DMC Foods, the Ireland ready-meals business, is launching its Fit Foods brand in the UK.

The family-owned company has secured listings for a range of products at UK grocer Morrisons.

The company said Fit Foods had “transformed” the Irish market "over the past decade", adding 90% of the category was private-label products and now the brand accounts for almost half of sales.

Fit Foods will appear in "almost 300" Morrisons stores in the UK.

DMC Foods is launching six SKUs, including a chicken curry with brown rice, cheeseburger with fries and gherkins, and sweet chilli chicken with wholewheat noodles.

As well as a fully branded bay in Morrisons to showcase the six bestselling meals, the launch is supported by a UK advertising campaign featuring food content creator OnlyScrans.

Brian O’Leary, CEO of DMC Foods, said: “What started with my grandfather’s butcher shop has grown into Ireland’s number one ready meal brand. Bringing Fit Foods to the UK is a huge milestone for us.”

“We are proud of what we have built in Ireland and this is just the start of our long-term UK growth plan. This is no quiet entrance from a ready meal brand that has been shaking up fridges in Ireland for over a decade. We are here to redefine the category.”

According to its website, DMC Foods produces more than 1m meals every month.

It owns a 34,000 square metre facility in Ireland and has more than 200 employees. The company said one in five ready meals in the country is made by DMC Foods. It has listings at retailers including Lidl, Aldi, Londis and Centra.

Emily Hill, senior trader for ready meals at Morrisons, said: “Fit Foods brings something genuinely fresh to the ready meal aisle. Their meals are tasty, balanced, and proven to engage shoppers. We are delighted to be the first retailer to launch them nationwide.”