Stafford Lynch, the Irish sales, marketing, and distribution company, has been appointed by Epicure as the sole distributor of the brand’s product range in Ireland.
The agreement will see Stafford Lynch deliver over 138k cases per year to retail customers across Ireland, the company said.
Epicure
Epicure is stocked across the country by Dunnes, Musgrave, Tesco, and other grocers, with over 50 SKUs in its range, it added.
The food producer offers a variety of products, ranging from beans & pulses to cooking purees, pure Canadian maple syrup to artisanal sauces & condiments, catering for vegans, novice cooks, and the health-conscious consumer.
Epicure products have become increasingly popular in the past year with home cooks, as restrictions on hospitality saw consumers turn to cooking higher-quality meals at home.
Stafford Lynch
Until now, the Epicure brand was serviced by a local Irish-based team with a supply chain managed through a UK-based hub.
In response to the need for a stronger supply chain in the wake of Brexit, Stafford Lynch will now be responsible for Epicure’s supply chain requirements, to ensure seamless distribution and delivery of its products to customers in Ireland.
Donncha Curran, head of commercial, Stafford Lynch, said, "We are delighted to be in a position to support Epicure in resolving their Brexit related supply-chain issues, allowing their team to focus on growing their sales and business in Ireland through their exciting product range and consumer proposition."
"More and more, consumer habits have shifted towards premium and high-quality products to reflect their changing lifestyles. As more people are cooking from home and becoming more health-conscious, the desire to use high quality cooking ingredients has massively increased, and we are seeing this across a number of the brands in our portfolio," he added.
Irish Market 'Extremely Important'
Jason Beaumont, Epicure’s managing director, highlighted, “The Irish market is extremely important to Epicure, and with the brand encountering such strong growth here, we were always assessing the business model in a bid to improve efficiencies and local support."
"With the resulting burden of Brexit-related administration requirements and costly tariff levies when moving goods through the UK, effectively servicing our retailer base across Ireland has been a challenge,” he added.
© 2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Conor Farrelly. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.
