Surviving and Thriving: Gourmet Tart Co getting a bigger slice of the action!

Is your business bucking the trend during Covid? Have you found opportunity in adversity? How are you doing your best to survive and thrive despite the pandemic? Tell us your story by emailing news@ctribune.ie. Mark it ‘Surviving and Thriving’ – and we’ll do our best to feature the good news over the coming weeks on the pages of the Connacht Tribune or Galway City Tribune.

The Gourmet Tart Company must be one of the rare operations in the country to buck the trend of closures – instead increasing their staff to meet the new demand for a newly-launched service.

All six of their shops — bakeries, coffee shop and the restaurant in Salthill — closed during the first lockdown, but that time has been used well by owners, Michelle O’Donnell and husband Fintan Hyland.

“It was all new to us, the lockdown. We felt it was safer for both our staff and customers to close as we were not clear on the safety measures or how or if we could implement them. But we all learned during that time and we made sure we would be well prepared for a safe re-opening.

“Fintan was a scientist and he was so aware of safety and health issues and we weren’t comfortable opening during the first lockdown.

“We did open after lockdown and for the current lockdown, we ensured that we would keep our staff working, which we are doing, ensuring of course that they were able to do so in a safe environment,” said Michelle.

The demand for take-out and ease of shopping via click and collect and deliveries led to Michelle and Fintan deciding on expanding a successful hampers service they provided last Christmas.

But it seems now, more than ever, the demand for home delivery services has never been higher. And with Christmas around the corner, it’s timely that the Gourmet Tart has started selling hampers a lot sooner than they had anticipated.

To experiment and see how a non-Christmas hamper would go down with local customers, they did a trial with Home Sweet Home hampers.

There was no doubt about it, when people couldn’t visit family and friends, ordering a hamper for a loved one appeared to be a lockdown staple. The Halloween Hocus Pocus hampers sold out too.

Their Salthill restaurant has been turned into a hive of activity as it is their hamper packing hub. Where once tables were filled with regular customers enjoying the menu, those same tables are now covered in bubble wrap, paper, boxes and other accoutrements needed to pack a hamper.

Another skill learned is meeting the packaging requirements of the couriers ensuring that goods arrive safely in one piece!

Hampers start at €25 plus €5 delivery charge nationwide (thanks to a deal with a courier company) and luxury ones especially for Christmas will go up to €100.

Apart from wine, most, if not all of the goods, are made in the Gourmet Tart kitchens from baking, to jams, to spices, to seed mixes, granola to relish. And the ones not made in their own kitchen are all sourced locally.

“We were determined to support local and we are thrilled to include Calendar Coffee roasted in Barna to Galway socks from Irish Socksciety, as well as tea blends from Solaris Teas, another local company.

“I think many of our customers hadn’t realised just how many products we made ourselves as most think of us as a bakery, coffee shop and restaurant. Fintan has always been experimenting in the kitchen and we are very proud of our own range of products which we are now able to use in the hampers,” she added.

Though there are a range of hamper selections on their website, Michelle, says that people can email and custom make their order.  Cookies, bars, Christmas cakes, pecan snowballs and macaroons all travel well for hampers making their way further afield in the country. But the main thing for the business, Michelle stresses, was being able to hold onto their staff during this lockdown — and even increasing it to keep up with the demand on their hampers.

Fintan is kept busy in the kitchen making relishes, mixing Middle Eastern spices and jams.

“We stand over our product and we are happy we were able to diversify a bit to ensure the business stays open,” said Michelle.

The Gourmet Tart now employs 70 people in its six outlets around the city and will celebrate its 20th year next year.

(Photo: Michelle O’Donnell of Gourmet Tart Co, bucking the trend).

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