Ireland’s SuperValu has revealed that products from 15 new Irish food producers who have successfully completed its Food Academy programme have gone on sale in stores this week.
Now in its seventh year, the SuperValu Food Academy is a food business development programme between SuperValu, Bord Bia and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs). Participants in the programme receive training in market research and branding, food safety, marketing, finance and business development.
The programme aims to help early-stage Irish food and drink businesses to get their start in the food retail sector with their first, all-important supermarket listing in SuperValu. For the 15 food start-ups, this week marked the culmination of a journey that began back in October 2019 when they started the SuperValu Food Academy training programme and completed a series of training and mentoring courses.
SuperValu stated that its support for local is all made possible by its independent retail model, whereby retailers can give SuperValu Food Academy members access to one or a small group of stores, allowing them to manage demand as they grow their operations.
One of the food start-ups to list in SuperValu is Thanks Plants, a 100% plant-based, handmade vegan sausages brand. Produced locally in Ireland, Thanks Plants is for vegans and anyone trying to reduce their meat intake and is available in a number of varieties.
Aisling Cullen, who set up Thanks Plants, said: “Over the last six months, with the help of SuperValu’s Food Academy, I’ve been working steadily to develop a unique product. Without the help of Food Academy, I would not be where I am now. It has given huge support to all the producers involved, and I recommend it for any new producer starting out.”
Some of the other suppliers include: Larkins Farm, Muckross Creamery and Loch Measc. These new suppliers reflect a shift in thinking towards sustainable, local food production and comprise healthy, plant-based and gluten-free offerings, underpinned by values of provenance, transparency, and authenticity.
Food Academy producers have sold a combined €140m of produce in SuperValu since 2014, supporting 1,500 jobs in the economy. To date, 620 producers have come through the programme, with 272 producers currently enrolled in the programme.
Martin Kelleher, Managing Director at SuperValu commented: “We have been supporters of local for 40 years and it’s part of our DNA. We started SuperValu Food Academy to support local food start-ups and the programme is more important than ever as we see consumers swing back to support our local food producers.”
The SuperValu Food Academy programme is now open for applications until Friday 26 June 2020. To apply, contact your Local Enterprise Office for an application form on www.localenterprise.ie
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