Musgrave, Ireland’s leading food retail, wholesale and foodservice company, has a clear vision – to be a world class food and beverage business – and alongside that vision are ambitious plans to grow the business on both the island of Ireland and internationally.
Trevor Magill, Managing Director for Musgrave in Northern Ireland explains the strategic pillars behind that vision.
“Across the group our focus will always be on maximizing our core business so developing our retail, wholesale and foodservice offering.
However, as we look to the future, we are also concentrating on developing our presence internationally. Crucially, however is that we grow and develop in a sustainable way.”
Magill was appointed to his current role mid-2020 having joined Musgrave as sales director for the Mace brand in Northern Ireland in 2012.
In 2015, his role expanded to wholesale director with responsibility for both the Mace business and Musgrave’s wholesale brand, Musgrave MarketPlace.
Today, he manages Musgrave’s retail, wholesale and foodservice operations in Northern Ireland.
This includes retail brands SuperValu, Centra, Mace and Day-Today as well as Musgrave MarketPlace, La Rousse Foods and Drinks Inc. servicing the wholesale and foodservice industries.
Retail expansion and new plans
Musgrave NI is ambitiously focused on pursuing new commercial opportunities and acquisitions to grow its portfolio across its brands.
2023 was a strong year of growth with an £18 million investment programme including both new store openings and existing stores rejuvenated.
The business opened 12 new stores and plans are underway to open similar in 2024, Magill reports.
But, while year-on-year growth is important to the business, future expansion is what drives the strategic direction.
“We have a rolling plan in Musgrave, focusing on the ambition for the business up to 2030.
Year-on-year is important but it’s more to do with longer term goals.
It’s very important from our perspective to be looking ahead and ensuring we are offering the consumer what they want therefore we are very much taking a longer view on what the business will look like,” he says.
2023 saw Musgrave NI embark on two exciting new ventures –The business launched a partnership with the garden centre chain Dobbies to provide a “SuperValu Favourites” range of more than 1,800 products to their new flagship store foodhall in Antrim.
The deal spans ranges from SuperValu plus Musgrave Group’s Donnybrook Fair (gourmet groceries), Happy Pear (plant-based food) and new Italicatessen (Italian food) brands.
Magill reports Musgrave NI will be working with Dobbies on a second site in Lisburn later this year.
A trial partnership with Marks & Spencer to introduce a select range of M&S “favourites” into SuperValu and Centra stores is also underway in Musgrave owned sites.
“We are always looking for new ways to enhance our offer for both our shoppers and our retail partners.
The consumer has responded very well – clearly it’s a range they are happy to see in our stores, but we need to make sure it’s the right fit across both our SuperValu and Centra brands and geographically across the province also”, Magill says.
Ensuring store formats are continually evolving and developing with the customer always at the forefront is critical Magill says.
It is this focus that has shaped a SuperValu Rejuvenation programme in NI which began in 2022 and is being rolled out across the estate.
The programme will ensure that the SuperValu brand will remain front of mind for the convenience shopper in Northern Ireland.
In addition, the Centra brand will see new developments to enhance the consumer shopping experience and also enable retailers to better manage their resource challenges.
These moves will enhance the consumer shopping experience and also enable retailers to better manage their resource challenges.
“Research shows customers are always looking for the most efficient way to manage their time – they want to get in and out quickly and technology has a massive role to play in that.
We are giving our customers what they want, when they want it and at a price they are willing to pay,” Magill says.
“It’s an exciting time with the development work taking place across our brands and we are keeping a very close watch on those projects,” Magill adds.
Value drive and retailer input
Value is a key watchword across Musgrave NI’s retail businesses.
“Navigating the cost-of-living crisis is on the minds of our shoppers therefore, we have invested heavily in our value offering” Magill says.
“Significant investment was given to our Epic Deals promotions across SuperValu and Centra, and Savvy Savers across Mace, which offered excellent deals on four everyday products rotating on a three-weekly basis.
Our own-brand ranges – up to 500 own label products in SuperValu and over 300 in Centra, all of which are up to 33% cheaper than the branded equivalent – were also given great prominence.”
“We have worked hard to stay competitive and absorb price increases where possible – value will continue to feature strongly across our brands, as consumers continue to buy little and often and manage their spend,” Magill says.
