Two Northern Irish companies in Grocer Top Products Survey
Punjana, Northern Ireland's market leading tea by volume, is listed in the prestigious Grocer Top Products Survey 2014 on the back of a 12.8 per cent rise in sales last year.
According to the main trade magazine, Punjana, the principal and oldest brand of Belfast-based Thompson's Family Teas, saw sales in the United Kingdom rise to £3.5 million from the previous year of £400,000. The sharp increase business lifted Punjana into 10th place in the Top 10 Tea category.
Irwin's Bakery, the other Northern Irish food business, is listed at 14 in the Top 20 Bread Loaves for its Rankin product that was developed with the company by celebrity chef Paul Rankin and helped sales hit £3.4 million in another category that suffered a downturn in business.
Belfast-based Thompson's Family Teas growth came as overall tea sales dipped by over seven per cent to £600.8 million during the year. Thompson's has been blending quality teas from carefully selected gardens in Assam and Kenya since 1896 and remains a successful and respected family owned and managed business. The company has also won a series of UK Great Taste Awards for its tea blends such as Titanic and infusions.
The company, which is also accredited by the British Retail Consortium as a Grade A quality focused business, has invested heavily in the latest automated production technology and in the development of contemporary soft foil packaging.
Thompson's pioneered the development of soft packs containing 80 tea bags as part of an attractive rebranding programme. In addition, it has developed specific blends for target markets such as Scotland and the US where it has fared well with its Punjana Irish Breakfast Tea.
Irwin's Bakery, the other Northern Irish food business, is listed at 14 in the Top 20 Bread Loaves for its Rankin product that was developed with the company by celebrity chef Paul Rankin and helped sales hit £3.4 million in another category that suffered a downturn in business.
Irwin's Bakery is Northern Ireland's market leader and remains a family-run business that's been baking a range of products for over a century.
Overall, bread loaf sales dipped over six per cent to £1.6 billion or 93 million fewer loaves in 2014. Warburtons, the UK market leader lost more than £50 million in sales last year. Hovis was the only big three brand to have gained volume.
The survey says that new product development is the key to growth because consumers are increasingly turning to bread perceived to be healthier and more convenient and gluten-free.
The Grocer's Top Products Survey is the most comprehensive study of the state of retail sales across the UK. A key trend pinpointed is the fast growth of discounters Lidl and Aldi at the expense of longstanding multiples Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons. Aldi, which isn't present in Northern Ireland, headed the field by achieving a 21.4 per cent growth in sales.