What is your food product?
Ballymaloe Foods began with Ballymaloe Relish – a recipe that was always made and served in Ballymaloe House by my grandmother Myrtle. My mother Yasmin brought it to market in 1990. The range has grown gradually over the last 26 years, we make Pasta Sauces, Salad Dressings, Beetroot and Steak Sauce.
How is it made?
We have a small but wonderful team of chefs joined by my mother Yasmin who make the products in small batches, with insanely good ingredients, cooked slowly and properly – nothing is rushed to achieve price savings, this results in top quality flavour. The Relish is cooked for several hours, it condenses nicely so a lot of flavour is in each spoon.
When and how did you first come up with the idea for the product?
Yasmin grew up with Ballymaloe Relish in Ballymaloe House – Myrtle used to make it from her husband Ivan’s tomatoes, he was one of the first people in Ireland to grow tomatoes – not a lot of people knew what they were in the 1940’s. Yasmin saw that guests at Ballymaloe loved the relish, so she spotted an opportunity to make them for shops.
Who buys your products?
We have been around for 26 years, so we have quite a diverse customer base, we sell to lots of restaurants and cafes as well as the main household shopper, mum’s are always telling us they have to have the cupboards stocked with Ballymaloe for hungry teenagers!
Where do you source your ingredients?
We source our ingredients locally and from Ireland where ever possible. It is very hard to get year round supplies of onions, tomatoes so we do have to import some of our ingredients. We are delighted to have developed two Irish sources for ingredients which were previously very hard to get, the first being Irish Beetroot – we work with a local farmer to grow our beetroot, and we even installed a washing machine for the beetroot on his farm so we receive it clean and ready to cook. The other source is Free range Bacon for our Smoked Bacon pasta sauce – this took me several years to sort out an Irish supply – we get rare breed pigs from the Irish Pig Society and Ed Hick in Dun Laoghaire cooked and smokes it for us in Beechwood.
Does your product carry the guaranteed Irish label?
We haven’t signed up to Guaranteed Irish, we are signed up to Love Irish Food – which is a guarantee that the product is made in Ireland and uses Irish suppliers where possible.
Is your product packaged in Ireland and is it recycled/recyclable?
Yes all our products are made by us, in our specially built kitchens – about 80% of our packaging is recyclable and we are working to get this to 100%. We are certified members of Origin Green which is a sustainability initiative by Bord Bia – which reviews our impact on the environment and society.
Other than your own, what’s your favourite product?
That’s a hard question because I love most food. I buy Glenilen yogurts every week, and there’s always an Irish cheese in my shopping trolley.
What is your view on ‘organic’ produce?
Organic is great – and I try and buy Organic fruit and vegetables where possible, the main selling point for me is natural though as I know organic can sometimes be too hard/too expensive to achieve. I try and avoid artificial additives at all times.
Many food producers are very passionate about their products – have you a message you would like to share with your customers?
We work very hard to bring good products to the shop shelves, we try and sell them at as good value as possible, we are eternally grateful to all those who support us each week – we would be nowhere without our customers. A lot of people have remained loyal to us, despite cheaper attempts to copy it – it’s more important than ever to support independent Irish food brands, so we are extremely grateful to all those that continue to buy Ballymaloe.
Is there salt and/or sugar in your products? If so, how much and why? What is the shelf-life of your product and how come?
Yes, there is a little sugar and salt in some of our products – the Relish is an old fashioned preserve, as with the cranberry sauce, mint jelly, jalapeno relish and Apple Sauce – preserves have been traditionally cooked with salt and sugar which are the natural preservatives – so there is no artificial additives or preserving methods such as sterilisation etc.
What would your death row meal be (aside from your own products!)?
I think it would have to be a poached wild salmon fresh from the Blackwater River, in the summer season, served with delicious salads and homemade lemonade.
Where can people buy your food and find out more about it?
Our products are available in most good food shops, in Supervalu, Tesco and Dunnes Stores. Including the new Beetroot and Steak Sauce with Irish Stout. More information on www.ballymaloefoods.ie.
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