'This is Cavan'
Monday 14 October 2013
'THIS is Cavan' is the new branding for marketing all that Cavan has to offer. The county recently hosted 'A Taste of Cavan' where I met some enthusiastic food producers from Cavan and surrounding counties. The fact that Richard Corrigan, that great ambassador for Irish food in London, has just bought the Park Hotel in Virginia will add to this.
Eamonn O'Reilly only started doing his range of Chef's Cuisine ready meals in February of this year. Having previously worked in sales in the food business, he decided to set up Annalee Foods, concentrating "on smaller independent shops". His range includes homely dishes such as bacon with parsley sauce and roast stuffed turkey and ham. They retail at €4.99. He also does a range of sauces, salts, oils and more. www.facebook.com/AnnaleeFoods
Avril Gould started baking in a very small way about 18 months ago, calling her business Avril's Home Baking & Artisan Foods. She does lovely apple tarts, rhubarb tarts, apple and blueberry pie, brown breads, fruit crumbles, cakes, muffins and cupcakes. "I started out putting my produce into my local shop and a vegetable shop in Ballinagh, near Crossdoney, Co Cavan. Recently, I did a course with the Enterprise Board on starting your own artisan food business and, from there, I decided to start doing a few shows this year and see where it takes me," she says. Full-time mother Avril previously had a small retail convenience and confectionery business in Crossdoney but with the downturn in the economy ...
"I hadn't been able to find work that suits me since so I started to do this in a bigger way. I have reached a stage now where I need to take it out of my own kitchen. I am selling over 100 products a week," she says. www.facebook.com /avrilshomebaking
Colin and Suzanne Gordon produce Tullyboy Farmhouse cheese at Crosserlough, Cavan. It is a mature goats' cheese made using pasteurised milk from their own goat herd. "This cheese won a Gold Award at the Blas na hEireann Awards in 2012. I also won a Silver Medal at the UK's Great Taste Awards in August for the cheese which was entered by Tesco," says Colin.
The Gordons have a mixed farm, keeping pigs, and sucklers and milk and about 200 goats. "Tesco stocks our cheeses under 'Cheeses of Ireland' and Horgan's of Cork are our distributors," adds Colin. www.facebook.com/ TullyboyFarmhouse-Cheese
Alicia Treanor of Nutri Snax, which is based in Poles, Co Cavan, tells me the family business was set up in 2009. "We do granola, a healthy cereal with no salt, sugar or preservatives. We have also just launched our brand new biscuits. They are made with fresh berries and fruit including Goji berry and seeds, and cranberry, blueberry and nuts." You will find Nutri Snax products in 42 Supervalu stores throughout the country and in some 15 independent stores. www.nutrisnax.ie
Kieron and Claire Moran set up Moran's Homestore three years ago in Ballinagh, Co Cavan. Kieron, from Blanchardstown in Dublin, and Claire, from Ardara in Donegal, both trained in catering in DIT Cathal Brugha Street. They now produce jams, marmalades, sauces and relishes including delicious combinations such as rhubarb and ginger jam and whiskey marmalade. "We started selling at the farmers' markets with six products, now we have 20 products selling in around 60 stores across the country. Most of our products are sourced here locally in Cavan. Even my basil is sourced here, so I keep it as Irish and local as possible" says Kieron.
www.moranshomestore.com
John Rowe is originally from Dun Laoghaire but moved to Belturbet, Co Cavan, about five years ago. He explains how his business, 'Mr Muffin Man', started out as his son's school project. "He made some money, so when I saw him making money, there was a takeover of the business and now I am doing it full-time myself."
Mr Muffin Man supplies cafes and restaurants. "Our carrot cake is our best seller but our muffins are our wow factor. We don't just stick with the usual flavours, we do Irish cream liqueur, rum and raisin et al. People come from Dublin to get my carrot cake because it is extra light and there are no additives or preservatives." www.facebook.com/mrmuffinmanbakery
John Smith is from Virginia, Co Cavan, and he and his brother Charles are two of the 12 farmers who banded together two years ago as Farmers to Market.
John explains: "The farmers are based predominantly in Cavan and Monaghan, producing premium free range chicken. We have gone back to basics in that we use a very slow growing traditional old Irish breed of chicken. The whole system had changed, it was cheap and fast and the flavour was lost in that transition. So we just went back to what my grandparents had done. We went back to a Hubbard bird which is a very slow growing bird. We grow them for 56 days and allow them time to mature and it gives you flavour. We supply Supervalu stores so if you want chicken with real flavour ... "
www.farmerstomarket.ie
Sheila McKiernan of The Keepers Arms in Bawnboy, Co Cavan, produces the Keepers Arms Salad Dressing.
"We bought The Keepers Arms 22 years ago and developed it from a pub into a guesthouse. We do Sunday lunch and I teach freelance a bit and then I branched out into making my own salad dressing," says Sheila, who also does outside catering. www.keepersarms.com
Barry John Crowe is second generation in the family business BJ Crowe Quality Meats in Cavan Town.
"I have been producing sausages myself since I was 13 years of age. I won my first award then. Tastes have changed drastically. We are doing an orange, chilli and white chocolate flavoured sausage, we also do a bacon and cabbage one. We supply restaurants, supermarkets, Supervalu stores, with all different types of sausages," he says, adding that the most popular one is chopped leek. "We won the Craft Butchers Association All Ireland Award with that." (049) 436-2671
Aileen Farrelly of Clonarn Clover free range eggs showed me Clonarn Clover's new product, O'Egg. This is liquid egg sold in the bottle as either liquid egg white or liquid whole egg, handy for so many things from omelettes to cakes or meringues. "We are the only company in the Republic of Ireland with a pasteurising plant, and we are the only ones in the whole of Ireland that retails free range liquid egg that is produced from Irish eggs. The separated liquid whites are very popular. It is used a lot for fitness, for building muscle because it is high in protein and low in fat and low in cholesterol. We are a family business which my parents, Margaret and Leo, started 25 years ago. Now, I and two of my siblings, Killian and Edel are involved in the business. O'Egg is available from Centra and Supervalu." www.clonarnclover.ie
Jim Ryan of Ryan's Farm, Ballinlough, Kells, Co Meath, has been in operation since 1928 producing top quality meats. He was showcasing Ryan's fresh blood black puddings, white puddings and rashers. "We have just got permission from the HSE to make our fresh blood black pudding – up to last week we had to use imported blood." Ryan's Farm supplies all of the Supervalu stores in Co Meath and is also at the Honest2Goodness market in Glasnevin on Saturdays. www.ryansfarm.com
Donegal Rapeseed Oil was established in 2009. Thomas Hughes, sales and marketing manager, tells me, "it is a farmer owned co-operative based in Raphoe, Co Donegal. All our seed is grown in Donegal, Derry and Tyrone. We have our own bottling plant and we do our own distribution as well to the retailers. We supply 150 Supervalu stores and 400 craft butchers. We are in a number of good delicatessens as well, and we work quite closely with people in the fish shops and also vegetable shops."
The company won a Gold Medal for its Rapeseed Oil with Lemon at the Blas na hEireann Awards in Dingle last week. www.donegalrapeseedoilco.com
First Published in the Sunday Independent