SuperValu, Ireland’s leading independent food retailer, has today announced that its Irish Christmas dinner sales will generate over €9.4 million in sales of Irish produce. As a result of the huge appetite for Irish food at Christmas, SuperValu’s suppliers have created 177 seasonal jobs to cater for excess demand.

SuperValu’s suppliers include Grove Farm Turkeys, IGWT Poultry Services Ltd, Oliver Carty Ltd, K&K Packs Ltd, Total Produce, O’Shea Brothers and Dunns Sea Fare. SuperValu is set to sell the following quantities on behalf of these Irish suppliers:

• 94,000 turkeys;
• 150,000 legs of ham;
• 850 tonnes of potatoes;
• 110 tonnes of brussel sprouts;
• 800 tonnes of carrots;
• 92,000 smoked salmons.

Supervalu’s ham sales alone are so popular that approximately one in three hams eaten on Christmas Day in households around Ireland come from SuperValu and all are Bord Bia Quality Assured.

SuperValu also predicts that the most popular potato for Christmas 2012 will be the Golden Wonder, which is set to account for 10% of overall sales. Growing the Golden Wonder variety of potato is a specialist operation, with only a few carefully selected growers able to deliver that dry floury texture, for which they are famous and ensuring their availability for the traditional Christmas period.

Commenting on the announcement, Martin Kelleher, Managing Director SuperValu, said: “Irish food is never more in demand than on Christmas day and it’s more important than ever that we buy Irish to help protect thousands of jobs across the country. As the Irish food industry’s number one supporter, we are proud to be in a position to offer local, home-grown produce to our shoppers in our 195 stores nationwide.”

“What makes us different at SuperValu is that our stores are locally based and family owned and we work hard to support Irish jobs, Irish suppliers and Irish communities. The profits made in our stores, stay local and help to create a positive economic impact in their local communities, unlike some of our competitors where the profits are shipped to the UK or Germany. Our Christmas sales exemplify this as our suppliers have taken on 177 extra staff to cater for the additional demand.”

SuperValu is Ireland’s leading independent food retailer and the only retailer with a store in each county. In 2011 the total purchases of Irish goods and services made by SuperValu, was worth over €1.6bn to the Irish economy, serving to both create and protect almost 30,000 Irish jobs in the farm, food and retail sector. SuperValu is the only supermarket with a store in every county, with 195 stores across Ireland.

Swift Fine Foods has secured a deal worth €2m per annum to supply SuperValu with a range of premium carvery meals under the SuperValu own label brand. As a result of the deal the company has employed ten new employees providing additional benefits to the Monaghan region.

The new jobs are expected to generate an additional €300,000 worth of income per annum into the local Monaghan economy. Swift Fine Foods will also increase their spending on local produce from their existing supplier base by €1.7m per annum and the Monaghan region is expected to benefit significantly as a result of this new contract.

Commenting on the new contract, Robert McElwaine, Managing Director of Swift Fine Foods, said: “We are delighted to have secured this new contract with SuperValu. We have created and filled ten new jobs, which is a fantastic achievement in the current economic environment. Our ongoing success can be attributed to our unwavering focus on product innovation, quality and customer service. To put it simply all our work has one simple goal – to delight consumers with exceptionally high quality and tasting traditional meals.”

Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of SuperValu, added: “This announcement highlights our commitment to sourcing Irish wherever possible and reinforces our position as the number one supporter of the Irish food industry. The nature of our business model has a positive impact on communities across the country as we know that our customers will buy Irish when they see good value on shop shelves. This in turn will directly benefit the economy in terms of job creation and generating additional business in the region.”

The new carvery range of meals is now on sale in SuperValu stores across the country. The meals are fully cooked using traditional cooking methods and are made using only the finest locally sourced ingredients, including Irish meat from the Bord Bia quality assurance scheme. The range consists of

• Supervalu handmade Irish sliced roast beef & onion gravy
• Supervalu traditional roast turkey & ham with sage & onion stuffing
• Supervalu roast Irish beef with Yorkshire pudding & gravy
• Supervalu roast Loin of pork apple sauce thyme & onion stuffing
• Supervalu loin of bacon with parsley sauce

All of the above meals are accompanied with various fresh vegetable selections, fluffy mashed potato or roast potatoes.

In 2011 the total purchases of Irish goods and services made by SuperValu, was worth over €1.6bn to the Irish economy, serving to both create and protect almost 30,000 Irish jobs in the farm, food and retail sector. SuperValu is the only supermarket with a store in every county, with 195 stores across Ireland.

Couverture has been named the overall winner of the SuperValu Irish Food Producer Awards 2012. The company produces a range of luxury deserts for the SuperValu own brand range, and most recently has developed ‘SuperValu Supreme Fruit Shots’, as part of the SuperValu’s Signature Range for Christmas.

The company, which employs 22 people in Dublin, was chosen due to the quality of its range and its focus on new product development and it has invested €40,000 this year alone in R&D, to ensure they continue to bring innovative desert products to the market.

The awards, which are held in association with Enterprise Ireland, recognise excellence, quality and innovation within the food and beverage sector in Ireland. In addition to the overall winner, there were six category winners as part of the awards. The category winners were:

• Best Newcomer – Bombay Pantry
• Best for Quality – Kepak
• Best Local Producer – West Cork Distillers
• Best Fresh Product – Fresh Cut Food Services
• Best for Innovation – Couverture
• The People’s Choice – Clonakilty Black Pudding

Commenting at the Awards, Martin Kelleher, MD SuperValu, said: “The SuperValu Irish Food Producer Awards give us the opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding work of Irish suppliers. I want to congratulate Couverture and all the category winners on their awards. Couverture supply us with our Own Brand Supreme range of desserts and I personally can attest to the quality of their produce.”

“As one of over 600 suppliers Supervalu works with, Couverture is an example of an SME from our thriving food sector making a vital contribution to the Irish economy. As the number one supporter of the Irish food industry, we are delighted to reaffirm our commitment to Irish suppliers like Couverture to help sustain 30,000 jobs across the country.” Kelleher added.

In 2011 the total purchases of Irish goods and services made by SuperValu, was worth over €1.6bn to the Irish economy, serving to both create and protect almost 30,000 Irish jobs in the farm, food and retail sector. SuperValu is the only supermarket with a store in every county, with 195 stores across Ireland.