Company pops in the taste of Wales
IT’S an all-American classic with a couple of Welsh twists.
Jones Popcorn is part of a newly launched range of snacks and is flavoured with Halen Môn sea salt from the coastline of Anglesey and Blodyn Aur (Golden Flower) rapeseed oil from hills above Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr in Conwy.
Also part of the range under the Jones brand are iconic Welsh treats like individual slices of Bara Brith fruit loaf and twin packs of Welsh cakes made in the Snowdonia village of Llanllechid, along with Jones Chocolate from Bala.
They’re being sold by the growing Bwydydd Madryn food company which is based in Pwllheli where the company recently opened a new warehouse to cope with burgeoning demand.
Among the first stockists of the snacks is the Dylan’s chain of restaurants which has eateries in Porthaethwy, Criccieth and Llandudno.
Another successful development was the launch of the www.blasus. cymru website to enable the company to sell direct to customers as well as through supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants across Wales.
Bwydydd Madryn was set up by agri-food expert Geraint Hughes in 2012 to promote and provide an outlet for Welsh produce which he describes as the “best in the world”.
The firm employs three other people including Geraint’s business partner James Hughes.
Geraint said: “I was brought up on a farm and I always had an interest in growing crops and later I led crop research at Bangor University.
“The spur for establishing Bwydydd Madryn nine years ago was to have more of an influence on the food chain so we could provide an outlet for Welsh food producers.” Ja James added: “Ge “Generally, the snacks market is run by multi-nationals so we wanted to bring Welsh brands together so that we can also have a slice of the market.”