Foodies enjoying taste of success

Lifestyle – Judy Murphy meets enterprising women who have turned their homes into hives of production

Back in her student days in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Liz Loftus was renowned for her cooking ability.

“Liz can make a sauce out of anything,” was a frequent comment from housemates and fellow students.

Liz has now turned this passion into her livelihood, courtesy of Lizzy’s Homemade Jams & Chutneys, which will be on sale during Galway Food Festival, which runs from next Thursday, April 2 to Monday, April 6. Before food took over, the Caherlistrane resident worked for a period with Galway Arts Festival, followed by a stint in the media and twelve years in community development.

Lizzy’s Jams & Chutneys made their first public appearance at the Galway Food Festival two years ago in the ‘Made in Galway’ Food Village, supported by the Galway Enterprise Board.

“I was poked and cajoled by Made in Galway,” Liz recalls. “I barely had a banner.”

She was on maternity leave from her job at the time and when a redundancy offer came up, she decided to change careers.

Liz had already been making jams and chutneys in her spare time as an escape from the pressures of her day job, which involved working with disadvantaged children.

Today, her stylishly-packaged goods are stocked in health shops, specialist outlets and supermarkets in Galway and further afield.

At present, she makes everything in her own HSE-approved kitchen and produces about 200 jars a month. She has tested her recipes over the years and varies what she makes according to the seasons – rhubarb will be in the mix for the Food Festival. Neighbours have been very good, supplying her with apples and blackcurrants, and there’s also lots of wild produce – including garlic.

Sometimes Liz develops recipes to meet demand – she recently started making piccalilli, having been asked to do so by Born Kitchen in the city. Born wanted to add it to their menu and couldn’t source it in Galway.

“I do pickling anyway, so I said I’d give it a go,” she says. Born is happy with her recipe, so she will continue to make it.

Liz was interested in food even as a child. She grew up in Co Clare and recalls that her parents would regularly go to the market in Limerick before it was revamped and became trendy as the Milk Market. Her father bought goods like cabbage plants, while her mother used to purchase doughnuts as a weekend family treat – that was as exotic as life got at the time, recalls Liz with a laugh.

Having taken the leap into the food business, Liz has been determined to make a go of it. She loves selling directly to customers and meeting supermarket managers, and is part of a community of small producers, who share advice and help each other.

Managing the finances is the biggest chore, but it’s a necessary evil, she says.

Sometimes, bigger supermarkets don’t pay suppliers for a couple of months, so cashflow can be an issue.

“But I have a passion for this and sometimes the challenges can make you stronger. When it’s your baby, you fight for it.”

Liz has simple advice for anybody with a food idea, who would like to see if they can make it work as a business.

“Go out and do it. Test the water first, test the product, see if there’s a market for it. Talk to other producers. Then go back and do your one- three- and five-year plan.”

Liz works hard, but is also determined to enjoy life with her daughter, Isabelle Fernie, who is now two-and-a-half. She puts in about 30 hours’ work a week between making the preserves, going on the road to exhibit and sell, and looking after the paperwork.

At the moment, that level suits her, but she has plans to develop further, and hopes to take part in the Food Academy initiative, run by SuperValu with Bord Bia and the Enterprise Board, where small producers compete to win company support and have their stock sold into Musgrave’s Cash and Carry.

Community development was also the path followed by Claire Davey of Baile Mheiriceá, near Clonbur until a few years ago, when she set up her unusual food company, America Village Apothecary. Claire now makes syrups, bitters and tinctures using plants such as gorse, hibiscus, pine and dandelion, among others.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.