This article is from page 27 of the 2011-07-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
A CLARE company has secured two extremely lucrative new outlets for its products, one being Berlin’s answer to Harrods and the other the flagship store and mail-order lists of a top US speciality foodstore, worldwide.
The Burren Smokehouse secured a listing and got their first order this week for a selection of 11 different products with KaDeWe, one of mainland Europe’s largest department store.
The Clare company is now supplying the only Irish food products in the store.
Meanwhile, the final touches are being put to having the company’s products on sale through the mailing list and in the main New York store of a major US speciality food supplier.
“We’re delighted with both of the listings, I can’t say yet who the US supplier is yet, but there are 35,000 customers a week through their store alone and that’s not even taking account of the mail order opportunity. We are hoping to get our first order from them in September,” said Smokehouse founder, Birgitta Hedin-Curtin.
Bord Bia offices in Germany and in Dublin and the Bord Bia / Smurfit Business School Fellowship students in Germany were all involved in getting the Clare fish products on the shelves in Berlin.
“KaDeWe is a historical department store and is in existance for over 100 years. It first opened 1907. Each day up to 180,000 customers from around the world are welcomed in by the 2,000 KaDeWe staff.
Now our products will feature in its world-famous gourmet department on the sixth floor. This is Berlin’s premium department store,” said Birgitta.
Burren Smokehouse attended and exhibited at the the US listing company after they exhibited at the Fancy Food Fair in Washington DC last week. The event showcased 180,000 speciality products, with 2,400 exhibitors, with more than 80 countries represented.
“The wide and varied ethnic diversity of the US means that food culture and taste trends are very dynamic in this, the largest grocery market in the world,” said Birgitta.
Helping the smokhouse products get through the door of the US deli was the Bord Bia New York office headed by Karen Coyle.
The Burren Smokehouse exhibited with their importer and distributor, Food Ireland Inc owned by Irishman Pat Coleman.
“Pat has Clare family connections so it was great to have him with us,” said Birgitta.
It is too early, Birgitta said, to assess what will come of the company’s exposure in the new market, but, she added, the Burren company will be making the most of the opportunity.