Northern Irish businesswoman is grocery's leading light

Jacquelyn Stewart from Northern Ireland has scooped a prestigious national award for her juice business Squeeze Juice Café. She won the Kraft Foods Leading Edge Leading Light Award for her success in transforming her Squeeze Juice Cafe business, based at Warrenpoint, County Down, into an online operation that now exports to the US and Spain.

The award celebrates remarkable talent in the food and grocery industry. It recognises those who have gone the extra mile and made a real difference to their employers, the industry or to Leading Edge during the past year.

It was one of thirteen IGD Food Industry Awards announced at the IGD Convention in London. These awards recognise achievements of companies in food manufacturing, farming, retail, distribution, wholesaling and foodservice.

Presenting the award Maurizio Brusadelli, president of Kraft Foods UK & Ireland, said: "In an industry full of talented people doing exceptional things all three finalists distinguished themselves as future leading lights in the industry in their willingness to go the extra mile, develop themselves, make a difference and add value to both their company and the wider industry.

"Jacquelyn Stewart stood out with the challenges she had overcome on both a personal and business level. Her passion and commitment to the product and her determination to build her business sustainably is truly inspirational and marks her out as a Leading Light in every sense of the word."

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

Jacquelyn Stewart said: "I was amazed to make the shortlist in the first place and couldn't quite believe that I was one of the three finalists. As a small, independent business this is great recognition for the work I have done in producing and marketing my natural Wheatgrass Shot. I am absolutely delighted to have won this award. PR is important to all businesses but for a small operation like my own, winning an award like this is an invaluable boost for building brand recognition.

"The team at Leading Edge has been so helpful and informative throughout the competition process. Being a member of Leading Edge has really helped to keep me up to date about new initiatives in the industry and their training courses and networking events are excellent."

Jacquelyn received a prize of £2,000 and a trophy.

Joanne Denney-Finch, IGD chief executive, IGD, said: "The IGD Food Industry Awards recognise the best-in-class and demonstrate some of the most exciting new thinking in our sector. I would like to extend my personal congratulations to Jacquelyn Stewart for her outstanding Leading Edge entry.

Squeeze Juice Café delivers worldwide and currently has customers in NI, UK, ROI, Spain, Belgium and USA and 85 per cent of customers order wheatgrass shots more than once.