. They explain how Tesco reduce their carbon footprint and how they source their food sustainably.
sustainable Tesco video

Tesco have places in most of their stores where you can recycle loads of different things. You are able to recycle; mobile phones, printer cartridges, batteries and electrical items. By having these facilities they encourage people to shop and recycle at the same time. They can take responsibility for the things they sell like the batteries etc.

Where Tesco are in the World

Tesco are in fourteen different countries all over the world. Not all their stores go to the name Tesco but they are all owned by Tesco.
They are:

• Tesco UK - Started Trading in 1924                                   
• Tesco China - Started Trading in 2004
• Tesco India 
• Tesco Malaysia - Started Trading in 2002
• Homeplus (South Korea) - Started Trading in 1999
• Tesco Lotus (Thailand) - Started Trading in 1998
• Tesco Czech Republic - Started Trading in 1996
• Tesco Hungary - Started Trading in 1995
• Tesco Ireland - Started Trading in 1997
• Tesco Poland - Started Trading in 1996
• Tesco Slovakia - Started Trading in 1996
• Tesco Kipa (Turkey) - Started Trading in 2003
• Fresh & Easy (USA) - Started Trading in 2003
• Japan - Started Trading in 2003



Tesco and their zero-carbon goal

Tesco have a long term goal to be a zero-carbon business by 2050. Their first step to achieving this goal was launched when on the seventh of December in 2009 a zero-carbon store was opened in Ramsey in Cambridgeshire. It really is revolutionary, producing its own energy using renewable sources and even producing more than they need and selling the extra to the national grid.

The actual store is built using a timber frame that is bought from a source that is sustainable. This means that when the trees are cut down more are planted in their place. The building is able to collect rainwater and use it to flush the store toilets and they also use it in their car wash. The car park in the Tesco store is lit by LED light bulbs. These are light emitting diodes and are extremely energy efficient. LED's can last up to 50 times longer than a normal bulb. There are also streetlights outside the Tesco store that are solar powered. This solar power is compleatly renewable and is extremely good for the environment. Inside the store there are big skylights and sun pipes to allow natural light get into the store and it also cuts down on the cost needed to use electric lights. The sun pipes catuc the sun and divert it down into the store. Also the equiptment that is yused in the store is energy efficiant. An example of this is the low-energy ovens that they use in their bakery.
Tesco have learnt from their first store in Ramsey that zero-carbon stores are extreamly cost effective and are planning to open a lot more all around the world in the future.


Click on this link to go to the Tesco website where they have a really good video about the zero carbon store in Ramsey. The video explains the key features of the zero-carbon store. When you click the link, click 'View the Timeline', then using the slider at the bottom go to 2010 and the second page and the video will come up. Tesco History

Tesco's History

Tesco was set up in 1919 by a man called Jack Cohen. He started to sell food left un-sold after his market stall was closed every day. His stall was in East London. Mr. Cohen was in the Flying Corps in World War 1.

After the war when he was demobed (released from the army after conscription) he got some money for the time he served. He used this money to buy his stock to sell from his market stall.

Today Tesco have a very successful own brand food supply. The first Tesco own brand product was tea. The name Tesco comes from the name of TE Stockwell and CO from Mr. Cohen's second name. TE Stockwell was a man in the tea selling company that Mr. Cohen bought his Tesco own-brand tea from.

In 1929 the first actual Tesco shop was in Burnt Oak, Edgware in North London. Since then the business has never looked back becoming a global giant in the world of of supermarkets. Mr. Cohen was knighted in 1969 and became Sir Jack Cohen. His business motto was ''Pile it high, sell it cheap''. He died in 1979 at the age of 80.

To get a full time line of Tesco's history click on this link;  Tesco Timeline

Jack Cohen,  founder of Tesco

Picture from www.tescoplc.com



Introduction

Tesco is a huge multinational chain of supermarkets in 14 different countries with over  6,234 supermarkets worldwide. They employ over  500,000 people. The countries are the UK, Ireland, the US,China,India,Thiland, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. I am doing a geographical blog on Tesco,where it comes from and where it has spread to in the world.. I will try to find out how the supermarket giant Tesco can change peoples lives.