New deal for Doherty's with Musgrave Group in Ireland

Gluten-free burgers, meatballs and traditional Irish pork sausages from Doherty's Meats in Derry have been listed by the Musgrave Retail Partners in Cork for its network of over 500 SuperValu and Centra stores throughout the island of Ireland.

The deal with Musgrave is described by the company, one of Northern Ireland's leading meat processors, as "immensely significant".

The gluten-free products are pork sausages in 454g packs, cocktail pork sausages 400g, beef burgers 454g and beef meatballs 450g.

The gluten free beef meatballs were successful recently in the prestigious UK FreeFrom Foods Awards at a gala event in London. The panel of expert judges described the meatballs as "very tasty and juicy, wonderful with beetroot ketchup". It was the first time that Doherty's, the best known meat processor in the North West of Ireland, had entered the awards.

Doherty's has already supplied the first consignment of its successful gluten-free products for distribution to SuperValu and Centra stores particularly in the Republic of Ireland.

All the products feature attractive new branding launched recently by Doherty's as a key element in a new strategy to grow sales in key markets such as the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.

The new branding Do it Right with Doherty's was successfully introduced to key buyers in Britain at the recent International Food Exhibition in London.

Brian McQuaid, sales manager at Doherty's, commenting on the new business, with Musgrave Group, says: "This immensely significant listing for us with Musgrave gives us a tremendous platform for growth in a key market. We will be working with the retailer to maximise this great opportunity for our products.

"The listing is a marvellous boost for the company and a great endorsement of our gluten-free range in particular. We've seen significant growth in demand for our gluten-free range over the past few years especially in Britain. Feedback from IFE was extremely positive."

Doherty's gluten-free range has also been listed by online retailer OCADO in Britain and is also available in major UK chains such as Asda.

The gluten-free range was introduced by the company to meet a growing market demand especially from consumers with dietary conditions.

The family-owned and managed company has a heritage in quality meat processing stretching back over 150 years and six generations and is widely acknowledged throughout Ireland as one of the leading processors.

James Doherty opened his butcher's shop in Derry in 1830. The business was continued by his son and grandson and by 1945 comprised a small retail chain owned by Thomas J Doherty. In that year our current chairman, James Doherty joined his father in the business and began a process of expansion and development into processed beef and pork products.

Doherty's has BRC Grade A accreditation. And operates from a modern HACCP approved processing plant in the centre of Derry. Doherty's employs around 50 people in Derry.