Henderson Wholesale has invested £120,000 into its pre-prepped meal range, The Chef.
The Northern Irish Spar wholesaler said it was responding to a sharp rise in consumer demand for convenient fresh meals.
The number of meals picked up from stores from the premium range doubled over the past year, with more than 10,000 meals being sold per week.
Along with the wholesaler’s other own-brand preprepared meal ranges, including Enjoy Local and The Kitchen, sales grew 30% in 2020 compared to 2019.
This growth in demand meant sales of all its own-brand ranges and pre-prepared products rocketed to over £14m in the past year.
“Our own-brand proposition developed with local suppliers is second to none,” said Henderson Wholesale fresh foods director Neal Kelly.
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Quinn’s Spar Group set up the service in April last year
Northern Irish Spar retailer Quinn’s Group has surpassed 6,000 online grocery orders since setting up a new home delivery service last April.
The retailer, which owns two stores in Cookstown, has partnered with grocery shopping app Appetite for the service.
Co-owner Martina Kilpatrick said average basket spend for orders via the app at its Westland Road Spar store was £54, but some customers had taken orders of up to £250.
She has also reported the app attracting shoppers to their stores for the first time, with approximately 90% of Appetite users being new customers.