FIVE Northern Irish suppliers have secured a place on Lidl’s 2020 Kick Start Programme in the latest move by the retailer to support locally-sourced produce.
And the quintet's range of artisan food and drink products - ranging from smoked meats and apple vinegar to gin brewed in Co Down - will be on the shelves of all 202 Lidl stores across Ireland from Thursday July 30.
The Kick Start programme, now in its third year, is designed to help small and medium size food and drink firms grow their brand, build a supply network and reach new customer audiences, with the potential to open up new export opportunities.
The selected range of artisan products in this year’s programme includes two brand new suppliers - Natural Umber with its apple cider vinegar produced in Dungannon, and Orchard Smoke House inn Co Armagh, which is supplying smoked turkey and chicken fillets.
And making a return to the shelves are a range of delicious new lines from a trio of Co Down suppliers including Feckin’ Irish Gin, the Little Meat Company with a taster pie box and Oh So Lean with its creamy chicken and saffron rice ready meal.
An independent report earlier this year pointed to Lidl, which is the north's fastest-growing retailer, spending at least £290 million a year with suppliers across the north, which equates to supporting 3,500 jobs.
Sarah Matson from Natural Umber said: “Despite only launching in 2018, we have years of experience in mastering the art of crafting our award-winning quality apple cider vinegar and in a short space of time have made a real impact.
“As a small, artisan producer, we were aware of the Kick Start programme and the benefits and experience it can bring to a business like ours. It is an unrivalled platform to help us reach new audiences and take the next step from supplying small, independent stores to producing our apple cider vinegar for supermarket distribution.”
As well as the limited edition in-store promotion, Kick Start also provides the ambitious companies with free business development seminars delivered by a panel of Lidl and wider industry experts, covering key disciplines such as quality control, packaging, communications and brand building.
Previous success stories on the Kick Start programme (www.lidlni.co.uk/kickstart) include Noisy Snacks in Newtownards, Copeland Spirits distilled in Donaghadee and Refuge Hot Chocolate brewed in Belfast.
