Irwin’s of Portadown will supply 13 of its product lines to Northern Ireland Asda stores in a new contract worth more than £1m.
The Northern Ireland bakery firm, which produces a range of bread, rolls and muffins, is the first company whose branded products will appear as part of the supermarket chain’s recently launched ‘Chosen by You – Northern Ireland’ (CBY NI) food range.
Irwin’s will produce iconic breads – such as soda farls, potato bread, batch loaf, barmbrack and sliced wheaten – for the range, in addition to hotplate products, such as pan loaves and pancakes.
John Hopkins, Irwin’s sales and development director, said: “We’re delighted to have extended our strong relationship with Asda to produce the first ever CBY NI range. With almost 100 years’ experience in baking breads and hotplate products, we have the expertise and knowledge that Asda relies on from its supply partners to deliver the quality ranges that local consumers demand.”
The new range will land on shelves on St Patrick’s Day (18 March) and complement Asda’s Chosen by You brand – now the fastest-growing mid-tier supermarket range in Britain. The CBY NI range will be trialled and selected by a panel of 700 shoppers.
CJ Antal-Smith, local category director at Asda, said: “We’re the first supermarket to launch a dedicated Northern Irish own-label range. Our customers told us that they loved Chosen by You, but that buying ‘local’ remained a top priority for them, so the obvious next step was to develop a regional own-label option. The result is CBY NI and we’re delighted that Irwin’s is the first local company to come on-board and develop a range that reflects the quality, taste and value our customers want.”
Asda will continue to extend its CBY NI range through a range of local suppliers during 2012.
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