This article is from page 24 of the 2011-04-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 24 JPG
WHEN food science graduate Deirdre Collins was taking home a day’s pay of just € 40 from her stall at the farmers market, the day when she would launch her healthy burgers on the UK market and employ five people seemed a long way off.
But from that humble beginning in 2009, the enterprising Clare woman has stormed ahead and last weekend she was in London at one of the UK’s most prestigious fairs to showcase her products.
“I graduated in food science so I know a bit about what goes into food and, more importantly, what I don’t want to go into my food. I started really reading labels and you wouldn’t believe all the things that are added to foods which are supposedly healthy. So I decided to start making my own,” she told The Clare People .
From selling the product at markets and often taking home little or no money for a lot of work, Deirdre decided to take the idea up a notch. “We moved on to cooking them at agricultural shows as a healthy alternative to fast food and one that coeliacs and vegetarians can eat.”
Now with her own company, Dee’s Wholefood Burgers have launched in the UK after a lucrative distribution deal was agreed with Marigold Health Foods. The official UK launch of the brand took place in London’s Olympia in April, when food buyers from across Europe descend on the Natural and Organic Products trade fair – one of the health food indus- try’s key annual events.
Widely recognised as being one of the most successful business ideas showcased on the 2009 season of Dragons’ Den, Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy range has been steadily growing in popularity among a diverse customer base of vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs and anyone keen to follow a healthy balanced diet.