Husband and wife retail team John and Donna Moran spotted early on that food to go was the way forward when it comes to forecourts.

After buying and establishing their three forecourts in the late 90s and early 2000s, their top priority was to develop their food to go range.

Point of difference

“We’ve been doing that now for the 20 plus years,” Donna explains.

“What we felt we needed to do was make it a point of difference. A lot of people were doing what we were doing as far as forecourt retailing was concerned, but we wanted to make a point of difference and we felt this was an opportunity to go down the road to producing our own homemade food.

“We’d been making our own sandwiches in-store since we opened the stores, but we were always wanting to improve our range and our product.

“Now we put our product – our sandwiches and our salads – on the shelves and we say ‘Made today – gone today’, in that they’re going to be sold within 24 hours, because we want to retain that quality.”

Next step forward

The couple have just completed the third stage of their production kitchen and are looking forward to developing their range even further.

“We had been making our sandwiches and salads in the shops and then we decided that the best way for us to retain our quality was to have one central distribution hub. So we built the first stage of our production kitchen in Ballykelly and now we have just completed the third stage of our production kitchen,” Donna says.

“It employs about 15 people for the production alone and we call it Bring Good Food Home – ‘From our Kitchen to Your Kitchen’ It produces our ready meals. ‘Moran’s Makes its Own’ is our mantra. We do all our own sandwiches, make all our own mixes, make all the food for the deli, so our production kitchen can supply each store with all our deli food and with all the sandwiches that we sell off the shelf as well as salad ranges and the likes of stews and curries.

“We make all our Sunday roast dinners for deli customers to come and buy from the deli on a Sunday and we also have them to take home as well, which means we have the spider fridges filled, so you can just lift your dinner, bring it home and heat it.”

Family of retailers

Donna grew up in a family retail background, as her parents owned a forecourt, and that has stood her in good stead in developing the business.

“My husband and I owned a tyre and exhaust centre and forecourt in the early ‘80s and in 1997 we took on our store on Strand Road in Derry under the umbrella of Musgrave SuperValu Centra,” she says.

“Centra was a new brand into Northern Ireland and we were the third store in Northern Ireland to open a Centra store and we have never looked back since.

“We had a small shop in our forecourt where we sold tyres and exhausts before, so we wanted to expand into the new concept of forecourt retailing. We could see that there was a vision there to expand our business.

“Then in 2002 we purchased our Centra in Coleraine and in 2004 we purchased our SuperValu in Ballykelly – the three of them are forecourts.

Location is key

“The Strand Road store is on the main road into Derry/Londonderry, and the Coleraine one is on the outskirts of Coleraine on the main thoroughfare to the north coast, so it gets a lot of passing trade. The Ballykelly store is in a rural village in the north west but it’s on a main road going to the north coast as well.”

Word of mouth as well as digital marketing in-store has played a major role in the development of the food to go offer, Donna says.

“We call it Kitchen to Kitchen, from our kitchen to your kitchen. We would do a lot of curries, stew, dinners, we do a lovely boeuf bourguignon, we do a huge range,” she says.

“We have chefs there constantly developing new lines and developing the third stage of our production kitchen has led us to be able to expand our equipment and be able to produce more new lines.

Healthy options

“So we’ve a new healthy option coming out now, with four new products coming in our salad range. There are going to be a lot of different salads – it will go according to what the season is.

“We like to think that we’re taking the hassle out of mealtimes and promoting no pots, no pans, no washing – because all our dishes are all overproof and microwave proof.

“We do our Christmas in a box, which means you can get your Christmas in a box delivered to you, from your starter to your dessert. You can have your entire Christmas dinner cooked for you, or you can have it uncooked – it takes all the stress out of Christmas because all the dishes are oven-proof and you just put them in the oven and just dump them into the black bag when you’re finished and serve your dinner.

