Tyrone snack specialist making a big noise in Arabian Gulf

Spinneys in Dubai, among the biggest food and drink retailers in the Arabian Gulf and wider Middle East, has just listed a delicious range of crunchy snack foods from Northern Ireland’s Noisy Snacks on its shelves.

The Tyrone company has won significant business in the UAE with Spinneys as a result of discussions over the past year with the retailer and the company’s recent participation in Gulfood Dubai, one of the world’s biggest food exhibitions.

Award-winning Noisy Snacks, among Ireland’s leading producers of healthier snacks, also anticipates further business in the short-term in the UAE and Asia from the huge food show.

Neil Hubbard, Noisy Snacks’ commercial director, explains: “This is extremely exciting export business for us as we seek to grow our sales into global markets this year. There is a growing Middle Eastern consumer demand for better tasting, healthy and all natural snacking options which is helping to open the door to brands like Noisy Snacks. Our pulse-based range is proving an ideal market fit, especially for younger, nutrition focused consumers.

“We were initially introduced to the buying team at Spinneys by Invest NI’s Scott Hanna who plays a pivotal role advocating for and developing new business opportunities for Northern Irish food businesses in the region.

“The discussions we were able to have at Gulfood Dubai with leading retailers and distributors were immensely encouraging and it has led to a pipeline of new business opportunities in the UAE and beyond,” he adds.

Noisy Snacks’ award-winning range includes crunchy broad beans and coated chickpeas, all made with natural seasoning and are vegan and high in protein and fibre. The range is widely available here, in Great Britain and the Irish Republic, especially through Tesco

Spinneys is a supermarket chain active in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Labanon, Oman, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The grocer also operates an extensive online service.