FreshChoice ran a nation-wide online promotion linked to alcohol sales, which is against the rules. File photo.
Photo: 123rf
Dozens of FreshChoice supermarkets across the country will pay the price for breaching alcohol laws.
Thirty-eight stores that are part of the chain will each be banned from selling alcohol for two days, with the first bans starting this weekend.
It was due to some of the stores selling alcohol online while displaying an outdated liquor licence.
The supermarket chain was also running a nation-wide online promotion linked to alcohol sales – a breach of the rules.
Police alcohol harm prevention officer Inspector Ian Paulin told Checkpoint the breach regarding the promotion of alcohol on the internet was significant given the accessibility of it to all ages.
Paulin said FreshChoice was a substantial retailer that should have robust systems to comply with the law.
“We expect them to be leading the industry in the way they comply with the regulations and the legislation.”
He said that the supermarket chain could have run the promotion instore but could not have done so online.
Paulin told Checkpoint that the investigation into the breaches was a vast amount of work.
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