Festive feastChef makes our Christmas dinner dreams a reality

Our magazine, exclusively for

colleagues Winter 2017/18

83Colleagues

featured inside

Meet the sprout lovers who take great pride in their crop

WINa trip to

Valencia & more prizes

greensNew year goalsTips for getting the most out of 2018

Field of

2

Mary Escolme, Haverfordwest ExtraAge knows no barriers for 64-year- old Mary, who completed her eighth long-distance run of the year when

Anne James, Ystradgynlais SuperstoreInspirational Anne showed her mettle when she took on the Tenby

Lee Clark, Southchurch Esso ExpressSerial fundraiser Lee (far right) was recognised for raising £65,000 for charity since 2007 when he got bronze

Huntly SuperstoreColleagues from the store in north-east Scotland held a community dog show and car boot sale for our National Charity Partnership,

Andy Martin, Lichfield DC

when he finished his own John

feat was more impressive because

Jerome Eatough, Wigston SuperstoreFishmonger Jerome climbed 5,895 metres to scale Mount Kilimanjaro – raising over £2,000 for local disability

Robert Devereux, Reading West Extra

of two personal record labels and has been approached by the British Sound

Express Group 616Four brave adventurers from the Central region took on the Lake

hike and kayak challenge – to raise

Share

Tell us about your achievements at t.magazine@uk.tesco.com

photos your

P

3

Tesco Editor-in-chief: Amy Bowden; Key contributor: Deborah Hatch Sonder Editor: Chris Evans; Sub Editor: Kate Feasey; Art Director: Wayne Hayton; Designer: Natasha Lipinski Cox; Production Manager: Julia Fulford. Photography Simon Lane, Tom Campbell, Paul Tibbs, Roy Kilcullen, Justin Grainge, James Bastable. Get in touch with us by post Colleague Communications, Omega, Shire Park, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1GA.

Winter may be the coldest season of the year but there’s always plenty to warm up to, including all of the exclusive colleague stories and great

giveaways in this edition of t magazine. While I love the build-up to Christmas,

it’s that feeling of making a fresh start at the beginning of a new year that motivates me. For most of us, we set ourselves the goal of improving our lifestyle and that’s why our boot camp feature on pages 40-44

his advice for the year ahead. When I’m setting goals for a new year,

I’m also inspired by looking back at our achievements, with our National Charity Partnership (NCP) really standing out. So many of you have contributed in the past two years and we’ve compiled our favourite fundraising moments on pages 32-34.

Before 2018 arrives there’s plenty to celebrate, including Christmas, of course, and there’s lots of festive cheer throughout this edition.

But before reading I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, as well as a prosperous, healthy 2018.

Matt says...

Hello.eople say that time flies when you’re having fun – and it’s certainly been true this year. We’ve had a great time working on t magazine throughout 2017,

We know you’re all looking forward to a festive break full of fun, family, friends and food and that’s why we’ve asked four colleagues from across Leicestershire to tell us about their Christmas Day food dreams and nightmares (pages 10-17). With a helping hand from one of our development chefs, we showed them how to make the most of their dream festive flavours and turn their food nightmares into helpful meal ideas.

We’ve also visited a supplier to find out about a food that splits opinion – sprouts. Whether you’re a lover or a hater, our behind-the-scenes feature (p26-30) explains how sprouts make it to our stores. Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about a good old festive tipple as we discover how our new line of low-alcohol products have kept all the flavour without the strength (p18-21).

Remember, if you are still on the hunt for great discounts on presents, panellist Cat Richardson’s look at our Colleague Deals & Discounts (p50) might give you some inspiration, while our competitions could be a way to get something for you (p48-49).

After all that food and drink we know health will be on your minds, with January being a great time to start those New Year resolutions. Some of us got put through our paces to show

there’s loads of tips to create a healthier you in 2018 too. We’re currently recruiting for new

panel members, so if you’re interested check out Our Tesco. Your panel

4

Our magazine is printed on FSC®-certified paper

Please recycle after use

Contents

10 Festive flavours Colleagues reveal their

Christmas food fears

18 Time to raise a glassHow we keep the taste in our range of low-alcohol drinks

26 Green livingOur sprout suppliers show

Celebrating three years of our National Charity Partnership

Intrepid colleague takes on eight-week Mongol Rally

Personal trainer reveals his advice for a better 2018

7 Meet our millionaire Celebrate with one of our Clubcard Millionaires

The community ideas that are winning hearts

Tasters

Features

26

designMy life in…

Our in-house team of artists reveal how they design our latest must-have gifts, toys and homeware products

Design Assistant“After winning the New Designers Hallmark Award in 2014, I was thrilled

retail you need to adapt your style

Hand-drawn typography is currently

“Being in factories to see our

manufacturing techniques, such as making our Go Cook Damascus knives in the same way as samurai swords, helps us to

Design Manager

5

MY LIFE IN…

“Creating style guides to help buyers visualise our ideas is fun as we’re

other. We use a combination of hand drawing, painting and computer illustration to create our artwork. The brush lettering on our Valentine’s Day range is done by hand – it was a new technique for me and tricky at first, but satisfying once I’d mastered it.”

“The team are so talented and will sit here painting and illustrating for hours – some of the designs we create amaze me. I’m passionate about artwork that’s 100% unique.

“I love what we’ve done with our Christmas range. It features beautiful silver and white illustrations of polar bears and penguins on our cards and wrap.”

“I come from a fashion background, working in a studio doing flat prints, so I like to sketch first and apply colour using Photoshop. We all come from

us to create more diverse artwork.”

Steven Rowe, Head of Design

Hannah Remiarz, Design Assistant

Jasmin Moore, Design Manager

What’s your story? Tell us about your special passions by sending your story ideas to t.magazine@uk.tesco.com

6

Tasters

Get set for a new breakfast

A better startWe’re adding a Very Berry Granola made with low-fat Greek-style yogurt as part of our increased breakfast range. Calorie information is now clearly displayed on all our menus.

Egg-cellent additionPoached eggs are now on the menu, alongside fried and scrambled,

breakfasts, including eggs royale with smoked salmon and spinach (above).