“We actually tried it out on our family ourselves first to see how it would work and I mean it was unbelievable. We had to turn people away because we hadn’t got the capacity to cover the amount of people looking for it, but now that we’ve brought on our new phase, hopefully in 2022 we’ll be able to do more.”

Fresh ideas

The business also came up with some new food to go ideas to support customers during the pandemic restrictions, Donna says.

“We do a lot of stuff for barbecues, so because the weather was so good during the pandemic we sold a lot of burgers and barbecue products. We also have our outside catering business as well which did very well during the pandemic,” she says.

“We had afternoon teas where we had people who lived across the world booking afternoon teas, especially for Mother’s Day for their mothers. There were people who rang me from America, placing an order to send their mum afternoon tea if they lived here locally in the city – cakes, traybakes, a complete afternoon tea.

“We also did the cheese platters as well, and they also had the choice of getting Prosecco or white or red wine. They also delivered for Valentine’s Day, and we had a huge range of flowers for Valentine’s Day.

Hampers for occasions

“In our Ballykelly store we have an off licence so we were able to provide people what they wanted, Prosecco, wine or gin, to make hampers. We’re now in the process of doing the drink hampers for Father’s Day which is coming up next, and we’re gearing up now for the summer and the barbecue weather.”

Just before the pandemic reached Northern Ireland, the couple had just reopened their Strand Road stop in April 2019 as a new state-of-the-art store.

“We were just going to celebrate our first year in business with our new store and then the pandemic came along in March and that really changed our whole lives,” Donna says.

“But our staff were amazing – 95% of our staff were standing with us. Some ran for the hills as they say, because they didn’t know what was ahead of them: others were vulnerable so they had to stay at home. But we followed all the restrictions and guidelines, and put up all the safety measures that had to be put in place.

Delivery service

“We offered a home delivery service for our elderly and vulnerable customers – we told them just to ring us in from their car and we would bring out their groceries to them in the forecourts.

“Some of our customers are elderly and they always loved coming in for their newspapers, so some of our staff went out and delivered their newspapers in the morning.

“But they loved coming into the forecourt, even sitting in the forecourt. We would have brought them out their coffee – some of the husbands and wives would literally have sat in the forecourt in the car and had their wee traybake.

“Our staff were amazing and we all pulled together and stayed united, so I suppose we were like frontline workers as well when you think about it.”

Pandemic boost

Sales of ready meals and food-to-go increased over the pandemic because other shops and hospitality businesses were closed.

“The other thing during the pandemic was the Christmas dinners as well – that did take a lot of hassle out of people’s lives, getting their dinners delivered to the door. The deliveries would only go to a 10-mile radius of the town, but we offered click and collect,” Donna says.

“We extended our opening hours from 5.30am to 2am, so we were able to serve the emergency services with their fuel as well and they were able to get their lunch breaks or any food that they needed.”

All three forecourts are Go forecourts and Donna says they get a lot of support from the company.

Forecourt revamp

The Strand Road forecourt and store was completely demolished and a new 4,000 sq. foot shop, offices, forecourt with extra parking, new canopy, fuel pumps and storage tanks were added during the redevelopment.

“We’ve also invested in the Coleraine forecourt. We completely redeveloped the 3 sq. foot shop and deli including seating area. We put in all new pumps, incorporating pay at pump terminals, a brand new state of the art drive-through car wash, new jet washes, air & water towers and rebranded to Go. It’s all really popular, it never stops,” Donna says.

“We are also looking into putting electric charging into some of our forecourts as well because that’s going to be the future.”

Supply chain issues haven’t been as much of a problem as elsewhere, because the stores come under the umbrella of Musgrave SuperValu Centra which sources a lot of local products and have been brilliant throughout.

Turbulent times

“At the same time it’s been challenging through Brexit and a huge challenge now with the price increases. All our costs have gone sky high and then the fuel price has gone sky’s the limit as well. The fuel price is changing every day and going up every day,” Donna says.

“Everybody needs fuel to travel so they are very conscious of the price.

As for her wish list for the future, Donna says three adult children have now become involved in the business.

