Two Fingal Food Start-Ups Make Retail Breakthrough
Fingal Local Enterprise Office has announced that two out of the eleven food and drink producers from around the country to secure a space on SuperValu shelves this month are Fingal food producers.
Morning Dew and Mr Fu's Tofu, both supported by Local Enterprise Office Fingal, began the Food Academy Start Programme in 2017. This is a training programme run by the Local Enterprise Office with the support of Bord Bia and SuperValu and it prepares and enables small food producers to become suppliers to SuperValu.
Morning Dew and Mr Fu's Tofu can now be found in key SuperValu stores from this month as part of a trial, marking a major milestone for these two start-up food business. Morning Dew produces a number of tasty, ready to eat traditional Eastern European foods based developed from recipes inherited from parents and grandparents. Mr Fu's Tofu is a family run business that manufactures and distributes Tofu and Tofu products to foodservice customers, Asian restaurants and some Asian retail stores.
Run over a series of workshops, the Food Academy programme is now in its fifth year and nurtures new start-ups in the food and drink sector. It focuses on areas such as business planning, food safety, responding to market trends and driving sales.
These local food producers will be joining more established Fingal brands which have successfully completed the Food Academy Programme in recent years, such as Everest Granola, Fresh from the Pier and Hope Beer.
Congratulating Morning Dew and Mr Fu's Tofu, Oisin Geoghegan Head of Fingal Local Enterprise Office said: “By supporting food and drink start-ups through specialist training and one-to-one mentoring, we’re helping even more local companies make important business breakthroughs. The Food Academy Programme, which is delivered by the Local Enterprise Office, Bord Bia and SuperValu, helps local companies think and act more strategically about their food and drink business, ultimately increasing their chances of success and creating more jobs here locally.”
Stephanie Moe, Small Business Manager with Bord Bia said: “Bord Bia has long recognised the contribution that small food producers make to Ireland’s food and drink industry, bringing a diverse range of quality and artisan products to market, each with a unique story. Such stories increasingly resonate with Irish consumers who are keen to support small local producers and Food Academy provides an excellent vehicle to do that. Over the past five years, Bord Bia has been proud to work in collaboration with the Local Enterprise Offices and SuperValu to support hundreds of small food producers through Food Academy Start, providing them with a viable route to market and enabling them to achieve sustainable growth”.
MaryKate Mageean, SuperValu’s Food Academy Project Manager commented: “As the number one supporter of the Irish food industry, we source from over 1800 Irish suppliers. The Food Academy programme is a key pillar of our support for local businesses and we’re proud to now have a total of 350 small Irish food companies well on the road to success, with their products on the shelf in SuperValu stores around Ireland. The programme continues to go from strength to strength, allowing us to nurture small producers to ensure their growth and sustainability.”
Applications are now being taken for a fresh intake for the Food Academy Start programme. You can find out more by contacting Fingal Local Enterprise Office on: Tel: 01 8900 800 or info@leo.fingal.ie.