Cooking up a stormOur new meat-free cooked breakfast includes a poached egg, baked beans, wilted spinach, roasted tomato, whole mushroom and super-seeded bread.

Use your loafYou can choose from a wider variety of bread options in our cafes. We

and a super-seeded farmhouse bread, which is high in fibre.

Music to our ears

1 Coming up with the idea is one thing, but you need to get other colleagues involved.

2 Start with the music, so sit down with your instrument and create the melody. The words come after that.

3 We recorded using a Mac and a mic, and remember it’s meant to be fun.

With toes tapping to colleague singing collective Made in the North’s festive hit Christmas Time, Area Manager –and songwriter – Mark Kanaris (right) reveals how to create a charity single.

Want more good news? We were named the National Cafe Chain of the Year at the 2017 Foodservice Quality Food Awards!

7

5 You need a good cause for everybody to get behind and that’s why we’re raising money for our National Charity Partnership.

Win £50!

How did you find out you’d won?I was working in our store’s F&F department and was told we were being visited by a video team to show

was doing an interview about F&F and could hear noise behind me – when I looked round, my colleagues had party poppers and I was being presented with a big Clubcard voucher.

When you used your new Clubcard, did you ever think you’d be a winner?To be honest I hadn’t thought about it. I used my new Clubcard as usual and had seen the adverts but didn’t ever really think I’d win. I couldn’t believe it when I did!

What was your family’s reaction?I called my husband immediately to tell him and the first thing he said to me was ‘good, now you can replace

the chocolate biscuits you nicked out of the cupboard’. It was hilarious.

What have you spent your points on?I got myself a new laptop almost straightaway and an Amazon Kindle for my husband because he’s mad on books. I’m also treating the girls from work to a meal at Bella Italia. I have two years to spend the points, so I’ve got my eyes on booking a holiday too!”

Check out Our Tesco to watch the video of when we surprised our 10 Clubcard Millionaires.

4 You need to get it out there. Christmas Time is available on iTunes and Amazon, and we’re all doing our bit to promote it.

Thanks a millionWith one swipe Prescot Extra Customer Assistant Pat Gibbons

became a Clubcard Millionaire – here’s her story

Send your funniest caption for the image below to us to win a £50 Tesco giftcard.

We’ll share the winner on Our Tesco.

The lucky winner of last edition’s caption competition was Ann Kent from Greenford Hoover Building Superstore.

Send your caption to captions@madebysonder. com by 21 January 2018See terms and conditions on page 49

We’ve launched our Little Helps Plan

customers, colleagues and communities. The plan covers our people (providing flexibility and opportunities to get on), products (sourcing with care, health and food waste) and places (our communities). Here are some of the great things we’re

Our plan to help

More than 14 million meals from food surplus donated

24 million pieces of free fruit given to kids visiting our stores

8,000+ projects supported through Bags of Help

Email groupcommunications@uk.tesco.com with your ideas for little ways to achieve our goals

8

Lesley and Melanie Chippenham Metro

Linda Begnor Assistant Merchandiser

Our little helpersMeet the colleagues who have been leading by example

to make our customers’ lives a little better

Cornwall and Devon stores

If you know about something that could be a great story in a future edition of t magazine, we want to hear from you – it could

be an unusual hobby or a colleague’s achievement at work.

Let us know by emailing t.magazine@uk.tesco.com

Got a story?

Help the food waste fight

1

3

Our goal is that no food that’s safe for human consumption will go to waste in our UK retail operations by the end of 2017 and we all have a big part to play

2

9

As our colleagues help people where they live, Lisnagelvin Superstore Community Champion Janine McCready-Barnett reveals

When hundreds of homes were left flooded in Northern Ireland earlier this year, our community champions joined forces to support British Red Cross with the products they needed to lead the recovery and helped clear the

As a thank you, we met Prince Charles

At Christmas our store gets involved with our town’s Christmas Tree

every year and is a tradition across the whole of Northern Ireland, so it’s a great opportunity for us to donate a tree and promote the community

Helping charities or local causes

Here for everyoneHow colleagues are doing their bit to help those in their local community

Mum’s the word

Join our panel

activities in the area, such as when we volunteered to revamp gardens at

We spend time with several groups in the area and promote Tesco as we

in Londonderry by cooking up one of

leading new policy means colleagues will not only continue to receive full pay throughout their first 14 weeks of

maternity leave but will now also gain a further 14 weeks at

Do you have a view on our communications and creative ideas to bring colleague stories to life? If you’d like to get experience in blogging, filming and photography, then the Colleague Communications Panel is for you. Check Our Tesco in January for more information on how to apply.

10

Our Head Development Chef Martyn Lee shows four colleagues how getting the food right is at the heart of a memorable occasion – however they do Christmas

EVERYONESomething for

11

CHRISTMAS

12

Cooking Caribbean style

Lyn Vargas Cash Admin Assistant, Leicester Bede Island Express

Caribbean potatoes with an essence of jerk and a mango slaw side dish.

“A Caribbean Christmas is an interesting one for me. It’s all about bringing those flavours into the dishes you create. We actually use a lot of Caribbean flavours in our traditional Christmas cuisine,

cloves and putting spices into desserts.

“I’m adding turmeric to

potatoes that earthy flavour, before mixing a small amount

classic jerk flavours – ground allspice, cloves, red chillies, fresh orange juice, thyme and parsley – at the roasting stage.

meat to include a taste of the Caribbean that not everybody at the table needs to try.”

Martyn’s solution

y family are Afro-Caribbean, so I always like

to add a taste of our heritage in any Christmas meal I cook.

“I use a lot of the all-purpose seasonings to give my food that Afro-Caribbean flavour. I use it on an assortment of meat, from lamb and turkey to fish, and wouldn’t consider making any centrepiece without a Caribbean twist.

“We have a lot of food on Christmas Day and I do roast potatoes and veg with the meat. We have plenty of nibbles, so food is a big part of our day.

“The key to Caribbean cooking is to combine flavours and experiment. It’s the norm over there because people make the most out of what they’ve got.”

