Things haven’t been so bad around Gluten Free Cailin way recently. Just the other week I was the extremely lucky recipient of a hamper of gluten free goodies from Scally’s Supervalu in Clonakility, Co. Cork – free food is always good food my friends. Funnily enough, I was on a hen weekend in Clon years ago and noticed even then that their range of GF products was one of the best I had seen in the country.

Scallys launched their in-store GF product range just last week and I received everything from samples of their bread to their seafood chowder. I also tried their scones, cakes and pies – in case you’re worried about my waistline, I had some help.

All of the food is very high quality and more importantly it was really delicious. The brown bread was the closest thing to ‘normal’ wheaten bread that I have tasted and the white bread toasted was melt in the mouth. If you miss McCambridge bread, you have to get your mitts on one of Scally’s brown loaves.

Scallys also provided a sample of their fish pie which was AMAZING. My least favourite items were the carrot cake and scones which I just feel can never measure up to their glutenous counterparts – I am waiting to be proved wrong!

I’m extremely impressed with both the innovation of this range and the fact that it has come from an Irish owned supermarket.  I wish them every success, particularly as this might lead to more gluten free instore bakeries around the country.

Full press release below:

 

SCALLY’S SUPERVALU CLONAKILTY BECOMES FIRST SUPERMARKET IN IRELAND TO OPEN AN IN-STORE GLUTEN-FREE BAKERY AND FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY

 

28th August – Scally’s SuperValu, located in the heart of Clonakilty in West Cork, has become the first supermarket in Ireland to launch a designated in-store gluten-free bakery and food production facility. The new facility, with an investment of €500,000, will create five new jobs at the store.

 

The ‘Clonakilty Gluten Free Cuisine’ range, which consists of a selection of almost 30 gluten-free products certified for coeliacs, will be available at Scally’s SuperValu Clonakilty and Scally’s SuperValu Blackrock in Cork city, with future expansion plans expected. As this innovative range is prepared in a separate bakery and kitchen, coeliacs can be assured that the range is 100% gluten-free, with all products independently tested and certified by Alpha Analytics.

 

Speaking at the launch, Eugene Scally, owner of Scally’s SuperValu said, “1 in 100 people in Ireland are thought to have coeliac disease, with many as yet undiagnosed. The decision to develop this range was made after market research highlighted the lack of choice for coeliacs and the high cost of gluten-free products; research showed that a coeliac’s basket of goods is 87% more expensive than a non-coeliac basket. We wanted to offer customers a diverse gluten-free range that was keenly priced and of exceptional quality. Our customers feedback has been instrumental in developing the range and the response from shoppers has been extremely positive.”

 

The launch highlights SuperValu’s community retail model as stores are independently owned and retailers can tailor their offer for the local area.  The state of the art production facility means that the gluten-free range can be produced locally in West Cork and adds to West Cork’s reputation for food leadership. The launch of ‘Clonakilty Gluten Free Cuisine’ follows the launch last year of SuperValu’s FreeFrom range which consists of over 300 gluten and dairy-free products, already in all SuperValu stores.

 

Chairperson of the Coeliac Society of Ireland, Mary Twohig said: “We are delighted that Scally’s have developed this facility in Cork, giving coeliacs more choice in their search for gluten-free foods, on a local basis. It is important to coeliacs that they can access a range of products that are affordable and good quality. With 15% of our membership being from Cork, it is fantastic to see local businesses, and a national retailer, rising to meet the needs of people whose only medicine is a gluten-free diet.”

 

SuperValu serves over 2.6 million customers every week and now has 222 stores nationwide. 75% of everything on SuperValu’s shelves is sourced or produced in Ireland. SuperValu continues to source locally wherever possible and purchases almost €2 billion worth of goods from Irish suppliers which help to sustain 30,000 jobs in the Irish economy.