Centra offer Meal Solutions on a plate

For some families, young professionals and many people in between, modern day life is incredibly fast-paced. There’s so much going on outside the home that, by the time we get through the front door in the evening, the last thing we want to do is cook a meal from scratch.

As a solution, leading convenience retailers, SuperValu and Centra have developed a range of convenient evening meal solutions that are leading the way in taste, price and choice, explained Ciara McClafferty, Trading Director, Musgrave.

“Consumers are savvier about food than ever, continually demanding innovation, value and variety but not wanting to lose out on quality and nowhere is this more evident than in the ready meals category”, said Ciara.

Centra’s ‘Make a Meal of It’ and SuperValu’s ‘Prepared for You’ ranges are already available in stores across Northern Ireland.

“We are delighted to be able to provide quality, market-leading on-trend ranges that give us real standout in the evening meal solutions marketplace. It is our ambition for SuperValu and Centra stores to become the number one destination for quick and easy meals that families, young professionals and the rest of Northern Ireland will love”, commented Ciara.

With increases in travel, customers are looking to introduce new tastes into their evening meals, whether that be a Spanish Paella or even a new twist to an old traditional favourite. Delivering what customers want is really important to SuperValu & Centra.

“We have benchmarked ourselves against market leaders in this category with a mission to expand our breadth of range, constantly review quality and bring innovation.

“The growing hunger for convenience will continue to drive the appetite for quick and easy meal solutions and our excellent family meals and meals for one are raising the bar across the category”, said Ciara.

The exciting new range was officially unveiled at an event at Harlem, Belfast in August. Guests were invited to the launch of a new menu ‘with a twist’ – the twist being that the meals served up were from the new SuperValu and Centra evening meal solutions ranges.

Over 90% of the those surveyed on the night said they would have been prepared to pay between £10-£15 for their main course; whilst 80% rated their meal as very good or excellent.

The Centra ‘Make a Meal of It’ and SuperValu ‘Prepared for You’ ranges cater for a wide range of tastes and there is really is something for everyone.

“Our meal solutions include a range of family meals like Chicken Pasta Bake, Chicken Korma, Chicken Jalfrezi, Paella and traditional meals such as Beef Lasagne, Meatball Pasta Bake and Cottage Pie.  All designed to meet the needs and missions of our target consumer segments: ‘Quality Cooks’ and ‘Quick and Easy Families’.

“New features include the addition of ‘Premium Family’ and ‘Healthy Meals’ to bolster our health credentials. The ‘Premium Family’ range includes SuperValu ‘Prepared for You’ Beef Brisket, Chicken Mozzarella and Turkey & Ham. Our low in fat, high in protein ‘Healthy Meals’ contain less than 450 calories and are one of your five-a-day vegetable portions.

“Our meal for one ranges in SuperValu and Centra include Beef Stew, Beef Teriyaki, Chicken Korma with Rice and Chicken Curry, to name a few”, said Ciara.

It isn’t just taste where the Centra and SuperValu meals are proving a hit with consumers, concluded Ciara.

“You can pick up two of our meals-for-one for only £7 and the family meal packs are only £6.50, so the value is great and hits the right tone with our customers who are just as concerned with quality as they are with price.”


Run Together to Raise funds for Action Cancer

Northern Ireland’s leading convenience retailer Centra has launched its popular series of charity family fun runs for the second year, adding two brand new events to the line-up.

The Centra Run Together series is designed to feed the recent upsurge in ‘social runners’ across Northern Ireland, encouraging communities across Northern Ireland to get up and running together, whilst raising vital funds for Action Cancer.

Following the success of the inaugural Centra Run Together initiative in 2016 the series will now include six 5k runs between April and October. Two runs will take place in Belfast and further races will be held in Derry/Londonderry, Antrim and new for 2017 – Fermanagh and Tyrone.

This year the events are completely free to enter but participants are encouraged to make a donation to Action Cancer in lieu of an entry fee. They are designed for a variety of participants from walkers, first time runners to those using the 5k course as training for a marathon.

The first event will take place on Sunday 23rd April at Queen’s Dub playing fields in Belfast and is now open for registration.

Musgrave NI’s head of marketing, Desi Derby, said: “The Centra Run Together series is part of our Live Well initiative, which represents an investment of £1 million and is aimed at helping our customers make healthier choices, addressing the serious health issues associated with today’s society.

“We had a great response to our initial Run Together series, with many families running their first 5k together, capturing a great community atmosphere. We’re looking forward to building on this success and raising even more money for Action Cancer.”

 

Centra has signed up two time Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist, Johnny Davis as an ambassador for Centra’s Live Well programme. Over the course of 2017, Johnny will provide hints and tips to aspiring runners, providing the motivation to get them on track before, during and after the Centra Run Together events.

Commenting at the launch, event organiser, Johnny Davis said: “Running has proven to be very beneficial for helping people live healthy lifestyles.

“Run Together is a concept designed to let people run in pairs and we encourage all levels of runners to join in the fun – to pair up with their partner, son, daughter, a friend or neighbour and help raise money for Action Cancer.

“I am proud and excited to be an ambassador for Centra’s Live Well programme and I am looking forward to getting people across Northern Ireland healthy and active.”

Centra Run Together events will take place in six locations across Northern Ireland throughout 2017:

  • Queens Dub, Belfast – Sunday 23rd April, 10am
  • Quayside, Derry – Wednesday 14th June, 7pm
  • Parkanaur Forest, Co. Tyrone Saturday 18th June, 10am
  • Lakeland Forum, Enniskillen Sunday 20th August, 10am
  • Antrim Forum, Sunday 10th September, 10am
  • Ormeau Park, Belfast – Sunday 22nd October, 10am

The Centra Run Together series, a Live Well initiative, is sponsored by Deep RiverRock and Müller.

David Hearty from Deep RiverRock said: “With social running continuing to grow in popularity across Northern Ireland, these community events will encourage a spectrum of new and seasoned runners to get moving while supporting a good cause. Deep RiverRock is also passionate about supporting active communities, and proudly brings its ‘Think Straight, HYDRATE’ message to a number of local running events. With these existing synergies, the partnership with Centra and its Live Well programme is a perfect fit for us and we are delighted to be involved.”

 

Cathy Whyte from Müller said: “We’re delighted to sponsor Centra Run Together as part of the Live Well campaign. The inaugural Centra Run Together series saw hundreds of participants in each race and we are looking forward to this year’s series.  With our support, we hope to bring a positive healthy lifestyle message to even more families across Northern Ireland.”

 

All participants will receive a Centra Run Together T-shirt and bespoke medal as well as giveaways at the events.  For further information and details of how to register visit www.centra.co.uk/runtogether or the Eventbrite page https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centra-run-together-queens-dub-playing-fields-tickets-32115958697