Traditional Irish breads from UK celebrity chef listed by LuLu
Traditional Irish breads developed by leading UK celebrity chef Paul Rankin are now on sale in LuLu supermarkets in Abu Dhabi. The Rankin Selection breads, which are also popular in major UK retailers, are on the shelves in LuLu stores within 24 hours of being baked by Irwin's Bakery in Northern Ireland.
The range of traditional Irish breads, including soda farls, potato farls, stone-ground wheaten are produced by Irwin's Bakery, a family-owned and managed business, from the finest ingredients. The company is based at Portadown in Northern Ireland.
Born in Northern Ireland, Paul Rankin has an international reputation as an innovative chef and restaurateur. He is credited with starting a food revolution in Northern Ireland over 30 years' ago and regularly appears on UK television cookery programmes. He developed the range of traditional Irish breads with Irwin's Bakery.
The six-figure contract is Irwin's first in the United Arab Emirates and was announced by Brendan Lappin, Irwin's Bakery's Business Development Manager, who said: "This is a very significant contract for us with one of the biggest and most successful retailers in the Gulf, It gives us a solid platform for further growth in a very dynamic marketplace. It's a market that we've been targeting for some time and is the result of ongoing discussion over the past 18 months.
"The Rankin Selection range is on sale in an initial eight LuLu supermarkets within 24 hours of leaving the bakery in Portadown - a significant logistics operation involving a distributor in Liverpool. The supermarket asked us if we could provide the bread as fresh as possible and we've been able to meet the challenge.
"As well as the Rankin Selection breads, we are providing Jammy Joey and Snowy Joey cakes from our Howell's handmade subsidiary. Initially all the bread and cakes will be available in eight stores but these outlets are strategically placed close to LuLu Group headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Our aim is to build the business steadily and to widen the customer base beyond the ex-pat community."
Established in 1912 Irwin's Bakery is a family-owned business, based in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's only remaining locally owned, wholesale bakery.
Key product lines include:
Irwin's branded morning goods, loaves and rolls range
Rankin Selection traditional Irish breads, luxury cakes & biscuits ranges, made in conjunction with Belfast-based celebrity chef Paul Rankin
Howell's Handmade traditional Irish cakes and biscuits
Nutty Krust batch bread range.