Comber-based farm, Mash Direct, has landed a new deal to supply one of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains with its convenient vegetable side dishes.
The listing will see Co. Down firm Mash Direct’s Carrot and Parsnip Mash go into over 330 Waitrose stores across England and Wales today on the 14th anniversary of the family farm’s diversification.
Director, Jack Hamilton, said: “This is such a great opportunity for us to showcase the heritage varieties of vegetables on our family farm, grown specifically for their superior flavour.
“We already have a strong working relationship with Waitrose and supply [the company] in Scotland, the Channel Islands and the United Arab Emirates – and we are looking forward to building our reputation in these new stores.
“In Northern Ireland, we thrive in doing the simple things well but we can be quite humble when it comes to getting out there and telling people about it.
I believe that there is a great future ahead for the local agri-food industry if we can seize the opportunities, home and abroad as well as being able to get out there and market them.
From humble beginnings on a small family farm in Co. Down, Mash Direct now supplies over 5,000 stores around the world and, in addition to the new Waitrose business, started exporting to the US last month.
Mash Direct is an independent, family-owned farming and food production enterprise launched by the Hamilton family in 2004.
Today it takes around 3,000ac to produce enough veg for the business, with the furthest land managed by Mash Direct around 26 miles away from the farmyard in Comber.