ECR Ireland Supply Chain Summit 2025 

20 November 2025 – Radisson Blu Hotel, Dublin Airport

by Paul Farrel, Founder of Supplychainplanning.ie 

Did you know that Abba, Westlife and Michael Jackson are all a great reference point for understanding how AI is impacting grocery and consumer packaged goods (CPG) supply chains? Continue reading through this summary of the inaugural Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) supply chain Summit to find out exactly how. Those who attended the event on November 20^th were treated to this and many other valuable insights from the industry leading guest speakers as well as from the numerous polls of the attendees, all of whom represent grocery retailers, CPG suppliers and service providers. For those who were not there, we will provide a summary of such insights but the best advice is to be in the room and join the ECR for the quarterly supply chain workshops and next years summit which will again take place in November 2026.

The summit was hosted by ECR’s Declan Carolan and Musgrave’s Ray Peelo. ECR as an industry group’s core concept has been to facilitate working together to fulfil consumer wishes better, faster and at less cost. Each year, hot topics are identified by the ECR steering committee as priority areas of focus. For 2025, those topics are:

• Driving operational efficiency
• Leading through disruption
• Getting ahead of shopper trends
• AI in retail
• Attracting talent

ECR Ireland has a Supply Chain subgroup which meets 4 times per year, and earlier this year, the supply chain attendees felt each of these hot topics also related to the Supply Chain hot topics. Declan stated that this shared focus acknowledges the mission critical role that those working in Supply Chain are to delivering on these hot topics & stated targets. In additional, Ray stated how the pace of change in Supply Chain is now faster than anything he has seen in his previous 30 years experience in the sector. The specific Irish context of the supply chain was also referenced by Declan, stating that for many major suppliers, the teams are UK based and Ireland is generally a smaller consideration of a UK & I focus. Given this context, the ambition for the summit was formed. The intent being to create a destination where for one day of the year, Ireland’s grocery and CPG sector is the primary focus. With such diverse and influential attendees in the room, the hope was for the event to act as a ‘think tank’ for the sector. To achieve this, the 5 hot topic areas were used to frame the conversation and presentations.

Getting ahead of shopper trends

The first presentation aimed at shopper trends was from David Berry of Nielsen IQ (NIQ). On the theme of UK vs Ireland differences, David highlighted that Irish retail trade was trending higher than the UK for 2025. NIQ’s data pointed to half of this difference coming in higher volumes, and half through higher price inflation. Looking at some of the Irish economy’s vital statistics would point to a strong, vibrant economy but David highlighted a low consumer sentiment which was at odds to the macro economy. While there is inflation, that topic alone does not dictate whether a category grows or not. David highlighted high growth categories, some with price deflation, while other grew in periods of inflation. A core take-away being that brand awareness and promotion continued to be key factors in growth. In terms of innovation, David provided evidence of how many consumers expect new product innovations, with much of the growth in 2025 seen to be linked to innovation in product ranges. In a topic that touches on operational efficiency, David also highlighted that now 9.5% of grocery retail was performed via digital platforms. The emerging trend being towards rapid delivery and the increasing prevalence of technology in the shopper experience. This was a topic flagged later by Chris Jenkins of Tesco in the opportunity & challenge it presents to grocery Supply Chain to deliver on this innovation through added complexity.

Attracting Talent

On the theme of people in grocery and CPG supply chains, Trayc Keevans of Morgan McKinley joined Declan for a Q&A session. Trayc provided a perspective of grocery & CPG vs. other Supply Chain sectors like pharma and med-tech which compete for the same talent. Trayc stated how Supply Chain roles in grocery & CPG are perceived as having less flexibility, pay less and have less career options than their equivalent roles in other industries. It has been noted how people in Ireland are moving into Supply Chain roles by accident rather than design. In other countries, the discipline is more established with many Irish roles going to people who come to Ireland from abroad bring their established qualifications & experience with them. Trayc saw a big opportunity for grocery & CPG companies to take learnings from other areas and establish clear career architecture for a career in the sector. In a point that would be echoed later by Eoin Butler of Musgraves, Trayc referenced the power of purpose and impact the sector has in feeding our communities along with the potential to impact sustainability goals. In a call to action, Trayc challenged the industry to do more to promote the potential, the impact and the fantastic career opportunities which is not the perception of candidates now.

AI in retail

To help the summit in understanding how Artificial Intelligence (AI) would impact the sector, two expert perspectives were provided from Aidan Harrington of Synovia Digital and John Power of RELEX Solutions.

