Donna Mullan, co-owner of two Spar stores in Armagh, N. Ireland, has been selling lots of on-trend food-to-go this summer.

”We’ve been making new salads for the summer time which have gone down really well. We’ve got a peanut, carrot and broccoli salad, our own Waldorf salad and one with coleslaw and cashews.

“We’ve also got some buns where the bread has been infused with beetroot, pesto or charcoal, which leaves the bun looking purple, green or black. Younger shoppers like these. 

“We’ve also just bought the land next to our first store which we’ve been wanting to buy ever since we opened 14 years ago! We are now going through the planning process to knock down the building on that site and extend our car park.

“Meanwhile we’re also working on plans to revamp the Markethill store. It’s a massive project we’ve got on our hands. It needs new flooring, ceilings, lighting, and it doesn’t even have an automatic door. We’ve already spent around £100,000 on getting it to where it is now as it needed so much doing to it. It will be a massive boost to the town to have a modern store there.”

Star performers: “Spar’s own brand range has recently been extended so we’ve been sampling the new products in-store and they’ve gone down well.”

Successful NPD: “The new Diet Coca Cola fruit flavours are very popular.”