SWEET DEAL: Musgrave Retail Partners (MRPNI) is joining forces with Co. Armagh company P McCann and Sons to supply consumers with Northern Ireland produced apples and pears. PIC: STEPHEN HAMILTON/PRESSEYE

MUSGRAVE Retail Partners (MRPNI) is joining forces with Co. Armagh company P McCann and Sons to supply consumers with Northern Ireland produced apples and pears.

The home-grown fruit will be available to all SuperValu, Centra and Mace stores and initial varieties on sale this month will be Worcester apples and Conference pears.

Fresh Produce Trading Manager of MRPNI, Aiden Kearney, said: “We’re delighted to be the first supermarket to offer Co. Armagh eating apples and pears from P McCann and Sons which are available across our SuperValu, Centra and Mace stores just in time for the Halloween season.

“We are committed to bringing the highest quality fresh produce to consumers and sourcing in Northern Ireland allows us to do this.  We are very proud of our relationship with suppliers such as P McCann and Sons who are one of over 250 local suppliers we use across our business,” he added.

Oliver McCann of supplier P McCann and Sons said: “We have been growing apples at our family orchards in Loughall, Co. Armagh for more than 40 years but pears are an exciting new field for us.

“We value our relationships with companies such as Musgrave who have a focus on fresh, local produce and it is great to see the fruits of our labour on sale in stores across Northern Ireland,” he added.

MRPNI supports over 250 independent SuperValu, Centra and Mace retail stores in Northern Ireland, with a combined turnover in excess of £600 million.  MRPNI is part of the Musgrave Group, the leading partner to more than 3,500 entrepreneurial retailers and food service professionals in the UK, Ireland and Spain.