Based on analysis provided by Aidan, adoption of AI in Supply Chain is trending behind adoption rates in other disciplines. Despite there being numerous clear use cases like preventative maintenance, warehouse efficiencies, transport optimisation, planning and forecasting; there is relative resistance vs. other disciplines. Aidan highlighted topics such as a risk aversion typical in supply chain, a lack of in-house AI expertise, the complex and often unstructured nature of supply chain data, and the amount of legacy systems as contributing factors to this slow uptake. Aidan referenced digital twins as a 3-5 year development which will become more prevalent in coming years but in the short term, building a strong core was his call-out. To take advantage of AI agents, the core data and use cases must be clear for any developments to deliver value. As a broader analogy of the AI journey, Aidan gave a perspective of the dot com bubble of the early 2000s. While it was a bubble, the technology persists and is intrinsic to our lives today, Aidan sees AI’s journey as being similar and we’re at such a point now. AI will continue to become intrinsic in our lives and work regardless of the hype.

This point on the core layer was echoed by John  Power who stated the layered approach RELEX use to taking advantage of the opportunities AI provide. John stated how many companies struggle to get through the ‘AI hype bubble’, getting stuck in something John described as  ‘pilot purgatory’. The purgatory point resonated with many in the room, a question that came up in subsequent questioning. All of us want to avoid being stuck in purgatory and first and foremost for John to do that is to build solid foundations. RELEX recommend a unified AI platform to ensure consistent, reliable and accurate data. Their next layer are ‘specialised AI’ tools such as machine learning (like those used for forecasting models). The final top layers are Generative AI assistants, and AI agents which work best when built on top of the preceding 2 layers. An interesting perspective from RELEX is how Gen AI agents can be used to circumvent some of the traditional functional silos that can be blockers to digital development and benefit. John described a sense that in many company’s maturity with AI is on the base level of defining rules, RELEX’s customers over the past 8 years have been focused on specialised AI tools, but the current focus is on the use of AI agents and assistants.

Ray Peelo facilitated a Q&A from the attendees with Aidan and John. Ray flagged Musgraves own progression in adopting AI saying that sometimes there is disappointment in the reality when the hype isn’t realised. Ray also reinforced the point on how critical robust, clean data is to use AI capabilities given Musgrave’s experience to date. Of the questions asked, one standout discussion was on data security which both presenters agreed was a core concern. Aidan suggested that people must be smart about what data to provide to AI but it was the most important topic to be aware of when using data for company processes.

Leading through disruption

Like many of the hot topics, the theme did run throughout many presentations with Chris Jenkins later describing how the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world is impacting Tesco’s supply chain. To help understand this topic, Mark McKeever of PwC shared insight from the Reinventing Supply Chains 2030 study of over 1,000 global Supply Chain executives. Mark highlighted 6 major trends impacting global supply chains. Those being: 1) Increasing frequency of severe supply chain disruptions (aligning to Chris’s VUCA point); 2) Expanding ESG compliance; 3) Rising competition of fully integrated ecosystems; 4) Growing talent and workforce scarcity (linking to Trayc’s ponts); 5) Evolving technological advances (linking to Aidan & John) and 6) Increasing need to support new business models (linking to David’s emerging technology trends). Mark highlighted what PwC call ‘supply chain champions’, those industry leaders who take holistic, integrated approach to work transparently and collaborative with stakeholders. These ‘champions’ predict supply chain cost reductions and revenue gains which outperform peers. Mark gave examples of steps companies are taking to enhance agility in terms of ‘near shoring’ and ‘dual sourcing’. Changes in global trade show this shift with Mark citing how Mexico has now surpassed China as the primary import source in the US, driven by US ‘near shoring’. Mark also highlighted a move to more centralised supply chains for greater control and a push to greater collaboration with other stakeholders.

Driving operational efficiency 

To give perspectives on this hot topic, the summit heard presentations from Christy Quirke contrasting practices in Ireland and the UK, a retailer perspective from Chris Jenkins of Tesco and a CPG perspective from Lee Mawson of Unilever.

Christy Quirke of Advantage Group Internal provided a valuable comparison of supply chain practices across Ireland and the UK, using retailer and supplier 360° evaluations to highlight differences in performance, expectations, and behaviours. Supplier scores across both markets were broadly similar, though Ireland held a slight edge in several areas, particularly around Supply Chain and Customer Service capabilities. While retailers in both countries valued the same core competencies from suppliers, their priorities differed: UK retailers placed the highest importance on cross-functional alignment, whereas Irish retailers emphasised demonstrated capability and experience. This distinction offers useful insight into how suppliers may need to tailor engagement approaches depending on the market.

One standout finding was Ireland’s stronger rating in Supply Chain communication, reinforcing the value retailers place on openness, proactivity, and trust. However, both markets reported a decline in perceived efficiency. Retailers defined “best in class” performance through actions such as improved planning and forecasting, embedding people directly to support collaboration, and demonstrating a consistently proactive stance. The overarching message was clear: collaboration, transparency, and cross-functional teamwork remain the defining characteristics of high-performing supplier relationships across both regions.