M

All-purpose seasoningAvailable in our continental aisle, this is bursting with flavour.

MangoFresh and vibrant in colour. Mangoes don’t just taste great, they also look good on the plate.

Garlic pasteThe lazy way of preparing

Buy a tube and cut down on chopping.

Lyn’s Caribbean favourites

Jerk seasoningThe taste of the Caribbean, jerk seasoning can give any meat or fish a kick.

Lyn’s verdict

CHRISTMAS

13

The veggie who doesn’t like veg

Devan Fulham Customer Assistant Bakery, Hinckley Superstore

A whole butternut squash with a mushroom, spinach and cranberry Wensleydale

“You can replicate a Christmas carvery centrepiece with a slow-roasted butternut squash and by mixing textures and flavours of vegetables, using the squash’s softness,

the sharpness of the cranberry Wensleydale. The nut roast has been done a lot, so this is a good, modern alternative with lots of freshness and colour.

“Not all vegetables need cooking, so the side dish of the shaved raw carrots mixed with winter fruits peps up the meal. Again, it’s another mix of textures. The strands of carrot are thin so you don’t get that squeaky feeling when you eat, while dressing with orange juice rather than oil creates a really nice Christmassy taste.”

“I don’t normally like the smell or texture of mushrooms but that didn’t come across mixed with the other ingredients. The sides impressed me – they introduced flavours I like”

Martyn’s solution

’m a big fan of Christmas with all the decorations and parties,

although dinner is never a big event food-wise for my family.

“We’re all strict vegetarians and I don’t really like eating vegetables, which limits what we can have. We usually go for spinach parcels for dinner on Christmas Day and it’s not that special as it’s the sort of thing we’d eat at other times.

“I don’t like the taste or texture of vegetables – it’s the way they squeak on your

“I’d like to find a recipe that would make Christmas dinner more special, but I’ve yet to

to what I always eat. Good luck with changing my feelings towards vegetables!”

+Shaved carrot and fruit side dishNot all vegetables need to be cooked, as Martyn’s raw carrot, apple and blackberry, with a squeeze of orange juice, recipe shows.

carrot

blackberries orange juice

apple

+ =

I

Devan’s verdict

14

The traditionalist

Kim Wilson Customer Assistant, Leicester Bede Island Express

Turkey brined in salt and stock, smoked sprouts and the ultimate roast potatoes.

“People love tradition but want to find a modern spin on the classic flavours to keep Christmas dinner interesting.

“Sprouts are always the dreaded vegetable, so we’re including chestnut and bacon but enhancing those smoky flavours with paprika and garlic paste and adding some chilli to give it background heat too. We roast them at the end to lock in all that taste.

“You don’t want to play too much with the other classics. I brined the turkey last night, which is a great technique because you don’t need to add extra salt before cooking, resulting in a turkey that’s as juicy as possible. The potatoes are boiled first before roasting in goose fat

middle and crispy outside.”

Martyn’s solution

went to Australia for Christmas last year and while

I’ll never forget it, I couldn’t help but dream of all the traditional festivities I was missing at home.

“Enjoying a Christmas dinner in a bikini was certainly an experience, but the heat just meant that it didn’t feel right. I’m not a fan of the winter cold, but I felt myself missing it.

“Family is really important at Christmas and we celebrate across the entire week. We eat a lot of the traditional favourites because that’s what this time of year is all about.

“We’ll have turkey, roast potatoes and all the trimmings. I’d like to make something that evokes all those festive memories but with a new,

If you like this...

You’ll love this...

Try brining it in salt and stock the night before cooking to keep it moist and fresh when you serve.

Boil them until they’re just about to fall apart, then gently drain them

Pan-fry in smoked bacon and chestnut, then add paprika, garlic paste and chilli for a smoky flavour.

I

turkey roast potatoes sprouts

Kim’s verdict

CHRISTMAS

15

4

Roasting potatoes in oil or goose fat is bad for people with diabetes, so pan-fry and introduce

Christmas with diabetes

Paul DhillonCustomer Assistant, Loughborough Extra

Three crunchy spice-not-sugar side dishes and pan-fried new potatoes with mint.

“You don’t always get

“This meal allows me to eat a Christmas lunch away from home or to have a dessert, which I can’t normally do. Roasting the veg is a great idea and I’ll try that myself”

Martyn’s solution

’ve got type 2 diabetes, so eating the wrong foods at

the wrong time can have a big impact on my energy levels.

for a big meal or to entertain

very lethargic and low on energy after I’ve finished eating.

“I work shifts across the middle of the day in store, so I tend to have a hefty breakfast

“I do tend to treat myself a bit at Christmas and eat more

armchair soon afterwards.“Ideally, I’d like to find a way

and also enjoy the rest of the

I

1 2 3

of boiling to bring out the

than adding ingredients

Martyn’s top tips

Bring some crunch into the dish to slow down how quickly you eat, which is helpful for

Don’t add extra sugar to

Instead of using honey on parsnips, try smoked

Paul’s verdict

X

ONLY 69 CALORIESGREAT TASTE. NO ALCOHOL.*

*CONTAINS NO MORE THAN 0.05% ALCOHOL BY VOLUME

THIS CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR

17

CHRISTMAS

Feed more than just your familyWe’re feeding more than just the people sitting around our Christmas dinner table this year by donating £1 from every fresh turkey bought at Tesco to help people in need.

The donations – made on fresh turkeys bought from 6 November to 24 December 2017 – will be split equally between our food charity partners FareShare and The Trussell Trust.

Christmas in numbersIt’s our biggest trading time of the year by far, so how do the festive figures stack up across the nation?

Feeling festive?Keep an eye on Our Tesco throughout Christmas for plenty more exclusive

15,000 customers are served each minute in our stores during the Christmas rush

3.5 million packs of carrots (that’s 27 million individual carrots) are bought from us at Christmas. Enough to stretch around the world 11 times!

