Magherafelt-based Bertie's Bakery creates 12 jobs with £2m Tesco contract

The deal, worth an anticipated £2m in sales annually, has seen a dozen Bertie’s Bakery lines initially available across Tesco’s 19 Express format stores in Northern Ireland from the start of October.

This is being followed by the roll-out of 30 lines into 24 of Tesco’s main estate superstores.

Many of Bertie’s products have picked up ‘Great taste Awards’. Bertie’s wee sodas and sliced wheaten picked up awards in august at the 2023 judging. This adds to the 2022 awards for Big Pancake and Toaster Wheaten.

Brian McErlain, who has extensive business and food production expertise, opened Bertie’s Bakery just outside Magherafelt, in 2020.

The family bakery operates from a 15,000 sq ft site outside Magherafelt, which is a BRC AA* accredited site.

The 12 new jobs will be across the business including bakery and sales personnel bringing the number of people employed by the company to 45.

“Bertie’s Bakery is named after my mother who, along with my father Joe, were founders of the original McErlain’s bakery in 1968. Her mantra was ‘don’t sell anything you wouldn’t love to eat yourself’ and it is that core value which is driving us today. We have sourced the very best flours, oils, seeds and grains to produce both traditional breads, cakes and snacks and new interpretations of old favourites. All our products are hand-crafted and hand-finished which stays true to our artisanal ethos,” said Mr McErlain.

“Securing a listing with Tesco marks another significant step forward for Bertie’s Bakery, making our products even more widely available to consumers across Northern Ireland and enabling us to create

more jobs locally. Furthermore, our central location makes it possible to bake fresh through the night for delivery direct to stores by morning.”

Gareth Morton, Head of Category Commercial NI at Tesco, added: “We’re proud to support local suppliers and our new partnership with Bertie's Bakery reflects our commitment to continually improving and expanding our offering. Bertie’s is a local business with a long history in Northern Ireland and we are excited to be able to provide their products to Tesco customers.”