Clarke turns nostalgia into success in with shoppers

Clarke, the owner of Clarke Millar Foods, has created Zumi, the type of orange drink from his childhood, and has just won significant business for it from leading UK discounter Poundland along with sales to many grocery stores here. In addition to Zumi, Clarke spotted a gap in the market for a flavoured milk drink, Millar Moo, especially for children and teenagers.

“I loved the orange juice that our milkman delivered to the family home just outside Londonderry. I’d take it with me to primary school for break time,” he remembers. “I’ve fond memories of those days. Many other people here have also talked to me about their fondness for the drink from their younger days.

“This encouraged me to explore opportunities for a new version of the orange drink and to use my experience in food production and marketing to come up with a beverage that could appeal to the younger generation as well as those who grew up loving it. Millar Moo was developed to offer another option for dairy farmers for the premium quality milk produced on Ireland’s farms.”

The two drinks involved extensive research to develop the products and also into the extent of the market opportunity for them. Market studies produced positive feedback and led Clarke to diversify Clarke Millar Foods, the small business he formed in 2012 and is now based at Dunmurry, near Belfast, to produce it.

“While there’s an element of nostalgia in the development of Zumi, our research found that it is a sound business move due to the developing market for such soft drinks,” he adds.

Clarke brought to the new business vast experience in the production and distribution of chilled and ambient foods, a successful track record in sales initially with the original family bakery business at Eglinton, and then as a commercial director in the food industry which involved working closely with leading retailers and convenience stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland. He launched Zumi orange drink and Millar Moo last year and has been successful in selling both to neighbourhood grocery chains such as Eurospar, SuperValu, Centra, Nisa and Poundland in Northern Ireland. The drinks have been in the chillers at the discounter’s eight stores in Northern Ireland, including four in Belfast, for some time.

The success in Northern Ireland led Poundland UK to order both drinks. An interest in sustainably has led to Millar Moo drinks being produced in glass bottles for easy recycling. “We are conscious of growing market demand for environmentally friendly packaging and so opted to introduce glass bottles. This has also been influenced by the trend in Britain towards glass bottles for milk used by delivery companies,” he explains.

Understandably delighted to have clinched the new business from Poundland UK, Clarke continues: “This is a very significant contract for us in Britain with an ambitious and dynamic retailer which has a developing network of stores across the British Isles. Discounters like Poundland have seen significant growth during the pandemic as shoppers facing strains on family budgets increasingly recognise that these stores offer great value and quality products from established food and drink brands.”

Poundland, he continues, had opened “almost 900 stores in the UK since its launch in 1990 – and over 60 in the Republic of Ireland”. The first store in Northern Ireland opened in 1999. Poundland offered top brands and quality own brand products ad had sales in excess of £1 billion last year. The growth led to a nomination by Retail Week magazine as Value Discounter of the Year 2018. The retailer employs more than 17,000 people serving over seven million customers every week, he adds.

“My lead to the operation in Britain came from our contact in the retailer’s Northern Ireland operation,” he explains. “I followed it up quickly, presented samples for tasting and won the initial business for stores in Britain. The buyers there were very impressed by the quality and taste of Millar Moo and Zumi drinks and the popularity of both with shoppers across Northern Ireland. As a result of this breakthrough, I am working closely with buyers in Britain to grow sales for both products in what is a hugely important market for my company. The exciting business has also demonstrated the quality and overall competitiveness of our products in this vitally important marketplace.”

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