Musgrave is pleased to announce the appointments of Christopher Musgrave and Brian Flanagan as Non-Executive Directors on the board of Musgrave Group.

Christopher is the great grandson of Stuart Musgrave, a co-founder of the Musgrave business. Christopher runs his own estate management company in the UK. He is also a governor of the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester and fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society.

Brian Flanagan has considerable professional experience in both Executive and Non-Executive roles in businesses ranging from large complex corporations including Morrisons and Mars to start-up organisations and privately owned family businesses.  He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Jet Environmental and Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate.

SuperValu is expected to sell 140,000 Irish Cox Pippin Apples grown by Cappoquin Estate, Co. Waterford

SuperValu, Ireland’s leading independent supermarket has announced that it expects to sell over 140,000 or almost €90,000 worth of Irish Cox Pippin apples this season. This traditional apple variety is grown exclusively for SuperValu stores by David Keane of Cappoquin Estate, Co. Waterford on a 100 acre apple farm with 800 trees to the acre.

Available in SuperValu stores nationwide, the Cox Pippin is a particularly aromatic variety, renowned for its crunchy bite and perfect balance of flavour and acidity. It will be included in SuperValu’s Signature Taste range which is due to launch this month.

David Keane has been supplying SuperValu for over 30 years, a partnership that has allowed him to continue to expand his business over that period. A new orchard has been planted on the Cappoquin Estate this year. The orchard will be home to a variety of early eating apple which will be available in SuperValu stores in two years’ time.

Martin Kelleher, Managing Director, SuperValu, said, “A staple in Irish homes and an important part of the recommended five a day, we are delighted to partner with Cappoquin Estate to bring their outstanding fresh apples to our customers. Recognising the demand for fresh quality produce, we partner with Irish suppliers to bring our customers the quality they have come to expect from us. As the number one supporter of Irish food producers, we at SuperValu understand that Irish suppliers are embedded in their localities and we are committed to working with them to create and maintain vibrant communities all across Ireland.”

David Keane of Cappoquin Estate, Co. Waterford commented “As a provider of fresh produce we believe it’s important to partner with companies that understand both our products and our business. With an extensive network of independent retail partners focused on quality and value, SuperValu enables us to bring apples to consumers all over Ireland. SuperValu’s daily ordering system means that our apples are on shelves within 48 hours of receiving an order, allowing us to provide customers with an outstandingly fresh product.”

SuperValu serves over 2,000,000 customers every week, has 198 stores nationwide and is committed to local employment and supporting local suppliers. 75% of everything on SuperValu’s shelves is sourced or produced in Ireland, contributing over €1.6 billion to the Irish economy and helping to sustain almost 30,000 Irish jobs in the farm, food and retail sector.

New SuperValu stores for Killiney, Naas and Dalkey and a Centra for Stillorgan

Musgrave has announced that the Rushe Group of stores owned by John and Marcella Rushe are set to become part of its SuperValu and Centra networks at the end of November 2013.  This move will see three new SuperValu stores in Killiney, Dalkey and Naas, while a fourth store in Stillorgan will become a Centra.  The four stores between them employ over 200 people.

Shane Rushe, Operations Director, Rushe Group, said: “We have taken the decision to move our stores to SuperValu and Centra, as they are two of the strongest and most competitive brands within their sectors of the Irish retail market.

SuperValu is the only supermarket outside of the discounters that has shown continuous growth over the past year. I believe this is due to the brand giving the consumer exactly what they want in these recessionary times. Their focus on delivering excellent value and good quality produce; combined with a strong commitment to local suppliers and communities is what makes SuperValu different from anyone else in the market. These are all things that I know our customers want. Therefore, for us this move makes complete sense.

Additionally, transferring our store in Stillorgan to Centra is also a very exciting departure for our store and our staff. Even in these difficult times Centra continues to grow, due to its constant innovation and by continuously updating and reshaping its offer, to appeal to hard-pressed shoppers. These two brands have tackled the recession head on and I want our business to be part of this.”

Rushe continued: “Over the coming months customers can look forward to quite a few changes across our stores. They will see even better value, a renewed commitment to fresh quality food and additional services such as extended butcher and fishmonger counters, along with expanded bakery, own brand and wine ranges.”

Martin Kelleher, Managing Director, Musgrave  commented: “We are delighted to welcome the Rushe Group to SuperValu and Centra. Similar to many of our retail partners, the Rushe family has a long and proud tradition as community retailers and represents a very significant addition to SuperValu and Centra. We look forward to bringing our range, value and expertise to the four stores, which will bring SuperValu to even more communities in the Leinster region.”

