Irwin's

Irwin’s Bakery secures £3.5m deal for speciality bread

Irwin’s Bakery has secured a deal to supply Waitrose and Morrisons stores in Great Britain with its new Irwin’s Together range of speciality breads.

The family owned bakery, founded in 1912 which is Northern Irelands only independent plant bakery, baking up to 1 million products per week across bread, morning goods, teatime and cakes, has rolled out a strong range of products in 600 stores.

This latest business win demonstrates its continued success in creating demand for speciality breads amongst consumers in Great Britain. Earlier this year the bakery also secured a 2.7m annual contract with Lidl, which it has been working with for 20 years, to supply a range of bread, rolls and sweet treats to all of the retailers stores in Ireland.

Winning new business contracts of this scale are a clear sign we are continuing to grow our share of the speciality breads market in GB, said Irwins Bakery chief executive Michael Murphy. Currently just under 50% of our business is outside Northern Ireland, with the bulk of that going fresh, daily, to GB, and we expect this to grow with the introduction of the Irwins Together.

Murphy added that the business has invested in both consumer research and brand development to ensure Irwins understands consumers needs and usage occasions, alongside a brand identity that reflects its values, skill, and heritage as craft bakers. The business has also invested in additional capability at its Portadown bakery to help produce NPD, he said.

Cultures are changing constantly, and Irwins prides itself on keeping up with these changes, Murphy added. Consumers have enjoyed and experimented with food throughout lockdown and continue to look for ways to create great meals with everyday staples such as bread as the main ingredient for the whole family. We believe our breads lay the foundations for a great meal.

Irwins Together is a new range of premium, speciality breads which bring everyone to the table with the reassuring tastes of home, a range of sweet & savoury bakery treats, inspired by recipes from around the world.