Northern Irish entrepreneur in top three of Kraft Awards

Jacquelyn Stewart, owner of Northern Irish wheatgrass business Squeeze Juice Cafes, has been named among three finalists for the prestigious Kraft Foods Leading Light Award.

Based at Warrenpoint in County Down, she is listed as a rising star of the food and grocery industry in the awards announced by IGD and will stand a chance of winning the overall award in the finals on 9thOctober in London.

Jacquelyn Stewart goes forward to the final stage of the Kraft Leading Light Award with Jeremy Howell, Tesco Supply Chain Optimisation Manager, and Tim Scott, ASDA Project Manager.

Commenting on the IGD listing, Jacquelyn Stewart says: "Reaching the final stage of such an important event is a tremendous honour for me and a marvellous endorsement of my online business model. My wheatgrass juice is now being shipped in pouches throughout the British Isles and further afield to the US and Europe through my e-commerce website.

"It's really exciting to be listed alongside senior managers from retail giants Tesco and ASDA."

Sponsored by Kraft Foods, the Leading Light Award is an IGD initiative that celebrates remarkable talent in the food and grocery industry.

Mike Darby, IGD's skills and employment manager, adds: "This is the sixth Leading Light Award and every year the entries just get better and better. From new start-ups to people working for some of the biggest brands and retailers in the industry, our candidates showcased achievement that they felt had made a real difference - not just to themselves but to the wider food and grocery industry."

When faced with the closure of her juice bar outlet, Jacquelyn extended the shelf life of her 100 per cent natural wheatgrass from two hours to three weeks by working with the Agri-Food and Bioscience Institute in Belfast and has made the move successfully to retailing juices on line. This has considerably expanded her customer base, with the company now selling over 500 shots of juice a week and exporting to the US and Spain. She also grows her own healthy wheatgrass using hydroponic technology.

The winner of the Kraft Foods Leading Light Award will receive a trophy and a prize of £2,000 in the finals.

Pic by Parkway Photography -In picture is (left), Olive Hill, Invest NI Director of Technology and Process Development, with Mark Linton of AFBI, and Jacquelyn Stewart, owner of Squeeze Juice Cafe.