26 million pigs in blankets are sold in our stores each year

6 million rolls of sticky tape are sold in the UK on the run-up to Christmas

While Christmas is the time that most choose to spend at home, 4.25 million Brits travel abroad to celebrate

We regularly sell

200,000 turkey crowns or birds on the busiest shopping day

before Christmas

59 million cases of groceries are delivered to our stores in the week before Christmas. That’s around 97 cases per second

18

The secrets behind the low-alcohol products worth staying sober for this party season

can go?lowwe

How

LOW-ALCOHOL DRINKS

19

ows of mysterious silver bottles line the walls of Omega Ingredients’ candy-striped laboratory. Next to them is a table of flasks, tumblers, jars, pipettes and scales poised for a day of experimenting. It’s not the sort of place where

you’d immediately picture a fresh drink bursting with flavour being made but as t magazine discovers, each

extracts and botanicals sourced from across the globe, a waft of aromas escapes: from the scent of smoky bacon

a bottle labelled ‘outer space’. It’s from this taste library that we fuse together creations for our new own-brand low-alcohol gin and tonics that will be helping party-goers find a low-strength alternative this Christmas.

Keeping it freshThe raw ingredients in any gin are completely natural and it’s the same for our low-alcohol alternatives, thanks to the team of 17 experts – led by Steve Pearce, wife Elizabeth and family dog Arthur – based at Omega’s site

in Ipswich. Now, any glug of our low-alcohol G&Ts is punctuated with coriander, orange and lemon peel, juniper berries, hops, peppercorns and liquorice, all distilled in huge copper pots filled with water and heated to remove the essential oils.

“We knew the low-strength G&T needed to taste exactly like the finest* gin and contain all of the natural botanicals found in Tesco’s alcoholic gin products,” explains

Omega founder and biochemist Steve. “We relished the challenge of working with Tesco’s teams of drinks developers to create a G&T-style drink with low alcohol and sugar.”

The distinctive tart flavour of gin has won the spirit of an army of fans. Juniper berries are an essential ingredient in all gins but you won’t find them in the UK, so Steve scours the globe for the best natural ingredients.

Once the botanicals are sourced, they are blended and tested for smell and taste, before being perfected and sent to a gin distillery in Germany. When the ingredients

return, Omega blends them once more before they are mixed with tonic to put the finishing touches to the drink.

An authentic taste“One of the most important things for us is provenance and being able to trace things all the way back to source,” continues Steve, whose union with Tesco began with a project to remove sugar and reformulate some of our other products.

“I might go to India, Japan or China and talk to growers, so I’m always learning something new, such as how their juniper

“The low-alcohol products needed to taste exactly like the finest* gin and contain all of the natural botanicals”

R

20

berries grow and when’s best to pick them.“At some of the farms, plantations and processors

I visit it might even be the bits they’re throwing away that I ask them to keep for me. Our concentration plant can take waste water that’s loaded with aroma from the flavoured oil-making process and turn it into something really interesting.

“We assess the complexity of aromas to get a sense of the flavour. We can create any taste, ingredient, aroma or fragrance imaginable.”

A growing trendThat same attention is replicated in our wines. With people becoming more health conscious, sales of our low-alcohol wines have doubled in the past year, with our range also growing to include low-strength Sauvignon Blanc, Garnacha-Rosé and Cabernet Tempranillo – as well as 0.5% sparkling white and rosé options.

“We’re seeing more customers looking for a quality wine-drinking experience without the alcohol,” reveals Wine Product Development Manager Alexandra Runciman (pictured right).

“This is the first own-label wine range of

comparable alternative to popular varieties without any compromise on taste.”

Just like with our gins, we work with experts

“It’s about translating that liquid flavour and quality into low-alcohol wine to retain its flavour profile. Previously, that didn’t happen”

LOW-ALCOHOL DRINKS

21

The taste test

Natalie PowellAdmin Clerk

Colleagues at Hinckley DC try out the low-alcohol drinks

for themselves

“This is really nice and has a dry texture, which is exactly what you’d expect of a red wine. I might not know this

wasn’t full strength!”

Abby FairbrotherPeople Support Manager

“There’s a nice fruity taste to the wine and it

is a good option if you’re not drinking. It’s

not as strong or sweet as other low-alcohol drinks.”

Claire HouriganPeople & Safety Manager

“There’s a recognisable gin aftertaste that means

you could easily take it for the real thing. I would

definitely buy it if I was driving to a party.”

to create alternative wines that taste as good as the real thing. Step forward the Felix Solis family, a long-standing supplier of our Spanish wines.

Staying above zeroThe winemakers, who own a farm in the sun-soaked Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain, use a unique method to create low-alcohol wines.

“The technology – a spinning cone – is the gentlest way to extract alcohol from wines that start life as fully alcoholic,” Alexandra continues.

“It’s about translating that liquid flavour and quality

A variety of methods are used to create low-alcohol alternatives, such as fermenting wine up until the point that it turns alcoholic and using reverse osmosis, which means artificial flavours may be added to replace what is lost. Other alcohol-free wines are simply grape juice.”

Why aren’t our ranges 0% alcohol? “If you go to no alcohol, you remove the aromatics,” explains Alexandra. “All the delicious flavour that makes wine interesting is lost, so going below 0.5% wasn’t an option.”

From flasks to cones to your glass at home, there’s a story behind every sip.

“If you go all the way to no alcohol, you remove all the aromatics”

23

CAROUSEL TOYS

Recrafted treasures

With our revamped Carousel toy brand hitting the shelves,

Brand Manager Ellie Woolmore and Senior Buying Manager

Claire Urquhart-Deane explain what’s new and how our toys

Ellie Woolmore Claire Urquhart-Deane

24

1

5

6Carousel of love“Success for Carousel will be if it becomes a much-loved household name. We want the brand to be talked about outside of Tesco and people will come to us as a destination just to buy the brand. The day a customer says that they associate Carousel toys with fun and capturing their children’s imaginations is when we know we’ve done our jobs well.”

Decades of experience“All of the suppliers we use to manufacture Carousel products have been around for longer than most of us have been alive. They are experts in their field and we work with multiple suppliers, so we’ve got the best people supplying us. We work with specialist suppliers, such as manufacturers that only produce wooden toys or that specialise in electronic light and sound toys, and that means they can bring something new to the table that we wouldn’t have thought about. They’re developing ideas we won’t see for years!”