The addition of the Rushe Group will bring the total number of SuperValu stores nationwide to 201, with a further 22 Superquinn stores set to change their names to SuperValu’s in February 2014. The total number of Centra stores is now 466.

SuperValu recognised as the number one retailer, winning 25 awards, including 7 Gold’s

For the second year running, SuperValu have scooped the most awards at the Blas na hEireann National Irish Food Awards, winning 25 awards in total. Providing unrivalled quality Irish produce, the awards are an endorsement of SuperValu as the number one supporter of Irish food producers.

Blas na hEireann is the biggest blind tasting competition of its kind in the world. Over 2,000 Irish products were entered into 80 different categories, ranging from soup to seafood and chocolate to cheese, with winners from all over the country taking Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in each category.  With twice as many categories in 2013, each product was blind tasted by a panel of judges made up of chefs, foodies and food scientists from UCC. Blas na hEireann is an opportunity to not only celebrate great Irish products, but also the producers and passionate individuals behind them.

Winning more awards than any other retailer, the SuperValu own brand and the new Signature Tastes range won a total of 25 awards. With seven Gold, ten Silver and eight Bronze awards, SuperValu suppliers from all over Ireland were recognized for their superb quality, flavour, taste and innovation. The award winners included Kepak, Dunns Seafood, Keohanes Seafood, Freshcut Servcies, Irish Cheese Direct, Seery’s Bakery and Genesis, all of whom won Gold for their products.

Dunns of Dublin won three awards for their SuperValu own brand fish products, SuperValu Salmon with Tex Mex marinade (Gold) and Hake with Lemon and Pepper marinade (Silver) and Cod with Garlic and Herb marinade (Bronze).

Kepak Ltd was also recognised with two awards for SuperValu Bank Holiday Lamb Leg with Garlic Butter and Rosemary (Gold) and SuperValu Gourmet Handmade Beef Burgers (Bronze).

Just in time for Christmas SuperValu won gold for their Signature Taste Christmas Pudding produced by Seery’s Bakery and their Signature Taste Stollen made by Genesis.

Martin Kelleher, Managing Director, SuperValu said, “We are very proud of our Own Brand and Signature Taste range winners, who have been recognised as the very best food producers in Ireland. We are delighted so many products were nominated across such a variety of categories, particularly our new Signature Taste Range, it really is an endorsement of the quality, taste and value that underpins our own brand ranges.

He continued, “As the number one supporter of Irish food producers, the awards are an important recognition of the work SuperValu does, to bring customers the quality Irish products, we know they love and want. 75% of everything on SuperValu’s shelves is sourced or produced in Ireland, a sign of our commitment to Irish producers and suppliers”.

SuperValu serves over 2,000,000 customers every week, has 198 stores nationwide and is committed to local employment and supporting local suppliers. SuperValu contributes over €1.6 billion to the Irish economy helping to sustain almost 30,000 Irish jobs in the farm, food and retail sector.

SuperValu, Ireland’s leading independent supermarket, is expecting to sell 85,000 Irish pumpkins this Halloween. Grown by Oisin O’Gradaigh in Louth, SuperValu expects sales of Keelings Irish pumpkins to top €80,000 between October and November.

Available in SuperValu stores nationwide during the Halloween period, this year’s pumpkins will cost no more than one Euro. Now in their sixth year of production, this year’s crop was two weeks ahead of last year due to the fine weather, and it has been a bumper crop!

Martin Kelleher, Managing Director, SuperValu, said, “Pumpkins are a staple of every Halloween for both cooking and decoration, so we are expecting to see a huge demand from our customers for Irish pumpkins. At SuperValu, we believe in sourcing quality Irish produce and we work with the very best Irish suppliers to bring our customers the quality and value they expect. This year’s range of pumpkins demonstrates this on-going commitment. We are also proud to demonstrate our support for the Irish agri-food sector through our partnership with suppliers such as Keelings.”

Oisin O’Gradaigh, a Louth pumpkin grower for Keelings, commented, “We are delighted to partner with SuperValu to bring our pumpkin harvest to people all over the country. We had a good season this year with an excellent skin finish on our crop of just over 100,000 pumpkins. Our hand harvested pumpkins are washed, labeled and graded in preparation for Halloween and we believe it is very important to work with a partner such as SuperValu who puts the same emphasis on quality as we do.”

SuperValu serves over 2,000,000 customers every week, has 198 stores nationwide and is committed to local employment and supporting local suppliers. 75% of everything on SuperValu’s shelves is sourced or produced in Ireland, contributing over €1.6 billion to the Irish economy and helping to sustain almost 30,000 Irish jobs in the farm, food and retail sector.