Superquinn sausage selling more than ever
WHEN Musgrave bought Superquinn in 2011 and revealed it was rebranding the stores as Supervalu there was an outcry – over how this would affect the Superquinn sausage.
Now, three months on from the store’s relaunch – and the nationwide roll-out of the Superquinn’s prize-winning banger – it emerges that this Dublin institution is a hit: sales of the sausage have doubled.
In February, Musgrave decided that the Superquinn brand would cease to exist – with the singular exception of the sausage. And now the product is more popular than ever – with a spokesman for Cork-based Musgrave saying its sales have increased from 16 to 30 tonnes a week.
‘The Superquinn sausage has always been a hugely popular product and after a trial in Supervalu stores that saw the product sell out, it went on sale nationwide in order to cater for demand. The company who produce the award-winning sausage had to create 12 jobs in Tipperary. The same recipe for the Superquinn sausage is in use, so customers can expect the same great taste whether they buy their sausages in Dublin or Donegal,’ he said.
When Musgrave bought Superquinn, the wholesaler overtook Tesco as the country’s largest supermarket retailer. The company achieves annual retail sales of over €2bn, a figure that is sure to be bolstered by the huge increase in sale of sausages.
The sausage itself was the brainchild of Superquinn founder Senator Feargal Quinn, who, inspired by a visit to Germany in the late 1970s, decided to create the perfect sausage for the Irish palette.
Mr Quinn worked closely with expert sausage makers and had the product extensively tested by Superquinn customers to create the final version. It was launched in the Dublin-based supermarket chain in 1979 – and more than three decades on, the recipe remains a closely guarded secret.