Mash Direct wins full UK listing with Waitrose

Mash Direct, the Co Down-based family-owned farming and food production business, has won a deal to supply one of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains with its convenience vegetable side dishes.

A listing with high-end grocery retailer Waitrose will see a range of Mash Direct products go into more than 330 stores across England from Wednesday.

The company, which has received 19 Great Taste awards for its range of products, has flagged the listing as a “great opportunity”.

"We already have a strong working relationship with Waitrose and supply them in Scotland, the Channel Islands and the United Arab Emirates [UAE] and we are looking forward to building our reputation in these new stores," said company director Jack Hamilton.

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Founded in 2003 by Martin and Tracy Hamilton, Mash Direct supplies more than 5,000 stores across Britain, Ireland, the US and the UAE. The company, which sells a vegetable side dish every second, was recently named SME of the Year at the Telegraph Festival of Business Awards run by the Telegraph newspaper.

SME award

The business picked up the award for the “quality of their vegetable side dishes, an impressive export strategy and innovative marketing campaigns”.

Mash Direct, which recorded turnover of £17 million (€19.5 million) last year, has identified the southeast of England as a growth area . The listing with Waitrose adds to UK listings with Tesco, Sainsbury's Asda, Spar, Mace and Vivo. In the Republic, the brand is listed in Dunnes Stores, Supervalu, Centra and Tesco.

Run by a sixth-generation Irish farming family based in Comber, Co Down, Mash Direct recently launched in the US in Key Food supermarkets.