A new-look brand“Carousel has always been a younger brand for pre-school and nursery children, but now we’ve relaunched it to be an umbrella for all of our Tesco toys across every age group. We’ve spoken to customers to find out what is really important to them and have positioned Carousel so that toys are focused on fun and are made to last longer, meaning children will want to come back to them time and time again.”

25

CAROUSEL TOYS

2

3

4

Going the extra mile“Most of our toys are developed in Asia, just like 80% of the entire toy market. Our buyers go out to our international sourcing hub in Hong Kong to meet every single design team in their factories to make tweaks to the products. Doing this face-to-face means we can make little changes on the spot, while also making sure every product and component is reviewed by many

it meets our quality and technical standards.”

Adapting the classics“We wanted to spark children’s imaginations, so we reviewed the Carousel range to look at every single product and adapted them to create more ways for children to play. For example, we changed our train-set table to have a second side with a road theme on, opposite the train track, so there’s another way for children to play. It took almost two years for us to prepare the new brand, but it’s been worth it.”

Looking good in wood“We want customers to associate Carousel toys with great quality and value. Our wooden toys are a good example because they are made from the highest-quality sustainable wood. Nowadays, there are so many electrical products, such as tablets and computers, that it’s nice to have something that

our wooden toys, in particular, resonate with parents.”

26

or a

Are you a

LOVERHATER?

Whichever side of the great sprout divide you fall on, there’s no denying the little green buds are a festive staple. But as t magazine finds out among

the brassica covering supplier TH Clements’ fields, sprouts aren’t just for Christmas

27

SPROUT SPECIALISTS

28

It’s a scene that’s given unsuspecting passers-by chills down their spine for decades. A tribe of sprout pickers, lit only by a few stray headlights, spread across dark fields like an alien invasion choosing the darkness of night to infiltrate the human race.

Mysterious figures guided by bright strands of light slowly marching in formation back and forth across the fields with almost military discipline.

Just as t magazine is set to call the Men in Black to investigate the extra-terrestrial activity among the crops on the outskirts of Boston, the team feel an icy hand on their shoulder.

“We like to start picking sprouts early to get the most out of the day,” TH Clements Harvest Manager Andy Blair says with an illuminating grin, explaining away the sinister-looking shadows in the fields.

“In the weeks leading up to Christmas, our sprout orders go up tenfold, so it becomes a 24-hour operation and we have teams out in the field most of the night.

“I suppose in the early hours when it’s pitch black elsewhere, those slugs of light in the field must look weird to visitors to the area who don’t know what’s going on.”

Heading for the chopAfter just a short time among the vast patchwork of fields that swaddle the Lincolnshire town, the sight of pickers scything down brassica – such as sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower – becomes a common occurrence.

As the sun comes up to reveal the army of workers who brave eye-aching early starts to harvest TH Clements’ 12,000 acres of greenery, the methods they’re displaying deserve more than a cursory glance. Kitted out with long, sharp knives to chop the thick-stemmed plants from the ground, the teams are doing much of the hard work themselves, rather than relying on heavy machinery.

Even the sprout harvesters that trundle up and down the fields are operated by two men, pumping leg pedals with relentless rhythm to chop the crop, before feeding

29

SPROUT SPECIALISTS

it manually into a whirring blade that separates the green buds from the stem.

“Harvesting brassica is a manual process,” says TH Clements Commercial Director Richard Mowbray, the son of a local cereal farmer and no stranger to putting on his wellies to go out in the fields supplying our customers.

“We use specialist machinery for sprouts, but it’s still a lot more demanding on the teams in the fields than it is harvesting most other crops. The plants are above the

“At peak times we have up to 700 people working throughout the process – most of them in the field. A sprout-growing cycle normally lasts 15 months, so the last of the crop we’ve planted in greenhouses this autumn will be harvested in March 2019.”

Sprouts for all seasonsWith the temperamental British weather to contend with, TH Clements is prepared for changeable conditions and plants as many as 30 sprout varieties on each cycle to make sure it achieves a large yield. Each type of plant produces sprouts that taste the same, but they’ll thrive

aren’t left sweating when an ominous forecast looms.

TH Clements’ location close to the east coast of England is a traditional hotbed for sprouts to flourish. With the reclaimed sea land providing fertile, nutritious ground, the salty air also brings protection from frost.

“Brassica plants have always done well in Boston due to the land here, but it was also a popular place to grow in because of the good transport links there used to be here,” Andy picks up. “Traditionally, the crop would be harvested and sent up the coast to Grimsby, where it’d be

frozen at the same time as the fish the mariners caught. Then the fish and veg would be delivered across the UK.”

Nowadays, TH Clements handles its own packaging, with a mammoth 80% of its sprout yield ending up in our stores: the result of 35 years working with us.

grading process, TH Clements has just finished work on a £1.5-million factory that divides the sprouts

out any that are inedible.

“In the weeks leading up to Christmas, our sprout orders go up tenfold, so it becomes a 24-hour operation”

Surprising sprout facts

1 The UK’s sprout fields would cover 3,240 football pitches.

2 There are 9,000 ways to cook a sprout, so there’s no excuse to keep boiling them!

3 The world record for most sprouts

eaten in a minute stands at 31.

4 Only 24% of sprouts sold in the UK are bought in December.

(Below)The machinery separates the fresh buds from the stems

(Right)The sprout

harvester is manually

operated

30

“The factory includes an optical grader that uses cameras and a blue light to count the pixels on the sprouts to make sure any that are damaged don’t get through,” Richard tells us, after entering the new building.

“Within that time any bad sprouts are blown out to reject them. We used to do this manually, but now it’s done so quickly and accurately, the sprouts can be packaged so much faster.

“This is the most up-to-date machine of its type in the UK, but it’s worth the investment. Spending the money on equipment like this will save us lots of money in labour over the coming years and means that we can pack fresher sprouts than we could before.”

A greener futureWith so much invested in the nation’s continued obsession with sprouts, doesn’t the love-hate relationship people have with the vegetable strike fear into the heart of TH Clements that they could be phased out of festive tradition by younger generations?

