Around Noon secures £3.5M deal to supply handmade County Down sandwiches to M&S stores across Ireland

This represents an agreement worth £3.5million in retail sales.

Twelve sandwiches are produced in County Down using ingredients from throughout Ireland.

The sandwiches on sale in M&S include Chicken and Handmade Irish Stuffing, Chicken and Bacon on Irish Malted Bread, Baked Irish Ham and Cheddar, BLT with Ballymaloe Relish, Chicken and Ham Club and a Chicken Caesar Wrap.

Around Noon sales director, Philip Morgan, commented: “We proposed supporting M&S’s current offering with products produced on the island of Ireland, made with Irish ingredients.

“We developed a small range of products that would exhibit provenance - as an example, the bread and the chicken are produced on the island of Ireland.

“M&S have stores across the island, and the ingredients come from both the north and south of Ireland as well.

“This is ever-more important for the M&S consumer here.

“Our Twelve Handmade in County Down range has had a very successful resonance with the M&S shopper,” he added.

Eddie Murphy, trading director, Marks and Spencer, Island of Ireland, said: “We are extremely impressed by the quality and provenance of the ingredients that Around Noon sources and by the quality of service they provide.

“Working with Around Noon is helping us strengthen our supply chain and provide really high-quality products for our customers across the island.”

M&S currently has 26 sandwich lines for sale in all its 38 stores across Ireland, and it has plans to expand its Twelve range with Around Noon.

Around Noon has been in business for over 30 years and employs over 400 people.

It already supplies a broad range of high-quality chilled, hot, frozen and bakery products to customers, including forecourt, convenience and multiple retailers and cafes throughout the UK and Ireland.