Handcrafted granola brand Just Live a Little enters France through Mediascore Food

Northern Ireland granola maker, Just Live a Little, will be released onto the French market on May 8, 2017.

The company will be supplying two varieties of breakfast granolas, including whole almond and cranberry & cashew, to 50 Franprix stores across the country in a deal with Mediascore Food, according to a release.

Mediascore Food is a distributor based near Paris servicing both retailers and foodservice operations.

Just Live a Little was established by husband-and-wife team David and Jill Crawford in 2011, and now sells more than 60% of its breakfast cereals and snack products outside Ireland.

France is a ‘quality conscious market’

"It’s an exciting development for us because Franprix is an important grocery retailer within the international Groupe Casino (a French mass retailer),” said Jill Crawford.

“[France is] a huge and quality conscious market with a growing focus on healthy breakfast cereals, particularly among younger consumers,” she added.

"We are looking forward in developing awareness among shoppers of our granolas through sampling and other marketing initiatives, and to grow our business throughout France.”

Apart from Ireland, Just Live a Little has a footprint in Germany, Spain, Denmark, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, the release said. It has also been listed by major retail chains in Britain, such as Waitrose, Sainsbury, Tesco and Ocado.

In 2016, Euromonitor data reported the muesli and granola category in Western Europe was worth $1.5bn, while its Eastern European counterpart was worth $157m.