Supervalu last week launched a voucher campaign offering sports equipment, ranging from footballs to trampolines, to Irish schools. The Supervalu campaign, fronted by Irish runner Sonia O'Sullivan and broadcaster Ray D'Arcy, offers one voucher per 10 spent at its stores with two vouchers for any purchase of fresh fruit or vegetables.

The vouchers can then be exchanged for sporting equipment from a catalogue. The campaign echoes Tesco's annual Computers For Schools promotion, set to launch at the end of February, which works on the same 10 per voucher basis but with computers, rather than sporting equipment, on offer.

Computers For Schools is entering its ninth year in Ireland according to a Tesco spokeswoman. Over 9m worth of computer equipment has been claimed by Irish schools over the lifetime of the scheme, she said.

Computers For Schools has drawn fire from consumer bodies in the UK, with criticism being levelled at the retail giant over the level of spend required to redeem the equipment on offer. According to the latest catalogue, for example, an Irish school would have to collect 16,400 vouchers - representing 164,000 of grocery shopping - to earn a digital camcorder.

The Supervalu catalogue also places high value on the equipment on offer. A set of six hurls, for example, would require a school to collect over 2,500 worth of Supervalu vouchers.