Northern Irish bakery Irwin’s has achieved a 300-store distribution deal with Asda for its Irish Batch range.

The deal, worth £250,000 annually, will see Irwin’s Irish Batch available in Great Britain for the first time, from this winter. The recipe was created over 40 years ago and is marketed in Northern Ireland as Nutty Krust.

"Launching into GB follows intensive market research and analysis - and our market entry approach has been very ’agile’," explained commercial controller Michael Murphy. "While Nutty Krust is an iconic brand in Ireland, we took the decision to market it in GB as ’Irwin’s Irish Batch’ because our export experience indicates that GB consumers enjoy authentically Irish products."

Murphy said the contract with Asda is strategically important, as well as of high value for the company, as it will give the product presence on supermarket shelves across Britain. It will be available in 400g white and high-fibre varieties in order to "fit in with GB shoppers’ multi-purchase approach to bread buying and to encourage widespread trial".

According to Irwin’s, its breads currently account for around 85% of all Irish breads sold in Britain.

The firm also launched its batch bread in the Republic of Ireland earlier in the year.