This article is from page 27 of the 2011-01-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
SET for further success in 2011 are local food heroes and exporters, The Burren Smokehouse.
The Clare artisan smoking business is about to add top-end British store, Fortnum and Mason to the list of people who will be stocking their products.
Owner, Brigitta Hedin-Curtin is upbeat about the coming year and confident of cracking new markets for her excellent artisan product.
“We’re currently working with Fortnum and Mason to provide them with our products under their brand which is great for us because their brand is in demand in the high-end of the market,” she told The Clare People .
The Smokehouse is also about to launch a new multi-lingual website and will be concentrating on mailorder business in the coming year.
The website gives the company a very lucrative route to market and gives it an added presence on the international food stage.
Brigitta is off to the organic fair in Nuremberg this month and will be showcasing their organic range at this, one of the biggest food gatherings in Europe.
“Organic is a very important market and we are also workng with Bord Bia, who are marketing strongly in the US. We have a small presence in the US but we have some new leads that we are following up on.”
Having just recently got Kosher status, the Smokehouse now plans to exploit this as a major selling point in the US and particularly in the high-end delis and restaurants of New York.
There are leads and possibilities which we are following, including the Arabic market, which is a big market,” said Brigitta.
The Smokehouse, which is based in Lisdoonvarna, opened in 1989 and employs 17 people with a turnover of € 1.3 million.
The artisan smokehouse produces a premium quality, organic product range which are 100 per cent Irish and smoked using a closely guarded recipe
There are more than 50 products now on the market, including Hot Smoked Irish Organic Salmon with Honey, Lemon and Dill, Whiskey and Fennel and Lemon and Pepper. The Smokehouse also smokes trout, mackeral and a whole rang fish.
The Smokehouse has won the Good Food Ireland Producer of the Year award in 2009 and Blas na hÉireann Gold Winner in Seafood Products 2009.