Sweet treat specialist Holmes Bakery has secured a £200,000 supply contract with Lidl Northern Ireland.
The deal will see the business supply more than 40 Lidl stores in the country with three of its handcrafted bakery goods made at its state-of-the-art production facility in Craigavon, near Portadown. These include caramel fingers, sweet mince slices, and fifteens – a traditional Northern Irish traybake made with digestive biscuits, marshmallows, glacé cherries, condensed milk, and desiccated coconut.
Holmes Bakery, which was founded in 1937 and acquired by family-run Woodwin Catering in 2009, will also expand its 20-strong workforce by a further three employees.
It won an initial supplier contract with Lidl last year following its involvement in the retailer’s Kickstart Supplier Development Programme in 2021.
“Our newest supply deal represents a significant milestone for our team and is a testament to our own focus on providing quality products and ingredients that consumers want to buy,” said Holmes Bakery account manager Gillian Castles.
“We are delighted that Lidl Northern Ireland is continuing to invest in Holmes Bakery as it enables us to invest further in building our team and in growing our award-wining range of products.”
Lidl Northern Ireland said its latest deal with the bakery forms part of its commitment to support innovative local suppliers and expand its range of locally sourced food and ingredients for shoppers, which last year totalled nearly £350m.
“Local suppliers are the bedrock of our success and we’re excited to be further investing in and championing another home-grown company which continues to prove itself as one of the region’s most ambitious and innovative companies,” said Lidl Northern Ireland buyer Zoe Russell.
“Our new supply contract with Holmes Bakery underlines the growing popularity of its products with our customers and expands the range available to shoppers while also helping to create new local jobs – it’s a sweet treat for everyone,” she added.
Lidl claims to be the fastest-growing supermarket in Northern Ireland, with a 9.2% market share according to Kantar data representing a 27% year-on-year increase.
Another Northern Irish business catering to local demand for bakery goods is Newry-based Around Noon, which recently secured a deal to supply own-label sandwiches to M&S stores across the island of Ireland.
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