“We hope they will be able to take over and I will be able to retire some time,” she laughs.

“I would say that our wish list would be to keep going and be able to survive in this market. Once we have our production kitchen updated to full capacity – we’re waiting on planning permission for another phase of it – that’s the future for us.

“Of course we would like to expand the business and with our family involved it’s a great opportunity.”

To read the full feature in Neighbourhood Retailer magazine, click HERE.

The post Glorious food: Moran’s Retail Ltd delivers another leap forward for food-to-go first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

In recent weeks the business announced that it had acquired the three branches of Knotts Bakery in Newtownards and following on from the success of its online offer, launched during the pandemic, it has just launched its groundbreaking new food hall, Fayre at Corries.

That new launch has come about after Corries acquired Four Seasons Greengrocers and Delicatessen in Cherryvalley, which has provided an extensive range of in-house ready meals and delivery services for fruit and vegetables and other foods, especially cheese and charcuterie, over many years to the people of east Belfast.

Corries Farm Butchers already had a branch in Cherryvalley in the same row of shops as the new premises, as Stock and Compliance Manager Julie Hope explains.

Customer base

“Our shop in Cherryvalley was established in 2008 and it’s a great area, with a lovely customer base, most visiting us every day so the staff would know them quite well – it’s a great community,” she says.

“So Gary McNally, the owner of Four Seasons Deli and Greengrocers, had approached my brother William Corrie in early 2021 about purchasing the property as he was considering early retirement.”

With bigger premises, this triggered the concept of a new style of shop, keeping the fruit and veg/ deli alongside the butcher.

“The purchase of Knotts – meant we had a a baker, which would sit nicely with the rest.”

Julie says her grandfather Willie Corrie had moved from Monaghan to the Ards Peninsula in 1947 and set up Drumhilla Farm – the family farm that is still at the root of the business.

“He was approached by a neighbour on the road and asked if he could butcher one of his cattle.

“And that was the first customer and then it led from there – now we have seven retail shops and an online delivery service.”

Retail launch

In 1977, Willie and his son Will Corrie launched the first retail shop on the farm itself, but it wasn’t until 2000 that the first town shop was opened by Will’s eldest son Gareth in Regent Street in Newtownards.

“Early on was a lot of bulk buys, such as hindquarters or forequarters. But the nature of shopping has changed so much – a lot of people just buy from day to day. So we knew there was a drive at that stage for Gareth to open the town shop, providing the convenience of location.

“We still offer the bulk buy aspect at the farm but it’s not as popular as it used to be.

“From there, Will’s youngest son William Corrie came on board and he opened a shop in Ballyhackamore. After that came Holywood, then Cherryvalley, then Ormeau Road, then Comber Road in Dundonald.”

Artisan foods

During the pandemic, the family began to notice a growing appreciation for artisan local foods which prompted the launch of their online shop, which in turn allowed them to offer a wider range.

“Over lockdown, demand soared for fresh local produce, and Brexit highlighted how much was being imported and how much we have on our doorstep,” Julie says.

“People also realised how much better local produce was. Also supermarket delivery slots filled up so quickly that we were able to step into the gap and deliver.

“We also had the opportunity to access a large range of produce and not be restricted by shop shelves with our online service. It also gave us the opportunity to work much more with our fantastic local producers.

“We were able to be that medium for those suppliers to be able to sell their products through to our audience. It was a great opportunity and we forged relationships with a lot of suppliers and we realised how much extra produce there was out there.

“We started throughout existing app and then in autumn 2021 with the help of Eyekiller we launched our new ecommerce website, offering both home delivery and click and collect at any of our stores. We are constantly looking at the demand, changing how we are serving the community,” she says.

Showcase hall

The next step is now that Corries can showcase those products in their new larger food hall at Fayre at Corries in Cherryvalley..

“Now that we have these shelves we will be able to make it available for walking in and purchasing, not restricting it to online,” Julie says.

