MINISTER'S' WELLCOME' FOR SUCCESS OF WHITE'S IN HONG KONG
Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster recently announced a £200,000 contract for White's in Tandragee with Wellcome, Hong Kong's biggest supermarket chain.
The Minister, who will be leading 27 local companies on an Invest Northern Ireland trade mission to Hong Kong and Shanghai later this month, announced the contract during a visit to Whites, Northern Ireland's only oat mill and largest local breakfast cereal producer.
The deal with Wellcome, which was assisted by Invest Northern Ireland's team in China, has seen the company's iconic 'Speedicook brand' along with its microwaveable 'Only Oats' porridge and hugely successful 'Toasted Oats' range on the shelves in Wellcome's 240 supermarkets, which draw upwards of 14 million shoppers every month.
Minister Foster said: "The new business won by White's from Wellcome is tremendously important for the company and should encourage other local companies, both large and small from virtually every sector to explore the huge business opportunities emerging from this dynamic marketplace.
"White's has focused significant resources on this market and is now reaping the business benefits from its commitment in developing its export sales. China is clearly open for business and keen to source products of all types from Northern Ireland.
"Invest NI's team in Shanghai is currently assisting many companies to succeed in China. By leading this mission I hope to highlight the opportunities available and to support the efforts of our companies to win worthwhile, and , sustainable business across this huge nation."
Mark Gowdy, Sales and Marketing Director at White's, part of the Fane Valley Group, said:
"Adding Wellcome to our portfolio of customers consolidates our position in a market where shoppers are focusing increasingly on healthy natural food products. Our products which are firmly established among China's international community have seen growing interest from the Chinese community who are known for adopting the shopping patterns of the expat community''
"Wellcome is a substantial and influential customer. The deal also means that we now supply our products to two of Hong Kong's biggest supermarket chains - Wellcome and Park n' Shop. We began supplying a range of products to Park n' Shop about five years ago and over the past year in particular, our products have performed extremely well.
"Invest NI's support in Shanghai helped us drive business in Hong . This resource has been invaluable. due to the extensive knowledge of the market and a network of contacts provided which allowed us to pinpoint the business opportunity with Wellcome and successfully convert the lead into a contract.
Wellcome is part of Dairy Farm, Hong Kong's biggest retailer, which is owned by Jardine Matheson.
As well as growth in Hong Kong, White's has seen export sales increase substantially in Spain, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia. Jordan and Dubai.
In the UK, White's, which has been milling oats at Tandragee since 1841, has listings with many of the leading retailers, including Waitrose, Asda, Sainsbury and Tesco.