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New Irish food brand Love Olive has invested £200,000 in Londonderry with the opening of its first deli pod at Foyleside Shopping Centre.
The Co Antrim-based company opened up its first ever shop in William Street in March this year and along with the new deli pod now employs two full-time staff and 10 part-time staff.
Encouraged by the success of the William Street shop, Love Olive decided to use Foyleside shopping centre as the first place to test its new deli style pods.
If successful, there are plans to roll out further deli pods in major shopping centres in both Northern Ireland and the Republic next year. Love Olive, which was launched earlier this year, began its association with the city when it was anchor tenant and founder member of the Walled City market in Guildhall Square.
Since opening its first shop, Love Olive has been showing off its wares at trade launches in Belfast and Dublin and want to bring the taste of olives and Mediterranean eating to every home in Ireland – with Derry city a key player in the strategy.
Love Olive director, Shay Mullan, said: “We have a real affiliation with the Derry, and the city seems to love Love Olive.
This was a key factor for us when we were developing our strategy; we opened our first shop here and are now opening our first deli pod in the city, hopefully with the same success.
“We have invested a lot of time and money in the city when other companies are pulling out, £200,000 in total, and we now employee 12 staff, two full-time and the rest part time, with that likely to increase. We are in it for the long haul, and the investment won’t stop there. Our long-term plan is to use the William Street shop as our wholesale base for the North West and Republic of Ireland marketplace.”