Working together with its retail partners is at the heart of operations for Musgrave and through retailer led councils, the senior commercial team work alongside independent store owners to help shape the strategic direction of the brand propositions.
As a subset of Council, smaller forums have been established to specifically focus on value and to ensure our offer remains competitive.
Musgrave MarketPlace and foodservice development
The wholesale arm of the Musgrave business, Musgrave MarketPlace, has nine branches across the island of Ireland including locations in Belfast and Derry~Londonderry.
In 2023 the Belfast branch celebrated its fortieth anniversary and the Derry location marked 30 years of trading.
These traditional cash and carry style branches have been reimagined and rebranded as next generation food emporiums and this year work is already underway at the Group’s Ballymun branch in Dublin to take this to the next level.
Initiatives are focused on enhanced range, customer experience, environment and new technology such as scan and go, Magill reveals.
An upgrade to the Belfast branch is scheduled for the end of 2024/early 2025, he adds.
Musgrave NI made its last investments in Belfast back in 2017 and in Derry in 2019 so there’s an opportunity to move both locations on to the next level.
Drinks Inc, a business acquired by the Group in 2019, services the on and off trade in Northern Ireland with exciting expansion plans for its wine portfolio this year.
In addition to partnerships on the retail side of the business, Musgrave Group is also expanding through the acquisition of five new wholesale businesses over the past 12 months – Italicatessen and Doyle’s Veg Prep, servicing the Island of Ireland; Ritter Courivaud and Town & Country Fine Foods Ltd., servicing the GB market.
And, subject to competition authority approval, the business recently acquired Febvre, a fine wines specialist based in Dublin, adding to its alcohol credentials.
Magill explains – “We will continue to explore acquisition opportunities that fit with our strategy and support our vision to become a world class food and beverage business.
These businesses strengthen not just our foodservice and wholesale credentials but also our retail offering.”
Sustainability and investing for the future
Growing sustainably is a key pillar in Musgrave’s growth strategy.
“Our sustainability agenda continues to be a priority and we’re making positive gains towards our ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040,” Magill explains.
The Group launched a Sustainability Fund in 2022 with an initial spend of €25m supporting retailers across the island of Ireland to operate their stores more sustainably.
“From a Musgrave perspective, we are passionate about making a difference and have a very clear sustainability strategy: protecting the planet and benefiting our communities.
We want to help our retail partners on their sustainability journey and the fund is a way of us significantly investing in the future and showing our commitment is more than just words,” Magill says.
The fund encompasses a number of energy-saving initiatives which retailers can select including:
- Installing energy efficient freezers and fridges
- LED lighting
- Solar panels
- ESELs (Electronic Shelf Edge Labels)
He highlights two stores which have gone above and beyond, investing significant sums themselves in addition to the Fund: £660,000 in SuperValu in FruitField, Armagh, operated by Philip Woods; and £250,000 in Centra Brookmount, Omagh, run by Neil Sweeney.
While the fund is one way of benefiting the planet, all Musgrave NI’s company owned stores are operated on green energy, the packaging on its own brand is either recyclable, compostable or biodegradable and the company is targeting for 40% of its fleet to be operated by sustainable HVO fuel by 2025.
The business has teamed up with non-profit organisation Trees on the land and has committed to planting 50,000 indigenous trees over the next 10 years.
These measures show real commitment to protecting the planet for future generations.
In addition, Musgrave NI enjoys long-standing partnerships with local charities Action Cancer and NICHS – raising over £4 million since 2001.
Employer of Choice
Musgrave is a family-run business [7th generation] and “our values are very close to us.
Our people are the heart of our business and as our greatest asset, they make Musgrave a great place to work and in return we aim to be the very best place to work, grow and thrive,” Magill explains.
As a business we have invested heavily in providing the right opportunities for colleagues and offer clear career progression pathways.
The Musgrave Learning Academy, recently rebranded as the Musgrave Institute, has been instrumental in this respect.
It has given colleagues, but also our retail partners and their teams, access to an online platform for training and an opportunity to further develop their careers.
From a retention perspective this has been critical.”
Across the Musgrave Group there are ambitious but focused plans to grow and expand both on home soil and internationally and the signs are that the business is making great headway in achieving its vision.
View article source here.
Subscribe to our free mailing list and always be the first to receive the latest news and updates.