Sep 15, 2009

13th September 2009 - ADM Londis plc, one of Ireland’s leading symbol groups, today announced it has reached agreement with the UK wholesaler Nisa –Today’s to source a range of well known International branded products and a private label range which will ultimately place Londis retailers in a more competitive position in the grocery sector.

Under the agreement, ADM Londis has secured the future wholesaling rights in the Republic of Ireland for Nisa’s Heritage and Value private label brands. Nisa –Today’s existing membership base in the ROI will remain unaffected by this agreement.  The range of products, soon to be available in Londis stores, will comprise everyday grocery categories such as fruit juices, canned food, sauces, cooking oils, health & beauty and many more.

The wholesaling agreement comes into effect immediately and follows a successful trial period over the past number of weeks with select Londis retailers. It is estimated that this wholesaling agreement will represent approximately 10% or €25 million of the Group’s overall food, non food and beverages purchases when fully implemented with the prospect of additional growth as the partnership develops.

Announcing the agreement, Peter Foley, Commercial Director, ADM Londis plc said, “Ultimately this deal will result in more competitive pricing in Londis stores for consumers. This exclusive agreement places Londis retailers in a significantly enhanced competitive position within the market with access to very competitively sourced international branded and private label products. This transaction follows a strategic review that identified a need to develop a more international dimension to sourcing top brands. We have identified savings of, in some cases, over 10% on particular products. We plan to get these lower prices into Londis stores. We believe that the Londis franchise is now a more attractive proposition for symbol store operators given our enhanced buying muscle and strengthened commitment to a retailer driven business philosophy. ”

Stephen O’Riordan, CEO, ADM Londis plc said, “Today’s agreement will result in Londis delivering a significantly enhanced wholesale offering utilising our logistics facility based near Naas in Co Kildare. It also complements our continued support of Irish suppliers and Irish brands.  We are in the retail business since 1954 and the Group has a strong tradition of supporting Irish suppliers, sourcing over €250 million of food and non food products from Irish manufacturers and Irish based distributors annually.”

O’Riordan continued, “The vast majority of our fresh meat, dairy and chilled products will continue to be Irish sourced and with our retailers we remain committed to ensuring that Irish brands are placed prominently and promoted actively. These relationships form an integral part of the ADM Londis community offering and will continue to do so into the future.”

Mr Andrew John Mouse, Group Sales director, Nisa –Today’s commenting on the agreement with ADM Londis, ‘We are delighted to announce, after a successful trial period, that Nisa-Today’s and ADM Londis have agreed a contract to progress our mutual business opportunities in ROI whilst ensuring our current ROI membership base continues to enjoy the full benefits of Nisa direct membership. The respective business models share many synergies, the largest of which is that of being true advocates of independent retailing, and as such this contract allows us to launch a new and exciting mutual trading opportunity for the Republic of Ireland market and represents an attractive alternative to competitors’ franchise schemes. We look forward to a very successful partnership with ADM Londis.”

Ends