A NEW international supermarket has officially opened in Southampton, bringing 25 jobs to the area.

Winmar Food store, now housed in the former Morrisons shop on Shirley high street, has set out to be one of the biggest international food shops in the city and is run by owner of Turkish restaurant Ottoman Kitchen, on Southampton high street.

It has over 15,000 food items, a deli counter, fresh Turkish butcher, halal meat and stock from Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Turkey and Albania.

The opening party on Saturday (September 5) involved a free street barbecue showcasing meats from the Turkish butcher, a socially-distanced children’s balloon artist and a charity raffle for Wessex Cancer Trust charity.

The building has been completely refurbished.

Owner Niyazi Kaya said the business sells fresh fruit and vegetables, international foods that are hard to find, and frozen goods.

There is also talk of a home delivery service launching once the store has developed an online ordering website.

Mr Kaya said he took on full ownership of the unit in March this year after it had been standing empty for over 12 months.

The new shop has created 25 new jobs so far, as well as work for local tradesman during the lockdown.

When asked about competition in the area, with supermarkets Lidl and Sainsburys situated close by, Mr Kaya said the shop’s unique selling point is the Turkish butcher and international foods on sale.

He added: “It’s taken us a while to get open longer than expected, we couldn’t work for a long time during the lockdown and then builders had to work day and night so we could get open.”

“We’re unique because we’re one of the few international food stores in Southampton offering hard-to-find Turkish, Romanian, Bulgarian and polish products.

“We have a history as butchers and this is what we’re passionate about and happy to finally open the first Turkish butcher in Southampton inside our supermarket.”