Joyce’s365 finds innovative suppliers in Northern Ireland

Joyce’s365, the upmarket supermarket chain in Galway, expects to place orders worth more than €500,000 next year with a group of Northern Ireland suppliers following a ‘meet the buyer’ initiative organised by Invest Northern Ireland.

One of the first companies to benefit from the visit to Belfast by Pat Joyce, Joyce’s365 Managing Director, is Kestrel Foods of Craigavon, Co. Armagh. Orders for other Northern Ireland suppliers are already in the pipeline.

Within days of the visit, Mr Joyce placed a substantial contract with Kestrel for the complete range of its Forest Feast branded dried fruits, nuts and seeds snacks, including its innovative Breakfast Boost product that enables consumers to develop their own nutritional blend of muesli, dried fruits and nuts.

Mr Joyce said that he expects to do business with most of the 26 companies he met during the recent one-day visit to Belfast.

He said: “ I’ve always found Northern Ireland suppliers good to do business with. It’s a great source of new food ideas.

“Invest NI made all the arrangements and introduced me to some very interesting products. I was very impressed by the quality and innovation of the products I saw and by the approach of people I met during what was a short visit. As a result, I placed orders with a number of companies and plan to return early in 2007 to see other potential suppliers.”

Lorraine Hall, Kestrel’s Marketing Director, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity for us. It was a very positive meeting that was followed quickly by orders for most of our products and the opportunity to put some of our merchandising material in the supermarkets. Joyce’s365 is a premium supermarket which is a perfect fit for our product profile and we shipped our first consignment within two weeks of the meeting.”

Gerry Murphy is Invest NI’s dedicated food sector marketing advisor for the Republic of Ireland. Commenting on the initiative with Joyce’s365, Mr Murphy said: “We were delighted to set up a series of meetings for Joyce’s with Northern Ireland food suppliers. My role is to identify and to develop opportunities for food retailers in the Republic to meet potential suppliers in Northern Ireland.

“Northern Ireland companies are focusing increasingly on the type of innovative and natural products which are being demanded by customers in the Republic,” he added.

Joyce’s365 is a family run business with three high quality supermarkets in Galway. Founded in 1951, the company specializes in quality meats and natural products including vegetables, fruit, breads and an extensive dietary range.

(EF/KMcA)