Fresh Irish produce delivered straight to your front door

ANEW Enniscorthy based online business has the potential to change the way people shop and in doing so address some of the issues facing people living in isolated rural areas. The Wexford Food Store.ie (located at www.wexfordfoodstore.ie) is owned and operated by Joe Murphy.

With a background working for some of the biggest food and beverage giants in the world including the likes of SuperValu, Coca Cola, Diageo, Cadbury and PepsiCo, Mr Murphy is an expert in the field of retail and spotted a market here in Ireland for an online shop where people can order local food from local farmers and local food producers and have it delivered fresh the following day.

A very significant aspect to the business is that all of the produce is 100% Irish; even its fish has to be caught on Irish registered trawlers.

Speaking to this newspaper about the business Mr Murphy said many local producers don’t get the opportunity to have their produce on the shelves of some of the major retail chains, however, through his business local cottage industry growers and larger operations can have a formidable online presence with free listing and marketing that goes with it.

Mr Murphy only launched the business a month ago but in the interim he has received a lot of positive feedback.

A significant aspect of Wexford Food Store.ie in some cases where people are not technologically minded their friends and family can order their fresh produce from work or from the comfort of their own home and have it delivered to a chosen address at a time that suits them the next day.

‘When someone orders from me I place the order with my suppliers that night and then the product is freshly prepared first thing the following morning so that when I’m delivering it that afternoon it is completely fresh,’ he said.

On his website Mr Murphy also has a phone number (089-6132486) so that people who are not familiar with negotiating their way through a website can phone him up directly to place their order.

The online farmers market concept is a first-of-its-kind in Ireland although similar initiatives have proven to be very successful in Australia and America.

‘It’s beginning to catch on in mainland Europe and the UK too but there’s been nothing done like this in Ireland that only sell 100% local Irish produce delivered anywhere in the county the next day,’ said Mr. Murphy.

‘I have over 30 local food producers on my books at present and my fresh produce is effectively made to order,’ he added. Mr Murphy collects the orders first thing in the morning which ensures that deliveries arrive at their destination within as short a time frame as possible, however, because he uses a fully HSE certified chilled van, customers can be confident to know that their food is safe, fresh and the finest quality produce available.

He soon will be offering a nationwide delivery within 24 to 48-hours using state of the art chilled packaging and international service for non-perishable goods.

‘The food is prepared on the same day you get it,’ he said.

Mr Murphy has ambitious plans to expand the business going forward and he said that if it takes off he will ultimately give a high percentage of the profits to local sports clubs and charities which don’t receive any Government funding.

‘It’s really about keeping the public’s money recirculating within the local economy and sustaining the local community,’ he said. The business also offers seasonal fruit and vegetables because, as with all of its produce, it has to be freshly harvested and it has to be Irish grown.

‘Our bread is made from all natural ingredients with no artificial flavours or preservatives and our Wexford beef is processed using the old traditional method of dry-aging for a more tender beef,’ said Mr Murphy.

Value-for-money is another key aspect of the business and Mr Murphy takes pride in the fact that despite his produce being of a higher quality than can be found on the shelves of major stores it doesn’t cost more to purchase for consumers.

‘I want to be able to give my customers the best produce I can but at affordable prices.’ For more information on all of the products available through Wexford Food Store. ie or to place an order log onto www.wexfordfoodstore.ie or contact Mr Murphy directly on 089-6132486 or through joe@ wexfordfoodstore.ie