Margaret Cooper recently landed a sizeable contract to supply products to a leading hamper business. And the deal with Baskets Galore in nearby Bangor has led Margaret to move from her home into a small production unit in Bangor that will enable her to meet the growing demand for her highly rated jams and chutneys.

You’ll still find Margaret pitching for business at farmers’ markets around the province. This is because she loves the direct contact with shoppers that provides useful feedback about her product range. It’s an interest that has been influenced by a lengthy and successful career in sales especially in the intensely competitive insurance business. “I love meeting people and talking to them about my jams, relishes and chutneys. I have found that shoppers are increasingly seeking to know what goes into the jams and who makes them. Provenance is now a very big thing with shoppers,” she says.

“It’s important to me to hear what they think and their ideas for other products. I wouldn’t want to lose this engagement. I really don’t mind manning my stall when the weather is awful as it has been over the past month. The banter with shoppers is great fun. Sales have also been good at country markets such as the monthly one in Comber. I find that shoppers are really keen to talk about their favourite food and to hear how I make my jams and chutneys.

“There’s also great camaraderie with other stall holders at markets. We exchange ideas and pass on customers,” she says.

All Margaret’s products are hand crafted, the fruit and other ingredients cut by hand. “The order from Baskets Galore meant I needed more space and led me to find a small unit at Balloo in Bangor. It’s given me more room for handcrafting the products,” she adds. “I just couldn’t continue working from home in Donaghadee. There just wasn’t enough space. The new unit will also give me more scope to grow the business and to meet the increasing demand from retailers as well as market shoppers.”

She moved into the unit on the outskirts of Bangor in August and began kitting out the premises with the necessary cooking and packaging machinery. The products remain handcrafted.

She’s caught the eye of buyers at Hastings Hotels Group, a longstanding supporter of local food and drink, and now supplies her unique breakfast marmalade to the leading hospitality business. Other high-end clients include the award winning Pier 36 restaurant in her hometown.

A native of Ayrshire in Scotland, Margaret has been resident in Northern Ireland for 30 years. Marriage brought her here and to a career in sales. She started making fudge as “a bit of a hobby”, she says. “It was a Scottish-style tablet fudge and was popular with family and friends.”

This led Margaret to look at other products in her home kitchen. “I had grown up in Scotland watching my mother and grandmother making their own jams and fruit jellies. I decided to explore opportunities and to develop my own recipes. Family and friends were again supportive and suggested I should start selling them at local fairs and markets,” she adds. Which she did successfully.

She set up her small artisan business in 2012 and settled on the “Made with Love” brand to reflect her own commitment to quality and richly flavoured jams and chutneys.

“I’ve always loved cooking and entertaining,” she continues. “I enjoy making the products and take great care to ensure the very best ingredients. It’s a genuine labour of love,” Margaret says. “I know it’s an intensely competitive part of the business but I believe that my products have what it takes for success. It’s because they are different.

“What I am doing is to develop a unique product range that now stretches to 22 including chilli jam, which is proving very popular with shoppers, along with a plum and vanilla jam. In addition, I’ve launched ‘Christmas in a Jar’, a quite different blend of tasty ingredients for the festive season. I am also using my experience in sales over 30 years to help me in developing the business.”

She’s also being assisted by second husband Tony and grandson Finlay at markets around Northern Ireland. Tony also helps with delivering the products to customers around the province. “It’s a real family business,” Margaret adds.

What does the future hold for Made with Love? “The contract with Baskets Galore is a marvellous boost for me and a great endorsement of the business. I want to build on this and grow sales especially in Northern Ireland. The business from Baskets Galore will see our products going throughout the UK and further afield. I’d hope that this will lead to approaches from customers both here and abroad.”

Yardsman Original Double Stout is an ode to Belfast’s heritage of quality craft brewing

Hercules Brewing Company – Belfast’s first craft brewery and creators of Yardsman Lager – has added to its growing portfolio, with the launch of a new craft Irish stout.

Yardsman Original Double Stout, which will be sold exclusively in draught form, is the fourth product to be launched by the brewery in the 18 months since its launch.

Reflecting growth in the craft market in the region and responding to increasing consumer demand for craft brews, Hercules Brewing Company has steadily increased its portfolio since its launch in February 2014 and now includes Yardsman Lager, Yardsman IPA, Yardsman Belfast Pale Ale, alongside the new Yardsman Original Double Stout.

Hercules Brewing Company was the first craft brewery to open in Belfast in over 100 years and builds on a tradition of brewing in Belfast, which dates back to 1855. Situated at the heart of Belfast’s Harbour, the brewery employs seven full time staff and can produce up to one million bottles of craft beer per year. Capacity of the brewery has now increased to three times its original size.

