The Butler's Pantry grows food-to-go sales by 20%

UPMARKET FRESH food retailer The Butler's Pantry digested a 20 per cent increase in its sales in 2007, with turnover reaching €4.5 million, according to the company.

The Butler's Pantry said it had enjoyed a double-digit increase in customers last year, with sales growing ahead of the market average as its range of seasonal takeaway dishes grew in popularity among the time-pressed, kitchen-phobic 25-35 year-old age group.

The company, which opened its first store in Blackrock in 1987, plans to open 10 new stores over the next three to five years, with "aggressive growth" and an increase in production capacity on the menu for 2009.

The group currently has six stores in Dublin and added Wicklow town and Greystones to its food retailing mini-empire last year. It also upgraded one of its original shops in Donnybrook and is conducting a similar renovation on its outlet in Monkstown.

The chain, founded by catering businesswoman Eileen Bergin, sells hand-prepared food-to-go using seasonal ingredients sourced from artisan suppliers, all cooked by a team of chefs in its kitchens in Bray.

The stores are pitched as a "real food" or gourmet alternative to traditionally unhealthy convenience food and they sell about 8,000 dinners a week.