“There are lovely cheeses, crackers, charcuterie, apple juice from Armagh and lots more.”

The main department in the new food hall will still be Corries meat, Julie says.

“There’ll be the main counter that you can go and get your roast or your cuts to your liking, because that’s the great thing about your local butcher, you can get it exactly as you want it.

“We will have an extensive prepack range, and then we will also be using the Four Seasons fruit and veg range to be able to offer meal pairings. Through this you can get your roast veg to go and your potato to go with the roast that you’ve got.

Meal pairings

“Or if you’re going for a steak night you can go and get your mushrooms or your crispy onions or your pepper sauce, you can lift from all areas of the shop. That’s what we’re excited about, being able to offer a full meal plan and not having to go down the road for the next bit and so on.

“Then of course, through Knotts we’ll be able to offer the dessert option too, and then there will be a wider range of cakes and traybakes and scones.

“We’re going to have an oven in the shop so we’re going to be freshly baking croissants and cookies every day. And for those people just wanting sheer convenience, there will be pies, there’ll be bakes, there’ll be things for you to grab and pop in the oven.

“There’ll be everything from your roast dinners to your lasagne, garlic potatoes and coleslaw – the range is huge. It could be chicken curry and rice, it could be a big portion of stew, chicken and broccoli pasta bake – whatever you fancy, it will hopefully be there for you.”

Kitchen expansion

To accommodate that expansion, Corrie’s will be growing their kitchen production at the farm, but also via Knotts.

“Now with having Knotts, we have the option of production across both sites,” Julie says.

“Then of course, you’ve got the wealth of knowledge from the chefs within Knotts, so all the recipe development across both businesses are very exciting.

“We’re looking to offer that little bit more because we want to be more than just your standard local convenience store, we want to be able to offer something a wee bit more than just your sausages in a prepack and your chicken goujons in a prepack. We’ve a lot of exciting new products coming in over the next while so watch this space.

“This gives us an opportunity now to be able to research what else we can offer the customer, so that convenience doesn’t mean that you’re just going to be getting that bog standard range. We’ll be looking at the presentation of it, and just upping that standard, so that people are still getting that gourmet option but with the convenience of a prepack.

“We value our customer feedback and will be keen to hear from everyone.”

Major renovation

The premises have undergone considerable renovation since they were acquired by Corries, Julie says.

“We’ve added an upstairs for improved storage and an office space, and then that frees up more space down on the ground floor. We’ve pretty much gutted it, we took the roof off, we added another layer,” she says.

“We’re putting in the oven which can bake croissants and the cookies and different things fresh every day, several times a day. It’s basically a blank canvas, and it’s exciting to see the design grow. Even as the purchase of Knotts came in we allocated a bigger area for them, whereas before we were just looking for a baker to come on board for just a small part of it.

“We’ve tried to make each area slightly different with the colours being used and there are lovely tiles in place. So it’s a mix of a modern store but still a lovely aspect of tiles and not just all PVC printed.”

Future potential

Even after the launch, there will still more ways of developing Fayre at Corries, Julie says.

“There’s so much potential – we’ve got our fresh orange juice machine coming in, we’ve got the freshly baked bread, so those things could lead to other things. We’re trying to look at our sustainability aspect, so we’re looking at those dispensers for your granola, your seeds and those things in and around your fresh produce.

“We’re looking at reducing our packaging, and we’d love just to be that lighter carbon footprint within the store.

“We’ll have maybe sampling, maybe demos, maybe a night where people could come in, maybe looking at Christmas. There’s so much you could possibly do but at the moment we’ll get up and running first. We’’ll be quite keen to get the feedback from the customers to see what they are looking for within the community, so watch this space.

“At the minute it’s such a different business – going from a butchery to a bakery and cafe and whatnot – that we’re really taking our time to get our heads around that business first and then look at it. But obviously there’s such potential when you’ve got a restaurant, catering staff and a bakery – there’s lots of exciting plans!”

