Lidl Ireland has today announced a multi-million-euro investment in nine of its long-standing Irish suppliers.
The substantial investment, totalling more than €50 million, is the result of Lidl Ireland facilitating supply contracts with their counterparts in 27 countries, making their products available on the shelves of more than 10,000 Lidl stores in Europe and the US.
Rye River Brewing Company
Among these partners is Celbridge-based, Rye River Brewing Company, who has supplied Lidl since 2014 and has nearly tripled their product range of craft beers under their Crafty Brewing Co brand in that time, in addition to creating 14 new local jobs off the back of the investment.
The retailer has facilitated a landmark deal in 2020, which sees the small local brewery export more than 3.5 million bottles of its craft beer to 21 European countries this year.
Terra
Terra, who have supplied Lidl with luxury Irish cream liqueurs since 2009, has seen their workforce grow by more than 40% off the back of the retailer’s investment, which also saw the expansion of a high-speed automated production line in 2015.
The line produces up to 70,000 bottles of specialty Irish cream liqueur per day to meet demand from 16 European countries and Lidl’s stores in the US.
West Cork Distillers
West Cork Distillers has been supplying Lidl Ireland with premium, award-winning spirits since 2015 and supplies the retailer with their own brand of luxury Irish whiskeys and gins, including Wild Burrow Irish Gin and Dundalgan Irish Whiskey.
The Skibbereen distillery has secured a contract that will see these bestselling spirits on the shelves of thousands of Lidl stores across the continent and has already proved to be a hit with customers, including being chosen to front national marketing campaigns for Lidl Germany.
Peter Maguire, sales director, Rye River Brewing Company, said: “Crafty Brewing Co is an integral brand within our business and its strong growth in international markets in recent years has proved very important, none more so than throughout this pandemic. Our Lidl export business has acted as a stabilising factor amid many other business uncertainties.”
© 2020 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
