We spoke to Hugh O'Brien, the Commercial Director at Lir Chocolates, who are based in Meath, about their Irish-produced products.
What sets Lir apart in the chocolate business?
What makes Lir unique is the degree of difficulty in the projects that we undertake and the level of detail in the products that we manufacture. Our Giant Golden Lattice Egg, that we have created exclusively for M&S this year, takes eight people to create the finely piped milk chocolate lattice, four people to dust the egg with golden lustre and four people to place each individual chocolate bead on the egg. We have a desire to combine new flavours and techniques when making individual chocolates and Easter eggs. We also understand the importance of sourcing and using the highest quality raw materials and freshest ingredients to ensure that we are producing premium quality Irish made products.
We stay ahead of the competition by constantly looking at trends, different textures and finishes on eggs. This is reflected in the luxury chocolate collections that we offer.
How do you develop the ideas working with M&S, is it a constant thing of trying to stay ahead of the trends?
It’s a continuous product development cycle. At the moment we are finalising our Christmas 2015 range with M&S. Since November of last year we have been looking at different products, flavour combinations and finalising the packaging. We will then start making the range in July / August. We have also started working on our product ranges for Valentine’s Day and Easter 2016.
In terms of trends, our business is as close to the fashion industry as you can possibly get. We spent two days last year in a garments store in New York looking at various fabrics such as sequins and lace to get inspiration for our new creations.
How important is it to keep producing the chocolate in Meath?
Really important. We have developed highly skilled and experienced chocolatiers in the locality who design and hand craft all of our chocolates.
In addition to the Giant Golden Lattice Egg, Lir has created a range of luxury Easter Eggs for M&S which are being sold worldwide. The range includes A Spring Garden of Assorted Chocolate Eggs, Marc de Champagne Egg, The Sculpted Column Egg and Feuilletine Milk Chocolate Egg
