category expertise

Working with donnelly fresh means a true partnership your business can count on. Our market and category knowledge bring us beyond the role of supplier, with specialist expertise across a range of areas. We understand just how quickly categories and trends evolve and that’s why we work closely with your category team.

It’s about backing up decades of experience with hard data. Our dedicated insights specialist engage in constant analysis of industry and  consumer data, delivering full reports on future opportunities for our customers. We use our category expertise to identify gaps in the market and propose  leading solutions to our customers so they never miss a beat.

product expertise

As suppliers of fresh produce over the last 40 years our team bringing a wealth of experience in sourcing, managing, producing and selling fresh products of a high quality standard.

A genuine interest in all that we do drives our curiosity through our world wide network, regularly sharing knowledge with our long term industry partners.

Our dedicated Category and Insights specialist engage in constant analysis bringing together all of this knowledge to develop future opportunities for our suppliers and our customers.

A close up show of strawberries growing on a plant

trend forecasting

Our team search the globe and work in partnerships across the food chain to source the latest trends in fresh food and get ahead of the curve to bring new and exciting fresh products  to the Irish market.

We conduct regular market research in various countries each year to see the latest trends in fresh food and fresh food packaging.

We also work with and attend industry briefing sessions to share and grow our category expertise in the market with industry experts.

We are always looking to understand trends on 3 levels:

  • Global trends: Both inside and outside the Category
  • Macro Trends: No Control, but can impact greatly
  • Supplier/Grower/Producer Trends: supply opportunities/issues
a little girl about to bite a radish with her mother smiling watching her

market research and analysis

We study customer behaviour and understand how they shop and what they need.

Our team carry out specific category lead studies researching the retailer market, undertaking customer surveys, price analysis, inflation trends and impacts.

Regular market benchmarks – checking the physical products in the Irish retail market and providing in-depth comparison metrics.

customer relationship and strategic thinking

Working with all of the major Retail and Foodservice partners in the Irish market – we understand their strategic goals and help them measure their performance against their own goals within our categories, and that of their competitors.

We conduct regular research meetings with our customers, bringing the latest market analysis to them.  We provide recommendations of best range offering and identifying gaps for NPD opportunities for the future.

We work with their category teams to support new store design launches and category ranging in store to offer the best market solutions.

Conference pears on a table

product / packaging development and innovation

We are always looking for gaps in the market and offering suggestion to our customers on product and packaging formats, sourcing new and innovative products from around the globe. We look at solutions outside of the fresh food industry that can be tailored to fresh product, offering something new and exciting for the Irish market.

Using our category expertise we work closely with all of our packaging suppliers to develop and provide the most sustainable packaging available in the market to our customers.

did you know?

The best inspiration comes from lands afar. The donnelly fresh product team regularly travels abroad, seeking new tastes and flavours from across the globe. With leading Irish market expertise, they bring the best ideas back to base, developing exciting new recipes and products for family tables across Ireland.

Close up image of a sliced kiwi
Berries, pears, peaches and apricots grouped together
donnelly fresh farms grower