Country Crest and Tesco confirm €62.5 million vegetable contract

Country Crest and Tesco Ireland confirmed the supply of potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes to all Tesco stores nationwide and for online shopping in a two-and-a-half year contract worth €62.5 million.

The new deal, announced today, Tuesday, April 14, is a further extension of a long-standing 20-year relationship, according to the two firms.

Country Crest, the north Dublin fourth-generation agri-business led by Gabriel and Michael Hoey, will continue to grow and pack all Tesco own brand fresh potatoes, onions and sweet potatoes for Tesco Ireland.

The agreement, until September 2022, will see Tesco source over 35,000t of fresh produce annually from Country Crest.

Employing more than 120 people at its production, farming divisions and source directly from a further 50 farming families across Ireland, the agreement will see Country Crest supply:

Almost 30,000t of potatoes sourced on a yearly basis including Rooster, Maris Piper, Queens, organic, baby varieties and signature Tesco finest roosters;
Almost 5,000t of onions crossing eight varieties including brown, red and shallots;
Over 1,000t of sweet potatoes concentrating on the Covington variety.

Joe Manning, commercial director of Tesco Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to continue our support for Irish producers with this new contract with Country Crest which will give confidence to potato growers nationwide during what is a challenging time for the agri-sector.

“We’ve worked with Gabriel and Michael and the team for over 20 years. They are well-known for their passion for authenticity, innovation and delivering the best quality produce for our customers.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has been challenging for everyone, the team at Country Crest has worked hard to react to increase in demand for potatoes.

The dry weather of late means that planting and sowing has gone well, and new-season crops are on target. This should see us deliver new-season Irish potatoes to stores and online by mid-late May.

“We look forward to delivering on this with the help of Country Crest,” he concluded.

Commenting on the deal, Country Crest director, Gabriel Hoey, said: “We are delighted to be able to extend and further strengthen our supply partnership with Tesco Ireland.

“This offers our business, our work colleagues and our network of professional growers some very welcome security into the future.”

Tesco works with 480 Irish food suppliers and by extension 13,000 farming families across the country. The company said it is very conscious of the pressure that the agri-business sector is under due to Covid-19, with non-retail markets disappearing for several sectors.

It “continues to proudly showcase over 60 Irish farmhouse cheeses in its store counter offering, upweighting availability of stocks where food service demand has declined”, the retailer concluded.