New children’s convenience foods from Northern Irish Cloughbane Farm
Food NI member Cloughbane Farm has launched its first range of convenience meals for the children’s market. The launch represents an investment of £200,000 by the farm-based company which has won a host of awards for its convenience foods including pies.
The company says the ‘Cloughbane Little Farm’ is a selection of healthy and convenient ready-meals, created for children aged 1 – 6 years. Made from quality, locally sourced ingredients, the new range is cooked on the family farm, just outside Dungannon in county Tyrone.
The products have already secured listings to the value of £750,000 with retailers including Aldi, Henderson Group and Musgrave Group, with several others to be announced soon.
Having been in development for three years, the launch of Cloughbane Little Farm is another significant development for the family business which now employs 50 people, having experienced 25 percent revenue growth since 2013.
Lorna Robinson, managing director of Cloughbane Farm, explains: “We have been producing award-winning cooked dishes and pies for almost 10 years. When our own family grew, and my grandchildren were born, I was reminded of how difficult it can be for busy families to find tasty, nutritious and quick meal options for children. And so, with the same passion for quality and taste that goes into all our products, we started to develop Cloughbane Little Farm.
“The meals have been rigorously tested throughout the development process and we are delighted with the result. Independent sensory analysis carried out compared Cloughbane Little Farm products to other children’s meals and the results show that panellists preferred the taste, appearance and texture of our range in every instance.
“As parents and grandparents ourselves, we understand how much care goes into selecting what young children eat, so these results are extremely important to us. We are proud to have created a range that helps busy families, without compromising on anything that matters.”
The Robinson family has been farming in the townland of Cloughbane in Pomeroy, county Tyrone for over 150 years. The fourth generation of the family founded Cloughbane Farm Shop in 2004. Since then, the company has gone on to secure multiple major listings for its prepared foods with retailers across the UK, including Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys.
