A tantalising selection of chocolate makers here:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/77b2491c-cb6e-11df-95c0-00144feab49a.html
Keith
*quick rant – yet another great Irish food brand without a website. This one is going for 10 years, employs nearly 20 people (as far as I can tell) and has just started a great new line with the UK in their sites. And no website to support that growth. Words fail me, seriously. There is an address on their packaging but it does not exist. And it used to, I saw it. Enough, end of rant*
I met the founder of this business years ago (Joe Callery) and he is passionate about the quality of what they do. Production of their lines for people who have allergies is taken seriously – the line is closed down and steam cleaned to remove all traces of previous raw materials before a Dairy Free batch is made. That was then and it would not surprise me if they have dedicated lines now.
Their chocolates are award winning at the Great Taste Awards and they have some Fairtrade products as well. however the standout for me right now is the Vegan Caramel Choices – truely the best non-dairy soft toffee which I have tasted (check out the core raw material here). These are available around Ireland and should be in the UK as well. Check them out.
keith
UPDATE – have just published an entry for Celtic on the Irish FoodBase: http://irishfoodbase.com/celtic-chocolates-meath/
This business is featured in a blog post from Suma Foods – a wholesale wholefoods brand in the UK run as a workers co-op. From that post:
Situated in the beautiful ‘Oglio Sud’ National Park of northern Italy, Iris run their business on principles of respect for both people and the natural environment; the produce they grow is completely organic, their farm uses only green energy and Iris’ 40 members are employed under cooperative principles
They were founded in 1984 and also make own brand pasta for others such as Graig Farm. I cannot see a website to link you to for them.
Found it: http://www.irisbio.com/
keith
Foodcamp Italy
One of the pleasures of being involved in a particular sector or niche is learning from your peers. Participating in occasions where others are openly sharing their experiences, contacts and skills without thought of payback is really uplifting.
An event format called barcamp was spawned out of the technology sector in the US to deliver this in a structure that facilited it without stifling it. The key mechanism is the opening of all the speaking slots (with multiple streams happening simultaneously) to attendees who want to talk about/share something.
After over 20 very successful ***camp events (covering everything from technology to general business topics – bizcamps) it is great to see one dedicated to the food sector happening.
You can check out the site here and if you have any questions just leave a comment – as one of the people involved I will happily answer them for you.
Also have a look at the ones which have happened or are happening elsewhere:
VinoCamp Paris – July 10th 2010
VinoCamp and CheeseCamps in Vancouver
FoodCamp Italy, Sept 13th 2008
Update:
Blogfest Italy Foodcamp. Sept 2010 (link to blog post on same)
FoodCamp 4, Amsterdam, March 2010
Foodcamp Dijon!, 7 November 2010. This one appears to be a very practical recipe/making camp
keith
Flahavans Oats
This is one of the bigger businesses to be featured here – and also one of the oldest. The 6th generation of the Flahavan family run this business and they produce a range of products derived from Irish Oats.
Sowan’s Organic
From this 1st generation business come a range of organic bread, gluten free bread and then cake mixes. I have tried the bread mixes and made a tasty loaf!
keith
Earlier posts in this series:
http://biabeag.posterous.com/waterford-harvest-festival-ireland-3
http://biabeag.posterous.com/waterford-harvest-festival-ireland-2
http://biabeag.posterous.com/waterford-harvest-festival-ireland
Extact: The Rorschach allure of the dark, leafy shapes have you admiring the crisp kale chips before you nibble. Amy Hamberry and Joe Orr make them by dehydrating kale in their Brooklyn plant, where some magic makes than taste fried. They come in three flavors: spicy miso, vegan cheese and..Bombay curry…
New York Naturals Kale Chips are sold at Columbus Natural Foods, Garden of Eden stores, Foragers in Dumbo, Brooklyn….
The full articles here, they look really tasty.
http://www.youtube.com/v/50gC2YNFcCo?fs=1&hl=en_US
Liza de Guia does a wonderful series of mini food documentaries featuring the kind of producers who I love to see and hear.
Check out her youtube channel here and the main blog here. And also Liza on twitter if that is your thing.
keith
The guys who are behind this have had one of my favourite websites for a couple of years in terms of the simple yet powerful language they use on it – started as an Adopt An Olive Tree business model!
Their design approach on the site and products is gorgeous – a great example of how to communicate the passion and core values of an artisan food brand.
I have never tasted the olive oils from the farm but would sure love to. You can purchase them from their site or if you are in the US from the Cube Marketplace as well.
keith
Goatsbridge Trout Farm
Mags Kirwan and her husband Ger run Goatsbridge Premium Irish Trout in Kilkenny, Ireland and they are currently building out an extension to their facility which Mags is keeping a photo diary of via her twitter account – http://twitter.com/goatsbridge
They are dedicated to good food and passionate advocates of anything and everything which supports that. That focus helped to win Mags the title of Female Entrepreneur of the Year last Friday in Waterford.
Cramers Grove Ice Cream
A number of the businesses featured in this series were started by farmers who needed to diversify and have done so by developing strong packaged food brands.
Nigel and Carol Harper produce ice cream and sorbets in batches from their family dairy darm and they have flavours such as Pina Colada, Rum & Raisin and Tiramis!
keith
Earlier posts in this series:
http://biabeag.posterous.com/waterford-harvest-festival-ireland-2
http://biabeag.posterous.com/waterford-harvest-festival-ireland
This bakery in Florida had its new packaging and menus redone by Sara Nicely. From her site:
“The bakery’s interior space is inviting and warm with natural lighting and eclectic funky displays advertising baked goods.
This identity system was designed to convey the unique and handmade qualities of the bakery.”
Check out the full post here.
keith
Thanks to @jkeyes for this one.
biabeag (small food) 