“I don’t think people will ever stop buying sprouts,” adds Richard. “In fact, the trend is for people to find new ways to cook them rather than just traditional boiling, so I can’t see sprouts disappearing any time soon.

“We might even see them become more popular. Sprouts have started to take more shelf space in American grocery stores and, a bit like kale, what happens over there normally reaches the UK soon after. We may see a surge in sales rather than the other way round.”

If that’s the case, then the appearance of more sprouts on our dinner plates could become less alien all year round and not just at Christmas.

(Above)TH Clements’ £1.5-million packing factory is one of a kind

More than 200 miles north of our Lincolnshire sprout fields, Scottish supplier Drysdales

conditions to supply our shelves. Based in

the Berwickshire region, Drysdales’ 1,000 acres are also on the east coast, but it’s a few degrees cooler there than in Boston.

“We probably have the best weather in Scotland,” says Farming and Facilities Director Ian McLachlan. “We’re slightly more sheltered where we are, so we avoid the worst of the weather.

“Even so, we have our own weather station to keep a close eye on our crop

growing sprouts further south is that we’re able to finish later in the year due to our unique conditions here.”

Changing conditions

32

(Above left)Debbie Layfield

and her Group 11 colleagues rattle for charity cash

(Left)Raising some money with a

charity tombola

(Left)Colleagues feel

the force to promote the partnership

(Right)Milton Keynes

colleagues show their support

(Far right)Colleagues and

their charity reindeer food

(Right)Liverpool’s

Shelley Whitmore cuddles up to a

giant teddy

(Above) At The Great Tesco

Walk in Welwyn Garden City

Walk talkRead colleague David Hayward’s blog on The Great Tesco Walk at OurTesco.com/DavidsWalk

CHARITY PARTNERSHIP

33

(Below)West Durrington enjoy an 80s bonanza for their Final Countdown weekend

(Below)Two colleagues cycle 2016’s British Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride

(Left)Hannah Jordan tackles the London Bridges Challenge in the capital

(Left)A Handforth Dean Extra contingent take on a sponsored hike

Our National Charity Partnership has now run for three years and we’ve achieved so much together for Diabetes

UK and the British Heart Foundation. Here’s a taste of

Thank you!

34

Here’s what we’ve achieved We’ve seen how the money has been raised, but what impact has

our National Charity Partnership had across the nation?

£23 millionhealthy, hot meals have

been cooked at our Make, Move & Munch clubs in six locations across the UK in 2017

people have seen our messages to make small, positive changes to their

lifestyle to look after their long-term health

goals set after we motivated 50,000 people to take our eight-week healthy lifestyle challenge

customers given the chance to try healthier

snacks in our stores due to the NCP’s engage and

motivate programmes

people got moving thanks to our Beat the Street games that we’ve held

over six areas of the UK since 2016

Future partnersKeep an eye on Our Tesco for our

plans to work with health charities in 2018, helping colleagues and

customers to live a little healthier

raised by colleagues and customers since

the partnership began in January 2015

20,000

250,000

43 million 260,000

82,000

Want to join our panel?We’re searching for new members to join our Colleague

Communications Panel in 2018. If you’d like to be involved in sourcing great stories and shaping our communications plans

across the business, then we’d like to hear from you!

Keep an eye out on Our Tesco in January for more information on how to apply to join our Colleague Communications Panel

How to apply

37

MONGOL RALLY

“I didn’t think we’d ever get home”

Two cars, 19 countries and 10,000 miles on the open road. The notorious Mongol Rally isn’t for the faint-

hearted – and as colleague Chloe Silvers discovered, the challenge is far greater than she ever expected

38

t’s been described by the British Army as one of the most extreme civilian tests in the world, but as Chloe Silvers was led into a hut by armed police, her experience of the Mongol Rally was turning sinister.

The 27-year-old was in deepest, darkest Kazakhstan – thousands of miles away from Rainworth Express where

post in the middle of the desert. With no knowledge of the

to help them make their increasingly desperate pleas of innocence, their predicament was growing by the minute.

This is not how Shift Leader Chloe had envisaged the once-in-a-lifetime trip shaping up. The Mongol Rally, an eight-week schlep in an old banger from England across Europe and Asia to Mongolia, is renowned for testing its entrants to their limit. Only facing an indefinite amount of time detained by the Kazakh police wasn’t part of the deal.

I fought the law“The policemen kept saying ‘you won’t get away with this’ and were writing down all of our details,” recalls Chloe, sitting in the safety of a Mansfield pub back in the UK. “They’d pulled us over for breaking the speed limit and said we didn’t have the right insurance papers, even though we knew neither were true. They kept demanding

money and said there’d be sanctions if we didn’t pay. We had to keep calm and go along with what they were saying.

“We’d been told by other travellers that the Kazakh police just try it on to get money from you, so we called

from a bank 65 kilometres away. Luckily it worked and the

luck for the rest of our journey. It was surreal.”

The journey of a lifetimeA scrape with an unusual police force is just one of dozens of tales Chloe has from her epic road trip that started several weeks before that close call in Asia.

After packing whatever belongings they could into the back of a battered Morris Minor, which they’d named Georgina shortly after buying it for £600 a few months

Joined by friends Dom and Carla and their own Morris Minor, Elaine, the quartet were heading for Mongolia with little more than a list of countries they’d pass through and a final destination in their minds.

They were two of a fleet of old cars full of adventurers

I

(Top left)At the start line in Goodwood

(Above, main picture)Exhaust issues in the Gobi desert

(Above, right)The open road across Asia

(Above)Wild camping in Kazakhstan

Chloe’s rally route

39

MONGOL RALLY

going on the great odyssey. Their mission? Make it to the finish line in eight weeks’ time using whichever route they wanted. Oh, and have fun along the way.

“We first saw the Mongol Rally three years ago and said we’d do it one day, then Dom approached us in March about joining his team and we said yes,” Chloe explains.

“All we had to do was get an old banger, arrange a short career break from work and raise sponsorship for charity.

