The company’s latest deal will see its chilli baby bakes, beer battered chips and beer battered onion rings, which use craft beer from a local brewery, into 61 of the biggest Tesco stores across England and Wales.
Chief commercial officer Lance Hamilton said: “The vegetable accompaniments are designed to make cooking and preparing vegetable side dishes hassle free and easy to prepare for consumers. They are a response to the growth in home cooking especially since the coronavirus pandemic.
“The national listing for the Mash Direct brand, in addition, highlights the growth of consumer demand for high-quality and versatile convenience foods that can be incorporated into everyday family meals. Furthermore, they reflect our close monitoring of market trends and our strategic focus on the use of local potatoes and vegetables to develop innovative convenience foods.”
The Co Down farm-based business has developed into a UK and Ireland leader in ‘field to fork’ foods including potato products.
The innovation-led enterprise, which is owned by the Hamilton family, has revolutionized the potato industry, among NI’s most important agri-food sectors through the creation of a range of novel products such as pre-packed skinny chips and beer battered chips for the convenience of home cooks.
The launch comes as the brand recently announced that it is expecting up to a 30% uplift in potatoes harvested this year, due to carefully planned planting of the right varieties and a fortunate mix of sunshine and showers.
The Mash Direct brand has seen sales grow by 8% in the first half of 2022, with more consumers enjoying the versatile range of vegetable side dishes produced on the sixth-generation family farm.
“We are delighted to secure these listings with Tesco and offer the taste of our farm-fresh produce to even more homes across England and Wales. Our field to fork award-winning vegetable side dishes are growing in popularity with consumers demanding healthy, convenient ready-to-eat vegetable accompaniments and we are really pleased to meet this need with our tasty range of products,” Lance said.
