Nettle grower all set for Dublin food fair
IRELAND’S only commercial nettle producer, Wild About, which is based near Monamolin, whose products are now being used for in-flight cocktails, will return to the annual Bite Food Festival in the RDS from November 18 to 20.
Over 20,000 people are expected to attend the food festival in Dublin, which showcases the best of Ireland’s artisan food and drink producers in the run-up to the Christmas season.
It has been a rollercoaster of a year for Wild About. The micro-enterprise recently won seven Great Taste Awards for six products in its range including Fennel Cider Butter and Wild Honey while its Raspberry Chilli Chutney took gold at the Blas awards.
‘It’s been a crazy year,’ said Fiona Falconer who runs Wild About with her husband Malcolm. ‘We have also developed a huge following for our fennel syrup for those with indigestion problems while the nettle syrup seemingly helps those with arthritis.’
‘We are a small artisan producer and literally peel, chop and core everything by hand so shows like Bite are fantastic for helping us get our products noticed,’ she said.
‘Aer Lingus has even started using our nettle syrup to mix with champagne for their signature in-flight cocktail in first and business class,’ she added.
Bite 2016 will feature top chefs and food experts as well as a huge range of producers, who are there to sell, sample and educate people about their products.
This year’s festival will feature a range of winners from the Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards, the biggest competition for quality Irish produce.