Profile piece: Northern Ireland business leader recalls 'my first job on the checkouts ignited my passion for food'

Belfast business leader Julie Cherry is more than just ‘ooh so good!’ at her job having been at the helm of a new £14 million product range from one of Northern Ireland’s leading retail, wholesale and foodservice retailers.

“Good Food Locally Sourced has been a concept in development for the past 12 months and reaffirms Musgrave NI’s commitment to supporting local,” she explained.

“We wanted to create a new own-label range that would encompass the authentic promise of taste, quality, and value, while at the same time deliver a range that is sourced from here, reflecting our firm commitment to supporting local. We are extremely proud to see it come to fruition.”

Musgrave NI trading director Julie Cherry is more than just ‘ooh so good!’ at her job

Having joined Musgrave NI over 13 years ago, the mother of two has over 25 years’ retail experience having developed her passion for food working in Sainsbury’s and Asda.

“My first job in retail was working on the checkouts at Christmas in my local Sainsburys before I went on to study human resources at university,” she recalls.

“I quickly progressed into an assistant HR manager role before moving into the bigger world of trading.

“Working for Sainsburys really ignited my passion for food, particularly when they launched their premium brand ‘Taste the Difference’ in 1999.

Musgrave NI trading director Julie Cherry and marketing director Desi Derby launch the new Good Food Locally Sourced range for SuperValu, Centra and Mace

“This led to me moving from HR to trading where I started my career as a trading assistant within their new regional trading team in Belfast, with primary responsibility for the development of the regional offer.”

Joining the team at Musgrave NI in 2011, Julie moved into her present trading director role in 2021 and hasn’t looked back since.

“I enjoyed working for Sainsburys and Asda, however I was always ambitious and to progress within trading would have involved relocating my family to the UK, so I started to look at opportunities in Ireland.

“This resulted in a move to Musgrave who had just acquired the Superquinn business, Ireland’s largest grocery wholesaler at the time.

“Being part of the wider Musgrave Group which operates brands including SuperValu, Centra, Mace and Musgrave MarketPlace, is great, no day is the same and the company is amazing to work for.”

In her current role, Julie is responsible for the development and implementation of the commercial strategy for the business as well as the new Good Food Locally Sourced range.

Spending £166 million every year on local food, Musgrave works with 3,000 local farmers and 240 local food and drink suppliers, and stocks over 4,500 local products across its stores, which Julie believes ensures the businesses success.

She continued: “The new Good Food Locally Sourced range, which features the tag line, ‘ooh so good!’, comprises almost 150 products, offering a variety of everyday wholesome tasty food, including meat, poultry, dairy and meal solutions - all sourced from local suppliers across the island of Ireland.

“We have brought this exciting range to market in partnership with suppliers that we have worked with for many years, including Strathroy Dairies in Omagh, McAtamney’s Gourmet Kitchen in Portglenone, and Doherty and Gray in Ballymena, who like us, believe in high quality products. It’s a great range and something we are proud of.”

The range, available to more than 200 SuperValu, Centra and Mace stores across Northern Ireland, was unveiled at its retail conference in April, before officially launching in stores in May.

“Feedback from our retail partners has been extremely positive,” added Julie. “While early sales indicate that it’s landing well with our shoppers.

“This range offers not only convenience, but also the sought after value for money that doesn’t compromise on quality.

“Value continues to be important to consumers, and we remain focused on helping shoppers save money.

“This year Musgrave has significantly increased its investment in value across its brands with £6 million pledged to ensure shoppers save more money on their weekly shop than ever before.

“This is what makes my job such a joy...not bad for someone who only went into retail to get some money for Christmas.”