A Craigavon-based food supplier has gobbled up a deal to have three of its low-calorie South East Asian-inspired ready meals on Asda’s shelves for the first time.
And it comes at the end of a year in which Karri Kitchen has secured contracts for similar listings at dozens of Tesco, SuperValu, Centra and Mace stores across the north.
Operating from a purpose-built facility in Carn industrial estate in Portadown employing 30 staff, Karri Kitchen was founded in 2019 by Shera McAloran, originally from Indonesia and who moved to Northern Ireland from Sydney in 2017.
She spotted a gap in the market for a healthy convenience meal for the rising trend of health-consciousness, and the business initially began as a home venture, with Shera cooking flavourful meals inspired by her heritage.
The new range in Asda includes Karri Kitchen’s three signature dishes - mango chicken curry, Mongolian beef noodles, and black pepper beef.
Shera said: “As a busy mum balancing full-time work, I struggled to find meals that were high in protein, energising, and didn’t require hours in the kitchen. I saw a need for convenient, health-forward Southeast Asian cuisine in Northern Ireland and started developing my own recipes.
“We work with other local suppliers to source high quality produce for the meals, and combine these ingredients with innovative Asian inspired cooking methods to bring out the rich authentic taste..”
Cathy Elliott, Northern Ireland local buying manager at Asda, added: “We are proud to support local brands, and Karri Kitchen is a fantastic example of that.
“With the ever-growing focus on health and wellness, more customers are looking for convenient yet nutritious meals, and we’re delighted to bring exactly that to our Northern Ireland stores with these products.”