To read the full feature, visit the June/July edition of Neighbourhood Retailer.

The post Fayre thee well: Inside the new Fayre at Corries food hall in Belfast’s Cherryvalley. first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

The post North coast’s Moran’s Retail Ltd completes third phase of production kitchen first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

They say china is the perfect gift to celebrate a 20th anniversary, but the reward for Kearney’s as it approached its 20th year on its site in Randalstown was a serious ramping up of the workload.

Despite the challenges of lockdown, the store continued its same-day delivery service for its customers even when people were struggling to book delivery slots at the bigger multiples, according to store manager Oonagh Kearney..

“Thankfully we were able to get enough stock and we seemed to be getting through quite well with it and getting people what they needed,” she says.

“We had four vans on the road, and the customers emailed or phoned in their orders and they got them that day.”

Deliveries

It’s a telling sign of the affection in which Kearney’s is held that the community rallied round to make sure customers got their deliveries at the height of lockdown.

“Before Covid, we were probably doing in and around 15 deliveries a day, but when Covid hit, we rose to around 120 deliveries on one particular day. It was a massive increase,” Oonagh says.

“Thankfully some of the local clubs stepped in and one or two of them helped us to make the deliveries, including Tir na Nog and Creggan football clubs.

“Also, some local people in the community stepped forward to help and it really showed how Randalstown is really a community where everyone is there to help.

“The deliveries were a massive thing, trying to get that organised, but thankfully our staff stuck by us as well and they all worked really hard through it.

“We had a few isolated cases of Covid where they got it outside of the shop, but thankfully we didn’t have any outbreaks which was good. We found that because we were doing high volumes of deliveries we kept footfall into the shop to a minimum, which protected the staff and everybody felt a little bit safer.”

Presence

Kearney’s has had a presence on that particular site on the main street in Randalstown for the last 20 years, but before that they had a smaller shop, Oonagh says.

“It started off with my great great granny running a shop which was called Scotts at that point. It was a milk bar back then, and then her son, my great uncle Col, took it over and had a fruit and veg shop,” she says.

“And 20 years ago we built the new premises. We had joined Costcutter at that stage and we needed a bigger shop just to evolve the business – at that time there was no other supermarket in the town.

Oonagh is proud of the innovations that the store has undertaken over the years.

“We now have a purpose-built kitchen where we do a lot of our own products. We have our own Kearney’s brands – we don’t supply anyone else, we just do that in our own store,” she says.

The switch to building their own kitchen and making their own food products came in response to changing customer trends, she says.

“People had changed to, rather than making things from scratch themselves, they wanted something that was handy, something they needed to heat, so we found there was a bigger demand for that,” Oonagh says.

A key part of the store’s ethos is its charity work – every year they pick one charity to receive all the money they have raised.

In September, they held a Spinathon just outside the shop which raised £1,875 for AWARE.

To read the full article, click HERE.

The post Kearney’s celebrates 20th anniversary on its Randalstown site first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

In next week’s digital edition of Neighbourhood Retailer, we take an in-depth look at Kearney’s of Randalstown – from its origins as a milk bar and a greengrocer to the present day purpose-built premises on the main street and the many forward-thinking developments that have seen it become one of mid-Ulster’s most cherished retailers.

Kearney’s was ahead of the curve when it came to its hot food and deli counter and had the foresight to create a purpose-built kitchen where staff make everything from soups and stewarts to garlic potatoes and mashed potatoes, and even their own delectable cheesecakes and cream cakes under the Kearney’s brand.

The award-winning store is hugely popular with its customers and is proud of its record in supporting local charities with the help of all its staff, including a recent 12-hour Spinathon outside the shop that raised more than £1,500 for AWARE.

Find out all about this ground-breaking retailer in the October edition of Neighbourhood Retiler – hitting your inbox next week!

The post Kearney’s of Randalstown celebrates its 20th anniversary – find out more in next week’s Neighbourhood Retailer magazine! first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.