April 2021
7th April 2021
Naturo Brexit boom sees exponential growth in online sales for local petfood manufacturer.
Local petfood manufacturer, Mackle Petfoods, owner of the premium Naturo natural petfood and Norsh pet snack brands, has credited Brexit with an exponential rise in online orders since the start of 2021. Last year sales of Naturo was over £20.9m across online and instore. Already this year, Naturo online sales saw a 64% since the start of the year, a trend which has remained steady in the first 3 months and looks set to remain. The company believes the recent phenomenal growth is as a result of constant innovation and development by Mackle Petfoods in response to customer feedback and market trends, and how customers across UK and Ireland are purchasing since Brexit commenced on 31 December 2020.
Launched in 2010, Naturo has grown from an initial 4 varieties, to 38, includes wet and dry food, grain free, gluten free and rice options suitable for all stages of a dog’s life from Puppy, through to Adult and Senior years. Naturo also includes a grain free range for adult cats.
Commenting on the growth in online sales, Lauren Toal, Naturo Brand Manager, said:
“Since March 2020, the increase in families with pets has definitely made demand for the Naturo brand more popular, and the brand had its best year to date, surpassing all targets set. Naturally we were thrilled with this, however since Brexit, this has taken an even bigger leap with a 64% increase in sales online alone. We are attributing this to a number of factors; more ‘new’ first time pet owners purchasing Naturo, and more pet owners who previously bought other brands, now purchasing Naturo because we deliver UK and Ireland wide, to their door via our website. Brexit has been wonderful for our online business to date.
Many petfood companies ceased delivery to Northern Ireland in late last year, whereas we focused on making sure Naturo was able to meet demand across UK and Ireland, and this has resulted in a significant number of new customers purchasing Naturo online. Since December 31st, we have had over 85,000 new visits to our website from customers who are now experiencing Naturo for the first time, and with a new TV campaign now live across UK and Ireland, we are very hopeful this will continue to increase,” Lauren concluded
Naturo is available at major retailers across Northern Ireland, ROI, and GB, as well as independent retailers, in addition to their online store www.naturopetfoods.com.
April 2021
27th April 2021
Judges announced for Natural Connections photography competition as over 1300 entries are received.
A staggering 1364 entries have been submitted for the first Natural Connections photography competition organised by Belfast Exposed and Translink to mark one year of lockdown. The competition which was launched in March 2021 wished to capture the ‘Natural Connections’’ which have sustained, surrounded, supported and encouraged people and communities since 23 March 2020, the first day of lockdown here. The entries to the competition which closed on Earth Day, will now be shortlisted with an overall winner being chosen by the judging panel. The panel has today been announced as Professor Siobhan O’Neill, Interim Mental Health Champion, Heather McLachlan, National Trust Director for Northern Ireland, Gordon Milligan, Translink Deputy CEO and Deirdre Robb, Belfast Exposed CEO.
Commenting on the response to the competition Chief Executive of Belfast Exposed, Deirdre Robb, said:
“Since we launched Natural Connections, the public response on a daily basis has been phenomenal, and the hundreds of images entered into the competition are stunning. They have really captured the importance of nature in our lives reflecting the value of this connection. Given the high quality of the entries, it is going to be an even bigger challenge to choose the finalists and overall winner, however I am thrilled by the caliber of our panel and the wealth of expertise they will bring across nature, conservation and wellbeing to help us make a clearly difficult decision.”
Translink Group Deputy Chief Executive, Gordon Milligan, added:
“We have been really impressed by the public reaction to this competition, and the richness of the images and memories captured. They bring a fantastic freshness to what has been a tough year for many, indeed they are a celebration of how resilient and imaginative we all are to get through this pandemic. The competition has amplified the importance of nature, how it connects us and how we connect to it. Our partnership with Belfast Exposed is a unique opportunity to reflect, boost respect for the power of nature and the need for climate action to build a brighter and more sustainable future. It also forms part of our efforts to support COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, taking place this Autumn.”
Professor Siobhan O’Neill who will help judge the entries said:
“I am delighted to be a part of this project encouraging people to get outside and connect with their surroundings. In the past year, we have all learned how important it is to look after our mental health and one of the best ways we can do that is by being in nature, especially if we are being active in any small way. This competition is really exciting as it’s a great way to incorporate the ‘Take 5 Steps to Wellbeing’ into our daily lives and is offering many a fun, creative outlet during such a difficult time.”
Also joining the judging panel is National Trust Director for Northern Ireland, Heather McLachlan, who reflected:
“I am delighted to be helping judge Natural Connections, given the importance of nature in our lives right now, and the rich tapestry we have within our natural environment. As a conservation charity, we have seen just how much joy being in nature has brought to our visitors in the past year. The images submitted represent what the public naturally connected to during this time – that special moment of ‘natural connections’ from March last year and I am excited to be involved with the project.”
Belfast Exposed will announce the six finalists who will receive a high-quality print of their photograph, and one overall winner who will be announced at the launch of the Natural Connections 2021 exhibition in Belfast Exposed which will open on 10 June 2021. The winner will receive a £200 voucher from WEX photo, a £100 Belfast Exposed gift voucher, and a Translink iLink Card* to make new natural connections. An exhibition of the top entries for ‘Natural Connections’ will be held online and then later in the year at Belfast Exposed, in line with Covid 19 restrictions. *With credit for 4 weeks travel
Translink continue to deliver essential services throughout the pandemic providing a vital link between urban and rural communities.