Hong Kong order for Portaferry company

Hong Kong order for Portaferry company

1 August 2012

A PORTAFERRY firm has won its first business order in Hong Kong for its Just Live a Little branded granolas.

Crawford’s Food has been able to secure a slice of the highly competitive breakfast market in the Fart East country with assistance from Invest Northern Ireland.

The family-run firm has secured a contract that will see its breakfast granolas on the shelves of ParknShop supermarkets, Hong Kong’s biggest grocery business and leading online retailer.

Details of the contract were announced by Mr. David Crawford, the managing director of Crawford’s Food which he formed with his wife Jill in 2009.

The Portaferry firm’s new export business follows an introduction for Mr. Crawford from Invest NI’s Business Development team in Great Britain, to Foods of Europe, a major UK food distributor with substantial business in Hong Kong.

Crawford’s Food, Northern Ireland’s only manufacturer of granola cereals and muesli, is supplying three products in two different pack formats.

Mr. Crawford described securing the contract as “immensely exciting,” explaining it provides the local firm with a platform for growth in Hong Kong and other markets.

He continued: “There’s tremendous demand from ex-pats and Chinese residents in Hong Kong for quality UK produce. What seems to have helped us win the business is the different flavours provided by our combinations of natural ingredients.

“I appreciate greatly the support and advice provided by Invest NI in creating the bridge for me to pitch our products to this major international food distributor. Winning this export business in our first two years in business is extremely encouraging.”

Mr. Crawford said the company’s focus is now on developing sales outside Northern Ireland where it has an established distribution through delis, farm shops and upmarket grocers.