Comber firm Mash Direct secures Middle East deal

Comber firm Mash Direct secures Middle East deal

6 March 2013

CHAMP produced by the Comber firm of Mash Direct will soon be on the menu in the United Arab Emirates.

The local firm has secured its first business contract in Dubai and will supply Spinneys, the Middle East’s premium supermarket chain, with champ carrot and parsnip and its other mashed potato ranges.

The order was secured after the company teamed up with Invest NI to attend the SIAL food exhibition in Paris.

Mash Direct managing director Martin Hamilton said the company’s contract with Spinneys provided it with an an “important presence with one of the most quality conscious and consumer focused supermarket chains in the Emirates and wider Middle East.”

He continued: “The contract also demonstrates just how important it is for Northern Ireland food companies to showcase their products at major international exhibitions. These provide opportunities to meet key food buyers and to discuss their requirements.”

During the event, Stormont Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster met with with Mash Direct representatives at the Gulfood Exhibition in Dubai, one of the world’s biggest food and hospitality events.

She was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a three-day trade development mission and was at the exhibition to support local companies taking part in a Northern Ireland Naturally presentation organised by Invest NI.

Mash Direct’s new business in the Emirates follows another recent success by the Comber firm in winning a contract to supply 15 product lines to Budgens in Britain, a contract which will see products available in chill cabinets in almost 200 stores.