Irwin's

Irwin’s Bakery Proves a £50m Success with Lidl Northern Ireland

Irwins Bakery has proven a big success with Lidl Northern Ireland as the regions fastest growing supermarket today confirmed a new and expanded contract for the full year ahead after a successful 20year partnership deal worth more than 50 million pounds.
Established in 1912 and employing more than 450 staff, the bakery has been a long term supplier to Lidl Northern Ireland since it opened its first store in Cookstown in 1999.
Under the new supply deal, worth 2.7 million annually, the family run bakery will continue to supply customer favourites including Nutty Krust batch bread, Irwins Veda malted loaf and Jammy Joeys buns to 202 Lidl stores across the island of Ireland.
With a focus on innovation, Irwins has also introduced an expanded new product range to Lidl Northern Ireland this year including traditional buttermilk soda bread and a low calorie wholemeal sliced bread at only 59 calories per slice.
Ben Woods, Supply Chain Executive at Lidl Northern Ireland, said:
As a retailer committed to supporting local food producers, we are proud of our longstanding partnership with Irwins Bakery. A brand synonymous with Northern Ireland, Irwins was integral in supporting Lidls growth over two decades ago. Since then, weve worked strategically together to advance our business growth for the benefit of customers and staff.
Since 1999, our partnership with Irwins has delivered over £50 million of products through our store network across the island and were hungry for more. This renewed supply deal with Irwins will see a range of innovative new products introduced alongside family favourites and cements our commitment to investing in homegrown producers as we enter a new decade of growth in the retail sector.
Lidls increased focus on bakery has been enthusiastically embraced by customers locally and, with an extensive range of great tasting, locally produced products, were proud to provide our customers with the freshest, best quality bread and baked goods for an authentic taste of Northern Ireland.
Michael Murphy, Irwins Bakery Chief Executive Officer, said:
Were thrilled to count Lidl Northern Ireland as one of our major customers and to have supported its own success over 20 years. During this time, Irwins has enjoyed double digit growth across a variety of bakery sectors and our supply deal with Lidl Northern Ireland continues to grow year on year. Not only has this supply contract supported our growth strategy, but it has also enabled us to increase production, create more jobs locally and expand our range of products.
The renewal of the supply deal with Lidl Northern Ireland marks a new decade of partnership and we look forward to seeing where this will take us next. Its great to work with a company that has the same brand values and commitment to its local communities and we will continue to support each other in our efforts. With an eye on future growth, we are keen to expand our scope of supply through Lidl Northern Ireland and hope to bring our authentic tasting products to new markets.