SUPERMARKET giant, Morrisons, is to stock product lines from five Worcestershire producers across selected stores in the West Midlands.

Ansteys of Worcester, Edward Moon Proper Pies, Kit’s Kitchen, Malvern Cheesewrights and Drews of Worcester will all have ranges included in the rollout, which will be launched on Monday, to coincide with the opening of Morrisons’ new Kidderminster store, in Oxford Street.

Morrisons will be working closely with the 23 local and regional producers, all of which are members of Heart of England fine foods (HEFF).

Fourteen stores across the West Midlands have been selected and there will be more than 70 product lines, which will include cakes, water, fruit juices and cordials, beer, sausages, bacon, chutneys, preserves, pickles, cheese, pies, quiches, soups, vinegars and rapeseed oil.

Seven regions are represented. They are Worcestershire. Shropshire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Birmingham and The Black Country and Gloucestershire.

The producers will be supplying a range of chilled and ambient goods to 14 stores through the HEFF Delivery Service.

It is a new service, which is a partnership between Heart of England fine foods and Heart Distribution - a division of A F Blakemore and Son.

The HEFF Delivery Service has been created to alleviate typical distribution headaches and spiralling costs of delivery experienced by many smaller producers, while satisfying the “one drop, one invoice” system increasingly requested by many retailers and food service establishments.

The service is designed to heighten awareness and increase availability of food and drink products from the Heart of England region and will generate new orders for those HEFF producer members involved.

Rachel Kitto, trade development manager at HEFF, said: "We're pleased to be working with Morrisons to launch a range into 14 stores across the Heart of England region.

“Our food and drink producers see this as an exciting development and by using Heart of England fine foods' Delivery Service, we can deliver all the regional products in one, thereby reducing the number of journeys into store and accommodating Morrisons' requirement for a single order and delivery system."

The ranges going into Morrisons have been selected by the regional sourcing buyers at the supermarket’s head office during two sampling sessions carried out by HEFF’s trade development team.

The buyers will be dealing closely with producers so the supermarket can ensure freshness and quality.

General manager of the new Morrisons Kidderminster store, Lucy Denton, said: “Being close to source is a major commitment for Morrisons and, with customer demand increasing for fresh produce sourced locally, our genuine regional ranges fit the shopping bill.

“I’m sure our shoppers across the region will love the new range and I’m delighted to launch this as part of our opening day here at Kidderminster.”

The 14 stores are Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Hereford, Malvern, Telford, Stratford upon Avon, Birmingham Rubery, Lichfield, Coventry Binley, Cannock, Tamworth, Newcastle under Lyme, Walsall and Stoke.