“There was a start and a finish line, but the middle was up to us – you could go down to Greece or up to Finland, as long as you got to the finish. I’d never done anything like this before and could have been more organised – we’d get to places and ask which roads we had to go on.”

As the team, called Taking Care of Business, plotted their way through central Europe and into Asia through Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, Chloe had one country on her mind: she wanted to go through Iran.

“Many of the ralliers bypassed Iran, but we wanted to

go there – even though a lot of family and colleagues told us ‘rather you than me’,” says Chloe.

“The perception in the media is that Iran is the sort of place you wouldn’t want to visit, but the people there are lovely and most speak good English. We’d be driving down the road and people would be shouting to ask where we were from, wanting to talk to us and give us gifts. It was crazy.”

Peeking behind the curtain at some of the world’s least-visited nations was an experience in itself, with trips through the white-marbled, yet empty, streets of Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat and an impromptu stay with a family in Uzbekistan standing out. As you’d expect from any eight-week haul travelling the world, Chloe did encounter a language barrier but one she soon found her way around.

Sticky situations“The family we stayed with in Uzbekistan didn’t speak a word of English, but we soon found a way of communicating with a combination of funny noises and gestures,” Chloe says.

“We had such a great time, despite not being able to speak to each other, and were made to feel incredibly welcome by the entire family.”

After two months of adventures Chloe and the rest of the team finally reached the finish line, only a couple of days behind schedule. It wasn’t the triumphant moment they’d dreamed of though as both Morris Minors were towed to the end following some late hiccups: with Georgina’s dodgy electrics finally giving up the ghost in Russia, and Dom and Carla rolling Elaine just 20 miles from the chequered flag.

“It was very tough, so getting to the end was a mixture of relief and elation,” admits Chloe. “Looking back, there were times when I didn’t think we’d ever get home.

“The trip was so much harder than I thought it would be, but it was the most amazing experience – and I can say that I survived it!”

(Above)Celebrating at the end of the rally

(Left)Getting behind the wheel for a leg of the trip

(Right)The unique beauty of Turkmenistan

(Left)

spot an old Morris Minor in Tehran

40

2018Whether it’s eating better, getting active or finding more ‘me’ time, we all want to keep to our New Year resolutions, so we

Trainer Damian Seenandan to give us some helpful tips

Joe MayattFinance Analyst Kelsey Arif

Content Editor, Tesco Mobile

Get readyfor

41

BOOT CAMP

Louisa LomaxPersonal Assistant

Manisha DoshiTechnical Manager, Bakery

Let’s get physicalFinding the time or motivation to get active and stay healthy is sometimes easier said than done. Help is at hand at last though, so put away those running shoes and street map of your local neighbourhood and find out how you can tailor a short, swift workout to help you achieve your goals.

42

Fuelling your body with the right food

you’re feeling, whatever you’re doing. But with temptation waiting around every corner, it can be tricky to make sure you’re getting a balanced diet.

1 Keep it simpleTake an easy meal, such as chicken, rice and veg, and swap the ingredients to make it healthier. You can swap the chicken for turkey or lean sausages

2 Plan aheadEvery Sunday night I prepare five meals for the week ahead. Spending that time then helps me when I’m busier in the week. I know that I have healthy meals ready for me, which

1 Decide what you want to achieve

for working out. Think about the real reasons why you want to achieve something. Once you know, it’s easier to make a plan, rather than jumping in at the deep end and feeling daunted.

2 Build a routineA high-intensity workout is simple – and you can do it anywhere. Try starting with some fast walking for a minute, then do some squats, followed by more fast walking, then press-ups. Repeat that over half an hour and work through several core exercises.

3 Exercise with a friendStart working out with a friend so you can keep pushing each other to get out and exercise. When you’re exercising alone, it can be too easy

(Right)Damian talks nutrition with the team

“I took part in a charity boxing match in July and that revolutionised the way I look at fitness. I used to just use a treadmill, but I’ve learned that isn’t the best way to stay fit. Previously, I’d been advised to lift weights or do squats, but I was scared of bulking up – now I know it’s not all about that.”

Louisa Lomax

“We’re all busy, so knowing that you don’t need to find an hour for an entire workout is helpful. Just 15-minute bursts can make a big

Kelsey Arif

Eat right, feel good

Our colleagues say

Our trainer’s tips

Our trainer’s tips

43

BOOT CAMP

Everything in our bodies is connected, so it’s no surprise that keeping your body healthy can have a positive impact on your state of mind – and vice versa. When it comes to mental health, little things can mean a lot.

“Going for a walk to get away from things can be so good for you. I sometimes take my lunch out to eat

reset and you feel more positive.”

Manisha Doshi

1 Break the routine It’s easy to get stuck in the same routine – work, home, sleep. It’s important to break out of that. Go for lunchtime walks, read a book or do something you enjoy instead.

2 Learn to relaxWe all need to let our brain and body slow down, even though our lives are busy – it’ll lead to better wellbeing. You’ll burn out if you can’t relax.

3 Practice mindfulnessMindfulness is all about focusing on the task in hand. If you can master it, you’ll soon find you complete tasks

leaves me less chance to make unhealthy choices.

3 Eat your greens If you’re always hungry after a meal, add more ingredients, such as veg. They will fill you up and are nutritious.

4 Reduce the sauce An easy way to improve your diet is to reduce the flavours you put on your meat. By wrapping meat in foil, it’ll stay moist and just a couple of teaspoons of sauce will go a lot further.

Healthy body, healthy mind

“I already prep my food for the week ahead but can see that small changes

eating even healthier.”

Joe Mayatt

make bad food choices and this just

can still have the occasional treat and eat healthily because sometimes

Manisha Doshi

Our colleagues say Our colleagues say

Our trainer’s tips

44

Our colleagues say“I lost three stone last year and found water was helpful for this. Keeping myself hydrated was one thing but when you drink the amount you’re meant to, you don’t need to snack as much either.”

Joe Mayatt

1 Get a bottleMany people use disposable bottles,

2 Add water to the tea run

3 Make it fruity

you’ve emptied your bottle you should

provides one of your five a day.