In Chris Jenkins’ overview of operational efficiency at Tesco, the objective of delivering market leading availability was emphatically described. While in one of the group questionnaires ‘operational efficiency’ came out as the top topic, for Chris the top priority will always be availability. Chris then described how Tesco look at delivering market leading availability through 6 topics including assessing vulnerabilities, event planning, channel specific plans amongst others. The context of delivering excellence in Supply Chain was described in terms of a VUCA world but also the technology innovations like those highlighted by David in the shopper insights. For Chris, these innovations like rapid delivery & individual shopper experiences bring complexity which Supply Chain’s must react to while retaining the market leading availability. The Tesco Supply Chain team meet this challenge through 3 points: 1)  world class systems;  2) automated processes and ordering; and 3) taking a long term view. The drive to simplify processes was seen by Chris as a central to delivering efficiencies, for people to give them roles they can be empowered to own and deliver. Examples were given of how collaboration with supply chain partners have delivered to reduce transport journeys, reducing carbon footprint of the supply chain. Chris challenged all in the room to examine their own supply chains in the same way as Tesco does and to work together on simplifying networks.

Building on Chris’s points, Lee Mawson gave a supplier perspective from Unilever. Key to Lee on delivering operational efficiency in Unilever has been to break down some traditional functional silos. The areas in his remit include customer experience, integrated planning, logistics, order to cash and master data. Topics that in the past might have sat in IT, in Finance, or in Commercial teams, are now all grouped together to Supply Chain customer operations. Everything associated with getting customers the product and payments, if any part is delayed, the ownership is clear. Data has been a big part of this with Lee owning information such as pricing. This is key to keep a streamlined and efficient customer interaction. Data has a clear business ownership, not an IT function.

Lee provided a personal reflection of his initial experience in Unilever as an analogy for where we are on AI driven evolution of supply chains. This is where Abba and Westlife come in! Lee described his memory in his first role of being at a production line with 10-20 people manually fixing bottle caps while Abba played in the background. He went back to the same factory in the late 90’s and noticed there was 1 person running the production line. That one person was not as skilled as the people previously in fixing caps, but they were skilled in managing the automation of the production line. So if Abba playing reflected the full manual process, and Westlife playing reflected the time of when Lee returned to the production to denote full automation, this sets a time span for how AI will likely go from manual to fully automated.Lee described some uses he has seen of AI so on the ABBA to Westlife AI scale, we’re not at the beginning, he thinks we’re at about ‘Bad’ from Michael Jackson being released.So we’re not at the start of the journey, but a lot to go and much is unclear on the journey. Lee did describe the need for better collaboration while referencing the wins they have seen where partners work together. Examples such as where a 10% improvement is sales forecasting is seen to deliver a 1.5% improvement in availability, or sharing of supply chain capacity to offset costs across where seasonal peaks may vary and resources like warehouse capacity shared.

The closing session saw Eoin Butler of Musgraves join Lee and Chris in a panel discussion facilitated by Mark McKeever. In this discussion, Eoin described Musgraves steps to date in using digital tools which he described as mixed, with some areas well developed but others only considered a 1 out of 5.  Companies must have an appreciation that nobody has all the answers so it is important to ask questions.

On the topic of resilience and agility, Lee cited examples of identifying vulnerabilities with recipes and supplier sources and a push to have contingency reformulations which are more resilient to shocks, this as a tangible example of activities now that were not common in the past.

A closing comment by Eoin stated the power of purpose to those working in grocery retail. That fundamental role played by people working in the sector was a source of pride and meaning which was central to the Musgraves team and the role they play in communities. A final comment from Mark summed up the approach as being one of confidence that no matter what comes up, there is confidence in knowing the capabilities exist to react and to see any challenge as an opportunity, and that this sector is an exciting one for people to build a career in.

ECR Summit Findings

Throughout the session, there were a number of perspectives from the broader attendees, all of whom are leaders from different companies be they grocery retailers, suppliers or service providers. To give a sense of the topics and the role of this forum as a think tank for the sector:

When asked which is the highest priority hot topics. 1) was driving operational efficiency as a clear winner, 2) retailer-supplier collaboration

When asked of AI maturity and adoption was ranked between 1-10: 19% rated themselves as 1 out of 10 (lowest), overall distribution heavily to 5 and lower, but 17% did rate their progress as 6 out of 10. No attendee recorded their progress as greater than 8.

When asked about talent challenges, the biggest issue: 1) lack of internal career pathways; 2) skills gap in digital automation and capability

When asked for a word on the biggest supply chain challenges: 1) Collaboration (or lack therof); 2) Costs; 3) Complexity

But these are a snippet of the discussion, networking and insight provided. The clear direction in the closing remarks from Ray Peelo and Declan Carolan is for people in the sector to collaborate. One clear way to do that is to attend the quarterly ECR supply chain workshops and to build those cross-company working relationships. The 2026 Supply Chain summit already promises to be a bigger & better event given the success of the inaugural event. Reach out, get involved and be part of the discussion as with the amount of change the sector is experiencing, no one person or group has all the answers. A forum like this is essential to inform yourself, your company and help deliver on the ECR aim of working together to fulfil consumer wishes better, faster and at less cost.