Irish wholesale supplier to foodservice, retail and SMEs Musgrave MarketPlace has announced that it is investing €650,000 to support the reopening of the Irish hospitality sector.
Details
Mugrave MarketPlace stated, "As part of this investment, Musgrave MarketPlace has launched a range of new initiatives to support the industry and assist the reboot and recovery of the sector.
"From [May 31, 2021], Musgrave MarketPlace will roll out a nationwide campaign to encourage consumers to support their local hospitality businesses. #SupportIrishHospitality will include press ads in seven national dailies and nationwide radio, digital and social media advertising campaigns calling on consumers to help the industry get back on its feet by dining out responsibly.
"Musgrave MarketPlace will also be using its social channels to spotlight local hospitality businesses around the country throughout the campaign as well as giving consumers a chance to win vouchers for their favourite local eateries.
"It is estimated that the foodservice industry was worth €6.3 billion pre-COVID, employing between 150,000 and 250,000 people making it vital to the recovery of the economy.
"In addition to rallying consumer support, Musgrave MarketPlace has also created a series of new measures to help hospitality businesses get back up and running. These include:
- Extended opening hours: Musgrave MarketPlace branches across the country will now be open for longer with some branches open seven days a week (from June 6th) to allow customers more access to products as and when they need them.
- Time saving products: Based on feedback from the industry earlier this year, Musgrave MarketPlace has new labour-saving products such as pre-prepared vegetables, desserts, and sauces to save time in the kitchen and help ease the impact of reduced staff numbers.
- Increased network support: To help manage the surge in demand over the coming days, Musgrave MarketPlace has increased its driver pool by 33% to accommodate more deliveries as well as increasing the number of customer service representatives available in branches nationwide to help facilitate customers’ needs during the recovery period.
- Food service promotions: The cost of 200 products, including food and equipment, has been reduced to support customers as they restock their business.
- Irish suppliers: 680 Irish suppliers have been re-engaged by Musgrave MarketPlace to rebuild stock levels and over 3,500 Irish products are available from Musgrave MarketPlace.
- Dedicated online hub: Creation of a dedicated online Foodservice support hub featuring reopening advice, menu inspiration and great value offers to help customers reboot their business.
- Musgrave MarketPlace Plus: An affinity scheme, in partnership with Wrkit, has been created to help customers cut costs with a range of offers and discounts on everything from insurance to fuel to recruitment and much more. There is also the opportunity for customers to promote their business to over 100,000 users on the Wrkit platform."
Musgrave MarketPlace Managing Director Statement
Musgrave MarketPlace managing director Michael McCormack stated, "The reopening of hospitality marks an important milestone for our customers, suppliers and indeed Ireland’s economic recovery. As an Irish family-owned business with 145 years supporting hospitality here, local is in our DNA. Our #SupportIrishHospitality campaign is about giving our customers and indeed the hospitality sector as much support as we possibly can as they reopen, whether that be through our reboot resource designed in collaboration with our customers or an advertising campaign aimed at encouraging the consumer to support hospitality. Luck alone will not be enough - the sector needs all our support."
RAI CEO Statement
Meanwhile, Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) CEO Adrian Cummins stated, “This is a critical time for our industry and businesses across the country need our support now more than ever. The measures introduced by Musgrave MarketPlace are hugely welcome and will go a long way to helping the industry recover. Key to the success of the reopening of the industry will be customers supporting their local hospitality businesses so we would urge consumers to get behind the campaign and show their support.”
The Gourmet Food Parlour CEO Statement
Musgrave MarketPlace customer and CEO of The Gourmet Food Parlour Lorraine Haskin added, "We're really looking forward to welcoming customers back into our restaurants from June. It has been an extremely difficult time for the industry, but we are hopeful that we can bounce back over the coming months. We are a longstanding customer of Musgrave MarketPlace and we hugely value the help and supports they have put in place to aid the reboot of the sector. The #SupportIrishHospitality campaign is a fantastic initiative, and I would urge consumers to support their local eateries when they reopen in June."
© 2021 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
