Linden Foods shares its success with Lidl at the inaugural Irish Quality Food Awards
Linden Foods shares its success with Lidl at the inaugural Irish Quality Food Awards
Linden Foods, one of the UK’s leading fresh meat processors and supplier to supermarket chain Lidl, is celebrating its win at the inaugural Irish Quality Food Awards in the Ready to Cook category for its Italian Meatballs with Arrabiata sauce, part of Lidl’s Heat Eat and Enjoy range.
Pictured (L-R) in the new Lidl Omagh store celebrating their success at the recent at the Irish Quality Food Awards are Lucia Christy, Project Manager, Lidl Northern Ireland and Rita O’Kane, New Product Development Manager, Linden Foods.
The first ever Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards were presented by renowned chef Neven Maguire, at the Mansion House, Dublin. The awards recognise excellence in product development for food and drink producers, retailers and catering companies in Ireland.
Speaking about their success at the Irish Quality Food Awards, Rita O’Kane, new product development manager of Linden Foods said: “We’re thrilled with our win at the first ever Irish Quality Foods Awards. We constantly strive to give consumers what they want by introducing new ingredients and new product innovations to add value to our products. We recognise the time pressures faced by many each day who seek convenience without sacrificing quality and our Italian Meatballs with Arrabiata sauce, part of Lidl’s Meat Eat and Enjoy, is a delicious product that more than meets these requirements. Credit must go the new product development, technical and operational teams in Dungannon whose creativity and hard work ensure we continue to stand out from the rest.”
Claire Moran, communications manager from Lidl said: “We are delighted with this prestigious award and share this success with our supplier Linden Foods. We are committed to offering Irish products on shelves in our network of 136 stores across the country. Since 2009, we have trebled our annual spend on Irish products, which now account for 40% of grocery sales, and this growth is set to continue. We currently work with 159 Irish suppliers and have invested significantly in resourcing our purchasing division, with over 60 staff now dedicated to developing high quality locally sourced products including the 29 Irish sourced Lidl products shortlisted at the Irish Quality Food Awards.”
In 2010 Linden Foods opened modern state-of-the-art facilities at its Dungannon site which has really allowed the team at the new Innovation Centre to focus on an extensive product development programme and is now earning the company an enviable reputation for quality innovation throughout the UK and wider European meat industry.
This win at the Irish Quality Food Awards follows on from a string of other awards presented to the company this year including Excellence in Innovation at the Belfast Business Awards, Meat Educational Excellence Award at the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards as well as the Meat Management Industry Award for the Best Poultry Product, among others.
Linden Foods, employs over 700 people and is one of the UK’s leading processors of beef, lamb and rosé veal products. Customers include retailers and companies within the catering trade throughout the UK and Ireland, such as, Marks & Spencer and Lidl and Morrisons.
