French grocery chain opts for healthy granolas from Just Live a Little

Just Live a Little, the Northern Irish producer of premium and healthy breakfast and snack foods, has won its first business in France.

The company, based at Portaferry in county Down, is now supplying its luxury, handcrafted breakfast granolas to 50 Franprix stores across France in a new export deal for the family-owned and managed business.

Just Live a Little, established by husband and wife team David and Jill Crawford in 2011, is now among the most successful smaller Northern Irish food producers in international markets.

Mrs. Crawford, commercial director of Just Live a Little, says: "Mediascore Food, a distributor, based near Paris, to both retailers and foodservice operations, was seeking a new supplier of premium granolas and heard about the company through our digital media. They approached us to see if we would be interested in supplying granola to Franprix, one of their clients.

"We were delighted to provide them with samples and to make a formal pitch for the new business. France was then a new market opportunity for us. It's a huge and quality conscious market with immense potential developing for us from the growing focus, particularly among younger consumers, on healthy breakfast cereals.

"Mediascore liked the products and introduced them to Franprix stores. This led to an initial listing for the granolas in 50 stores across France for launch on 8th May. It's an exciting development for us because Franprix, also headquartered near Paris, is an important grocery retailer within the international Groupe Casino.

"We are looking forward to supporting Franprix to develop awareness among shoppers of our granolas through sampling and other marketing initiatives and thereby to grow our business throughout France," she adds.

Franprix is taking two of Just Live a Little's Artisan range of granolas - Whole Almond and Cranberry and Cashew. Just Live a Little recently launched a Triple Nut Granola with almonds, cashews and pecans.

The company has had a strong global focus since its formation and now sells more than 60 per cent of its breakfast cereals and snack products outside Northern Ireland. It has developed significant business in Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Spain, Denmark, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

As well as its success in global markets Just Live a Little is listed by major retailers in Britain such as Waitrose, Sainsbury, Tesco and Ocado.

The handcrafted granolas are slow baked and are available in a range of delicious flavours.