Country Crest extends contract with Tesco Ireland in €60m deal

Fresh food supplier Country Crest has extended its contract with Tesco Ireland in a deal worth €60 million to the family-owned business.

The north Co Dublin-based company will supply all potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions to the supermarket chain’s 149 stores and online shoppers.

The deal means the Dublin farm business will supply more than 65,000 tonnes of fresh produce to Tesco, extending a near 20-year relationship with the retailer until 2020.

Country Crest will supply about 20,000 tonnes of potatoes a year, 4,300 tonnes of onions and 930 tonnes of sweet potatoes.

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Brothers Michael and Gabriel Hoey founded Country Crest to grow and pack fresh potatoes for supply to shops. It is one of the biggest suppliers of potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions to Irish retailers today.

Commenting on the Tesco Ireland deal, Gabriel Hoey said that over the years Country Crest had worked with Tesco to bring real change to how potatoes were sold.

“We’ve built the business to a degree where we now employ more than 120 people in our production, farming division, and sourcing directly from a further 30 farming families across Ireland.”

Sheila Gallagher, commercial director, Tesco Ireland, said the group's relationship with Country Crest had helped give growers the confidence to invest for the future. "We're very proud to continue our relationship with the Hoey family into the future."

Country Crest is a previous winner of the Bord Bia Food and Drink Industry Sustainability Awards.