Fayre by Corries expands and invests in dynamic deli food retailing business
Fayre by Corries, a farm-based business which has become a market leader in deli foods under the guidance of William Corrie, has just expanded to Donaghadee, the latest development in a multi-million pounds investment by the company.
The family has also invested around £600,000 to refurbish meat processing factory, including a Himalayan salt chamber, which has allowed them to add value and additional flavour and texture to their products and appeal to a more selective generation of consumers.
The outcome of this was Drumhilla Farm products of packaged premium meats and ready meals for retail. Fresh meats are also provided at butchery counters in many of the company’s shops.
In the past two years, the Greyabbey-based artisan food business has developed new outlets in Newtownards and Cherryvalley, Belfast. In addition, it has revamped existing shops in Holywood and Ormeau Road in Belfast in their corporate colours. The investment is an endorsement of high-street food retailing.
The Holywood shop is soon to include cheese and Mediterranean-style foods developed and marketed by Belfast’s Tom and Ollie, the established provider of a range of foods including olives, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. It has vast experience of cheese and sells upwards of 300 varieties at the St George’s Market in Belfast.
In addition, Fayre by Corries, which has fresh butchery counters in its Newtownards, Cherryvalley and Holywood shops, has launched a range of packaged meats and ready meals under the Drumhilla Farm brand, which is taken from the family farm near Greyabbey, a 100-acres beef and dairy operation.
Greyabbey, where most of its products are produced, has an extensive farm shop and deli that’s popular with locals. There’s also a successful Knotts Bakery with artisan foods on Belfast’s Lisburn Road.
The new business in Donaghadee is a Knott’s Bakery with a range of artisan food and drink. It offers important opportunities to local artisans and smaller food and soft drink specialists to reach a wider audience.
“We have been looking at potential outlets for our Fayre by Corries and Knotts Bakery brands,” explains William (38). “Donaghadee offered significant opportunities especially for the premium breads and cakes for which Knotts is justifiably famous. It’s a busy town especially in the summer months and draws shoppers from the wider area.
“We saw a good retail unit in the centre of the town and decided to invest in this popular part of Co Down. We’ve developed an extensive offering that includes breads and cakes with a selection of local artisan foods that we hope will appeal to ‘Dee’ residents.”
The acquisition of the Knotts bakery in Newtownards, which was established in 1979 and had won acclaim for the quality and outstanding taste of a wide range in-house baked goods, was agreed by William, who runs the family farm food business with Gareth, his brother. They acquired the bakery’s successful retail unit in Newtownards in 2022 and now feature all its breads and cakes in the developing network of delis under the Fayre by Corries brand.
The brothers had earlier acquired Four Seasons Greengrocers and Delicatessen in Cherryvalley, east Belfast, a provider of in-house ready meals and delivery services for fruit and vegetables and other foods, especially cheese and charcuterie, over many years.
The popular deli was renovated to create Fayre by Corries, then a new fine food hall and the first appearance of the brand and light blue corporate identify.
Corries also acquired a fully equipped bakery unit on the Crawfordsburn Road in Newtownards from Andrew and Sharon Getty, the previous owners of Knotts.
“We were tremendously excited by the acquisition of Knotts, one of the best-known and most respected family bakeries here. Knotts Bakery has a very strong identify and is synonymous with consistently excellent baked goods,” William continues.
“We had been developing the new Fayre by Corries food hall concept for shoppers for some considerable time and have been rolling it out. There are strong synergies between both Corries and Knotts.”
Knotts in Newtownards also boasts an award-winning café/restaurant, which William believes has significant scope for further development in the short and long-terms.
“It’s an immensely attractive building featuring high ceilings and pillars with lots of space. We are planning, for example, to use space upstairs for stylish afternoon tea sessions. We’ll also be building on the popularity of the café there and working closely Neil Graham, its excellent chef and team,” he says.
“We are also developing our relationships throughout NI and plan to continue to offer as much support as possible to local artisans and smaller food and drink companies. There are some really outstanding food and soft drink producers here, and we are keen to help them reach out to our shoppers.”