Harrods lists artisan granola for Tamnagh Foods in Northern Ireland
Artisan granola producer Tamnagh Foods in Northern Ireland has won its first business in Britain. Based near Dungiven in rural county Londonderry, Tamnagh has begun supplying Harrods, the Knightsbridge store's iconic food hall with its handcrafted Maple Nut and Fruit and Honey Nut and Seeds granolas.
The business, a breakthrough for the family run business, clinched the order from a meeting in Belfast with buyers from Harrods last October.
Tamnagh was formed in June 2010 by husband and wife team Kevin and Julie Hickey. Originally from Lincoln, near Boston, Julie has been involved in the food industry for 20 years both as a chef and a restaurant owner.
She says: "Winning business from such a prestigious and influential retailer as Harrods is a marvellous boost for us and represents a superb endorsement of the quality of our premium granola breakfast products, all based on recipes we've created for a tasty and healthy breakfast.
"The granolas are produced in small batches to ensure consistent quality. They were awarded both gold and silver at the Irish Food Awards in October 2014, and our beetroot pickle received two gold stars at the 2014 Great Taste Awards in August," she adds.
The granolas, developed by Julie, use Northern Irish sourced Jumbo oats gently toasted with nuts and seeds and then lightly sweetened with maple syrup and the natural sweetness of cranberries.
The company operates from an estate in the picturesque Sperrin Mountains close to the small village of Park.
In June 2012 the company converted a disused farm shed into a modern approved food unit - incorporating a modern production kitchen for granolas, a cheese development area and specially constructed cheese maturing rooms to facilitate the controlled ageing of cheese.
Strict hygiene practices and a comprehensive Food Safety Plan are applied and strictly adhered to. In addition to the granolas, the company developed and last year launched two original artisan cheeses under the Dart Mountain brand
Sperrin Blue., a blue cheese was followed by Dart Moutain Dusk, which received a bronze medal at the World Cheese Award in November 2014.
As a small company Tamnagh Foods is committed to the principles of artisan production - carefully producing food with the minimum use of machines to maximise the natural flavours of the food.
"We are also committed to the environment - we source locally to keep food miles down, ensure traceability, and we recycle to minimise our waste. In addition, we are committed to food integrity - we source from the farms in our region to guarantee the source of the food and to improve spend in our local community."