Top London chef does business with Northern Ireland chocolate maker

Award winning artisan chocolate maker NearyNogs in Northern Ireland has won business in Britain with top chef Jeremy Lee at the iconic Quo Vadis restaurant in London's Soho.

Lee has been a judge on the Great British Menu programme and has won acclaim for creating modern British food from seasonal ingredients.

NearyNogs, based near Newry in county Down, is supplying the highly respected chef with its 70 per cent untempered slabs of chocolate from single estate beans sourced from the Dominican Republic, Sao Tome and Ecuador for the restaurant's team of chefs to create original desserts.

The contact with Jeremy Lee follows his visit to a major food event at Northern Ireland's Balmoral Show in June. Lee was part of a group of judges tasked to find the best food and drink products at the event. NearyNogs, a family-run business, was named among the winners.

Shane Neary, co-founder of NearyNogs, continues: "Jeremy spent some time with us at the show and was so impressed by the taste and quality of the stoneground 'bean to bar' chocolates that we produce that he placed an initial order and has followed up with further business. His support is a tremendous boost for our business."

NearyNogs has also won retail business for its chocolates in Brussels and is supplying its products to the Thyme Boutique and Cookery School in Gloucestershire.

Founded in 2011 by Mr Neary and wife Dorothy, NearyNogs developed Northern Ireland's first gluten-free and dairy free bean to bar product. The enterprise has gained Blas na heireann Awards for its chocolates and now has a portfolio of over 30 handmade soft chocolates, truffles, drinking chocolate, loose leaf cocoa tea, nut butter cups and a range of fine chocolate bars from single estate cocoa beans.

NearyNogs imports small batches of cocoa beans from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Sao Tome for hand sorting, roasting, shelling, cracking, winnowing, stone-grinding and tempering, to produce chocolates at a small production unit.