H2O is the way to go

Follow Damian’s advice and keep yourself hydrated by winning one of 30 Contigo water bottles to track how much you’re drinking. To enter our prize draw, send your name and contact number to contigocomp@madebysonder.com – see closing date and T&Cs on p49.

Win one of 30 Contigo water bottles!

Our trainer’s tips

There’s something for everyone on The Colleague Room.

Colleague Deals and Discounts websiteMake extra savings on your shopping with our Colleague Deals and Discounts website, with thousands of discounts for you and your family – including deals for days out, restaurants, travel, fashion and more.

You can earn cashback and transfer this to your bank account, download instant coupons to spend in store or online or use discount codes when shopping online.

Log in to TheColleagueRoom.com, click the Colleague Deals & Discounts icon, complete the registration details and start shopping!

From exclusive colleague discounts to information on how to make plans for your retirement, you can find it all at TheColleagueRoom.com

Great savings at www.TheColleagueRoom.com

£396from Tesco

£317 from you

£79tax relief

£835my savings in a year*

£42investment

return*

Saving a little every four weeks adds up to more than you might think.Are you making the most of the Tesco Retirement Savings Plan?

Saving around £6.10 (4%) a week (£317 a year) for retirement, could add up to £835 in a year.

Remember, you can increase or decrease how much you save as often as you like online at TheColleagueRoom.com

Based on a customer assistant with more than 15 years to retirement, earning £7.62 an hour, 25 hours a week, saving 4% every four weeks (not SMART) between 13 July 2016 to 12 July 2017.*Investment growth is not guaranteed. Your savings can go up and down as financial markets and share prices change all the time.

48

Treats

njoy a two-night stay in Valencia for you and a lucky guest, and soak up everything Spain’s third-biggest city has

We’re giving away flights and accommodation, so all you’ll have to do is take spending money and

But why Valencia? It’s the home of the Spanish Persimon®; a delicate fruit that’s sweet

and juicy and is steadily growing in popularity, with 25 million eaten in

of Valencia, the Spanish Persimon® is a Protected Designation of Origin product, which confirms its unique

To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is correctly answer

the question in the box (right) and you’ll be entered into

Good luck!

E® to

A trip to ValenciaWIN!

How to enter

Terms and conditions Entry to our colleague competition

is free. All entries must be received by 23:59 on Sunday 21 January. Packages to Valencia cannot exceed a total of £425.

See full T&Cs (right) for more.

Send your name, contact details and answer to valenciacomp@

madebysonder.com

49

PRIZE TIME

Terms and conditions Entry to our colleague competitions and prize draws is free. To enter, you must be a Tesco colleague and live in the UK or Northern Ireland. You can only enter each competition or prize draw once and only the first entry per colleague per competition or prize draw will be accepted. Colleagues or personnel who are involved in administering the

competitions and prize draws or drawing the winners cannot take part. Late entries cannot be accepted. The prizes include products only and will not include additional costs, such as travel expenses – unless stated. Entries must be received by 23:59 on Sunday 21 January 2018 and the winners for each competition and prize draw will be independently selected at random from all eligible entries. Each winner will be notified via email within seven days of the closing date. If the winners do not respond to the email communication within 10 days of notification to organise

administering the competitions and prize draws, and notifying the winners. The entry instructions form part of the rules. By entering, you agree to accept and be bound by the rules.

Win! A Virgin mini break

Make a striking statement on your dinner table by laying out a new Soho Gold dinner set – and one of five sets will be yours if your name is pulled out of our random prize draw.

Picked from our new Fox & Ivy range, the 12-piece set’s elegant gold design

porcelain material means it will stand up to wear and tear – and can also go in the dishwasher once you’re done.

To get your hands on one of the dinner sets, all you need to do is send

your name and contact details to foxandivycomp@madebysonder.com and you’ll be entered into our free prize draw. Read the terms and conditions (below) for more.

Win! A Fox & Ivy dinner set

Escape for a night to one of 61 locations across the UK with Virgin Experience Days’ one-night stay collection – there are three to be won.

Our lucky winners can pick from a variety of relaxing breaks at hotels around the country, all thanks to Virgin Experience Days. Whether you want to unwind or find a base for a couple of days of exploring, there’s something for everybody.

With a wide range of Virgin Experience Days activities to choose

style, you don’t have to be a winner

to try something new. There is a 25% discount on all experiences for colleagues on the Colleague Deals & Discounts site: all you need to do is log on to TheColleagueRoom.com to start finding something that’s perfect for you.

To enter the random prize draw, send your name and contact details to

virgincomp@madebysonder.com – check out the closing date and full terms and conditions below.

50

Find your favourite from more than 700 deals and discounts, including all our exclusive colleague deals from Tesco Mobile, F&F and Tesco Bank. Get started by visiting TheColleagueRoom.com and then bookmark the page on your computer, tablet or smartphone. Remember to have your employee number and one-time passcode handy when you sign up.

Check out more exclusive deals

Panel picks

Colleague Communications Panellist Cat Richardson shopped away the winter

blues. Here’s her favourite

Deals & Discounts site 5

32

4

DISCLAIMER: All discounts correct at time of press, but are subject to change.

Wickes

“I’ve been redecorating my bedroom and was surprised by the savings I’ve made. I wanted a new radiator, so I preloaded £150 on to my Wickes card and saved £15, so I treated my hubby to a takeaway when he’d finished decorating.”

Topshop

“I have two teenagers who love Topshop and I was delighted to find that colleagues get a 12.5% discount, so now they’re both kitted out for winter and with the money I saved, I can treat myself. It almost made me a cool mum for a short time!”

National Trust

“I bought my dad some National Trust vouchers for Christmas. He loves to visit National Trust sites and, as he’s already a member, he can cover his lunch now – while the 10% saving I made means I can buy him more.”

Sports Direct

“I’ve started doing yoga and pilates and was thrilled to discover a discount at Sports Direct so I could get a new yoga mat and two gym kits, while saving 6%. The exercise might be tough but I can console myself with the money I saved.”

Hotels.com

Hotels.com – I received 8% cashback on my most recent hotel booking and the money was in my account within 30 days.”

1