Foods now as famous as Fields of Athenry!

It might be the Fields of Athenry that are most familiar to an international audience – particularly on the sporting stage – but the Foods of the same town are fast catching up in terms of global recognition.

Because Foods of Athenry – the company that literally rose from the ashes after a fire wiped them out four years ago – are now attracting online orders from as far away as the Middle East.

And that’s on top of the huge deals they’re now secured with blue chip stores like Harrod’s and speciality distributor Cotswold Fayre in the UK – all in the last four months.

Industry acclaim has been pouring in as well for the family-run operation based in Kilconeiron – they were the only West of Ireland winner of a Guild Writers of Ireland Food Award in February, to add to the 37 awards it had already garnered.

The bakery was established by Paul and Siobhan Lawless in 2004 out of “a mixture of necessity and a love for good food”.

They replaced the milking cows with mixers and ovens, moving from a full-time dairy enterprise to a bakery – and in 2011 they added a dedicated gluten free facility so they could expand their love of good food into certified gluten free, and/or vegan products.

But 2011 was also the year that a fire razed the business to the ground – an experience that, in hindsight, Siobhan believes is part of the reason they’ve now succeed so well.

Because on top of “hard work and perseverance” it was this ability to “pick ourselves up and coming back stronger” that has reaped such rewards.

Foods of Athenry are now making waves in the UK, where they continue to bring a taste of rural Galway across the Irish Sea. And in January they secured deals with Harrods and Cotswold Fayre.

“We are very excited to be working with two such prestigious names, which will allow more people in the UK to experience our deliciously healthy products,” said Siobhan.

“We firmly believe that good food promotes good health, and so we bake from scratch using original recipes on the family farm. And all come with a guaranteed high taste profile.”

They also operate an Online Shop on their website to expand their offering further afield – and they recently had their first order from Dubai!

It has been quite the meteoric rise for the small rural business to global free-from’ provider – and one suspects that their recipe for success will see them on many more menus before they’re done.