Tasty treats from Ballymena for tourists on the Wild Atlantic Way
American tourists and other international visitors to destinations in the Republic of Ireland such as the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands are now able to enjoy chocolates and fudge handcrafted near Ballymena in Co Antrim.
Artisan Granny Shaw’s Fudge has seen “a significant growth” in exports to the Republic from its participation in a series of food markets and international trade shows in Dublin and other centres over the past year.
The boost in exports has also encouraged the company as it builds on a recent investment in new machinery for the production of boiled sweets for its impressive range handmade confectionery.
Granny Shaw’s Fudge, an award winning manufacturer of a range of original and flavoured fudges, has also expanded its product portfolio to include authentic Victorian confectionery in an investment of around £50,000. Typical Victorian sweets included toffee, liquorice, marzipan, marshmallows, soft favourites such as jelly babies.
“We’re excited by the potential of a new range of flavoured hard sweets in the near future. Our investment in the essential machinery for the sweets has been significant,” explains Glen Houston, the managing director, who runs the artisan enterprise with wife Rhonda.
The complex machinery, sourced from a US manufacturer, has now been installed in the factory in Broughshane, near Ballymena, and is turning out traditional favourites such as clove rock, pear drops and “Yellowman” honeycomb.
Commenting on the growth in exports to the Republic, Glen continues: “We took a strategic decision over a year ago to focus on growing our sales in the Republic as part of a drive to increase awareness of our fudge and chocolates across Northern Ireland.
“This included doing more shows there including Gifted trade show at the RDS in Dublin, the National Ploughing Championships in Laois, and Flavours of Fingal, near Dublin, one of Ireland’s biggest community events. The ploughing championships attracted upwards of 150,000 people and is one of Europe’s biggest outdoor events.
“This campaign helped us to connect with dozens of new stockists, distributors and other potential customers across the Republic.
“As a result of some of the contacts made during the campaign, we now have a generous chocolate and confectionery supply that now goes monthly to the visitor centre at the spectacular Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare and a large white label order of our Crumbly Butter Fudge goes to the picturesque Aran Islands, Inishmore and Inisheer, Co Galway.
“Both are located on the stunning Wild Atlantic Way which attracts thousands of tourists and other visitors every year to the Republic. Almost two million people visited the Wild Atlantic Way last year,” adds Glen.
The marketing drive and investment in growth, Glenn continues, has also “seen a recent increase in supply to Northern Ireland retailers/stockists”. The small company is now popular at food markets here especially the big Causeway Speciality Food Market held in Coleraine and Junction One in Antrim on a monthly basis.
“The markets are a great way to increase awareness of the business and our wide range of products. We’ve also found that worthwhile business flows from the markets,” he says.
The small company is “fine tuning our offerings” in response to findings from the strategy. “We are looking for more potential stockists. We have recent collaborations, for example, with Christine Marshall of Marshall Beekeepers Honey that’s involved using her award-winning honey to make a range of fantastic confections, from boiled sweets, tablet, fudges and a delicious honey caramel. A new fudge is being produced using Mussenden Sea Salt from another artisan enterprise in Coleraine,” he adds. It also produces a range of creamy sauces for desserts.
Creator of the first genuine fudge factory in Northern Ireland, at Glenarm Estate in Co Antrim, one of Northern Ireland’s most enterprising country estates, in 2012, Glen has continued to develop confectionery products and has invested in retail and in production facilities at Broughshane.
The company’s unique identity and successful fudge recipe came from Rhonda’s grandmother. “We all liked the fudge she made and were also influenced to start Granny Shaw’s by the remarkable growth in artisan foods here over the past decade,” Glen explains. “All our confectionery is handmade using the freshest ingredients as is the case with all our fudge. In addition to growing sales here, we also receive orders for varieties of our fudge regularly from international customers,” he adds.
Granny Shaw’s has won a UK Great Taste Award for its handmade, hand-cut kettle-churned soft fudge and traditional handmade tablet fudge.
