Northern Ireland agri-food company Mash Direct has won a supply contract valued at £1m (€1.2m) with Morrisons, the UK’s fourth-largest retailer. The deal will see Mash Direct supply more than 380 Morrisons stores with five products from its range that will be sold under the free-from category.

This latest supply contract follows from a €590,000 per annum deal with the UK’s third-largest retailer, Asda, announced last October.

Mash Direct is a family owned business based in Co Down and not far from Belfast city. The business was established in 2004 by Martin and Tracy Hamilton on their family farm, but has since grown to employ more than 160 people with supply contracts to the likes of Tesco, Dunnes Stores and Sainsbury’s.

The company reported a near 6% increase in turnover to just £15m (€17.6m) for its financial year ending February 2016. Operating profits increased almost fourfold to £1.3m (€1.5m), giving the business a profit margin of 8.6%. Pre-tax profits increased to just over £1m (€1.3m) for the year.