Musgrave MarketPlace invests €650,000 in foodservice and hospitality

Musgrave MarketPlace invests €650,000 in foodservice and hospitality
Pictured are Michael McCormack, Managing Director, Musgrave MarketPlace, Lorraine Heskin, CEO and Founder Gourmet Food Parlour and Adrian Cummins, CEO, Restaurant Association of Ireland at the launch of #SupportIrishHospitality, a new campaign by Musgrave MarketPlace calling on consumers to help support the recovery of the hospitality industry by drinking and dining out responsibly this summer. As part of this campaign Musgrave MarketPlace is investing €650,000 in a range of new initiatives to assist the reboot and recovery of the sector. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland

Musgrave MarketPlace is investing €650,000 to support the reopening of Irish hospitality at the beginning of June. 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 31st May 2021, Musgrave MarketPlace has rolled out a nationwide campaign to encourage consumers to support their local hospitality businesses.  #SupportIrishHospitality includes 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 €6.3bn 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 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 7 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.Michael McCormack, Managing Director of Musgrave Wholesale Partners said 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.”

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