The Yardsman range is supplied to premium restaurants and bars across Northern Ireland, as well as independent off licenses. Whilst the focus is currently on building the brand in the domestic markets in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, plans are on the horizon to export the Yardsman, range, with distribution arrangements now in place in the U.S., Mainland Europe, Scotland and England.

Following months of testing and a four week wait for the perfect small batch brew, Yardsman Original Double Stout is now pouring in a selection of bars and restaurants across Northern Ireland. As with all Yardsman brews, only the finest, best quality Irish ingredients are used in Yardsman Original Double Stout.

Niall McMullan, Managing Director of Hercules Brewing Company, commented; ‘Hercules Brewing Company puts craft and local at the heart of everything we do and Yardsman Original Double Stout is no different. We have been waiting on this brew to develop for months so it is very exciting for us to finally reveal this unique, quality stout.

“It is our first stout, following our successful Yardsman Lager, BPA, IPA and we are confident that stout lovers in Belfast and beyond will taste our craft in every sip. The fresh, quality ingredients in our brew set us apart from other stouts and truly represent the craft of brewing. I have always wanted to share quality, local, craft brews with the region and so am particularly pleased that the Yardsman line has been received so well. ’

It takes Yardsman Master Brewers almost four weeks to craft the perfect pint. The stout is brewed with freshly roasted barley and a range of high quality coloured malts, as well as Irish hops and water and is filtered through Irish linen. The stout is nitrogenated, which creates the undeniably creamy white head and a settled, clear but dark ruby black body.

As with all products in the Yardsman range, Yardsman Original Double Stout is completely free from all chemicals, preservatives, stabilisers and animal bi-products and only is brewed using the four natural ingredients of hops, barley, water and yeast, making it completely vegan friendly.

The full bodied, colourful Yardsman Original Double Stout has a strong creamy texture and delicious aroma yet is light and refreshing to drink. It has a velvety smooth finish with a full mouth feel of delicate chocolate and coffee flavours. Its rich colour and clarity comes from doubling the amount of coloured malts used in the brew. The stout is exceptionally well balanced, exceptionally smooth and has a lingering delicate sweetness on the palate.

Yardsman Original Double Stout is now pouring at select premier bars and restaurants across Northern Ireland including The Hudson Bar, Oh Yeah Centre, The Black Box and Bittles Bar in Belfast, as well as The Millennium Forum in Derry-Londonderry.

Keep up to date with Yardsman news and to join in the conversation with Yardsman on Twitter @YardsmanLager and on Facebook – www.facebook.com/yardsmanlager

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Northern Ireland last night welcomed the passing of the Food Hygiene Rating Bill in the Assembly. The Bill will mean that food businesses who sell food directly to the public, and who receive a rating under the statutory Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, will be required by law to display their food hygiene rating sticker at their premises. This includes restaurants, takeaways, mobile caterers, schools, hospitals, residential care homes, delicatessens and supermarkets.

Speaking after last night’s debate, Head of Local Authority Policy and Delivery at the FSA, Michael Jackson said, “The FSA is delighted that the Food Hygiene Rating Bill has passed the final consideration stage and is due to receive Royal Assent and become an Act here in Northern Ireland.

“We have been working closely with colleagues in the 11 district councils in NI who will be responsible for operating the statutory scheme, with a view to introducing mandatory display in October 2016. District councils will be writing to all food businesses within the scope of the scheme to explain the requirements and how it will work.

“Since the scheme was introduced in NI in 2011, the number of businesses voluntarily displaying their rating sticker has remained relatively low. From October 2016, it will become a legal requirement to display rating stickers and it will be an offence not to display a valid rating.

“In the months leading up to the introduction of the statutory scheme, district councils will be working with businesses to help those with a rating of less than 5 improve their level of compliance and to provide new ratings where appropriate, as well as to encourage those with a 5 rating to maintain their very good standards.”

The widespread display of the rating sticker will benefit consumers, giving them an instant indication of a food business’ hygiene standards and it will also be good for businesses as it shows customers just how seriously they take food hygiene.

Most importantly, the mandatory display of ratings will encourage those businesses with poorer ratings to improve their food hygiene standards and strive for a better rating. This, in turn, will reduce the likelihood of food poisoning occurring.

Food businesses should not find it difficult to reach the top food hygiene rating of 5, as all that they need to do is to comply with existing food hygiene law. It is the responsibility of food businesses to provide safe food and if they have put the necessary procedures in place to help them achieve this, then the rating scheme itself will not present a significant burden. The only requirement will be that they display the sticker at the front of house following inspection.

One difference with the statutory scheme is that when a business receives a rating of less than 5 and, having taken action to address the problems, requests a further inspection to get an improved rating they will have to pay for this (the fee has not yet been finalised but will reflect the associated costs incurred by the council in carrying out a re-rating inspection).