NICCO FOODS LINES UP NORTHERN IRELAND SUPPLIER

Cheshire-based distributor Nicco Foods has added Millar Savoury Foods, the Northern Ireland convenience and snack food business, to its list of suppliers. Nicco Foods will market and distribute Millar's range of products that includes scotch eggs, burgers, pies and jumbo hotdogs throughout Great Britain. Millar Savoury also recently signed a deal to supply its products to Norfolk Line in Kent for its ferries. The company has achieved grade A BRC accreditation. Clarke Millar, Commercial Director of Millar Savoury, commenting on the agreement, which was signed at the recent Food and Drink Exhibition in Birmingham, says: ???This is a major boost for our marketing drive in Great Britain and will strengthen our overall competitiveness in a market we are targeting for faster growth. ???It gives us access to a successful food marketing business that has an established portfolio of clients including many ???blue chip' retailers. We couldn't really expect to reach such a broad range of quality businesses if we were totally dependent on our own resources. Nicco Foods has the contacts to put our products in front of key buyers in top retailers throughout Great Britain. ???Another important benefit of the relationship is the market knowledge that Nicco Foods possesses. The team there can help us in either adapting existing or developing new products in response to customer feedback on market trends.??? Established in 1993, Nicco Foods is a sales and marketing organisation for manufacturers throughout Europe. The company is now a UK leader in the marketing of frozen, chilled and ambient products under both brand business and private label. Nicco Foods has a strong presence in the frozen food market, which now accounts for 40 per cent of its business, 35 per cent in chilled products and 25 per cent in ambient products ??" supplying a wide range of retail and catering customers. It is developing the frozen side of the business, particularly in frozen foods for the retail market and ready meals for the ???food-to-go' sector. It has an extensive range of premium products either frozen, chilled or ambient and supplies private label products to retailers and foodservice accounts such as Spar, Landmark, Fairway, Netto, Midland Main Line, Virgin Trains, Bestway, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Somerfield, Kwiksave, Wm Morrison, Nisa, Co-op, Caterforce, Iceland, Asda, and Makro. Millar's success demonstrates the values embedded in the recently launched ???Northern Ireland Good Food Is In Our Nature??? campaign. Signing the deal are, left, Hazlett Millar, managing director of Millar Savoury Foods and David Nickisson, managing director of Nicco Foods.