Northern Ireland oat producer bolsters its export sales with continued investment

Following its appointment in 2023 of Qatar Quality Products (QPP), one of Qatar’s largest retail and distribution companies, the Co Armagh firm has continued to build on its existing UK consolidator business and further develop its export sales.

Over the past 12 months, White’s has also expanded with major retailers in Qatar, including Carrefour, Monoprix and Lulu stocking the full range of White’s branded porridge oats and granola.

White’s will be heading to Gulfood later this month as part of a team from Invest NI to launch their new products within their ready to eat range as well as their new instant Quick & Oaty pots and ActivOat High in Protein Pots, and have ambitious plans to increase turnover in the region to £500,000 at retail.

Mark Gowdy, commercial director, said: ‘’White’s Oats is keen to not only expand White’s growing export base but promote Northern Ireland as a world class food region.

"As the world’s largest food expo, Gulfood is the perfect platform to strengthen our long-term strategic partnerships and further bolster our growth in the GCC region. With the launch of our new ready to eat granolas and instant porridge pots, we continue to not only expand our offering but also invest in our brand reach across the Middle East which offers huge potential to grow our export sales.

“The NI food and drink sector has an unrivalled reputation for quality and traceability and as a market leader in oats this remains the cornerstone of our 182-year heritage. We know that working collaboratively with our growers enables a fully traceable supply chain delivering exceptional quality and taste, which our partners in the GCC region highly value. We look forward to continuing to foster those relationships and build new trading relationships in the GCC territories by supplying them with the highest quality award winning oat cereals.”

White’s has been successfully trading in the GCC region for over 15 years and will be one of a number of companies from Northern Ireland at the Invest NI stand (stand no. S1-A44) exhibiting at Gulfood 2024 from February 19-23 in the Dubai World Trade Centre.