Food Academy

Mary Ellen's Meadow

Having grown up on a traditional Irish farm where, as a child I loved going on countryside, foraging adventures.  My great Aunt Mary-Ellen and our local herbalist of the day known as Matt the Quack, my influencers who spoke about how Mother Nature’s bounty has such a wide variety of tastes and then used cures hidden in her hedgerows in the form of herbs, berries and flowers.  I learned for example that the Stinging Nettle was then used to purify and fortify the blood. It naturally contains lots of vitamins including Vitamin K which is for the blood, together with minerals, protein plus Silica which will strengthen the hair, nails and joint tissue. It also contains antihistamines.

Later in life I started making a range Cordials using all the wild, foraged, herbs, berries, and flowers for my own children as well as for friends and family as very welcome gifts for all occasions.  Then in 2014 when a neighbour was in visiting for a chat, she said to me “that is really delicious, you should sell that” which got me thinking, why not?  So initially I tried out my Cordials in local farmers markets and Food events.  To my sheer delight everyone loved them and bought them. Later at home I had a good think about how to go forward.  I would never have gotten to launching my range of Cordials in mid 2016 at the Taste of Cavan event where they went down a treat.  With the help of my daughter and son, we continued to actively participate in as many events as possible to showcase our range of Cordials including participating at Bloom in the Phoenix Park where we were nominated among the 10 best new artisan start-ups.  We are now stocked in many local artisan food stores.  We also sell into Celtic Whiskey Wholesale who distribute into lots of hotels and Cocktail bars.  Plus, now we are members of the Created in Cavan brand who promote all of us small producers here in Co. Cavan.

We have enjoyed building our little artisan business which has grown from strength to strength mainly due to our customers seeing and tasting at all those events, the authentic  quality of a real Irish, wild, foraged, herbs, flower and berry Cordial which they are delighted to buy.  Some customers at these events, having tasted a diluted sample of our Cordials would ask us “Do I have to dilute it?” which when asked by several customers after buying a bottle got me thinking, well why don’t we offer a diluted version of our Cordials.  Hence today, we bring you the authentic experience of Ireland’s pure, wild, foraged real herbs, berries and flowers in a can to enjoy at any time, any place.  Plant power from Ireland.

A huge thanks and our gratitude we extend to our local Enterprise Board and the SuperValu Food Academy Programme, without both we would never be where we are today.  We see a bright future for Mary-Ellen’s Meadow as our customers are looking for more natural offerings in their choice of drinks which will not only hydrate but will enhance their daily diet for their general well being which will in turn make them feel they are taking control of their own wellness. 

We want to bring a higher value proposition to the consumer of tomorrow’s canned drinks to enhance your health and wellness whilst promoting wild plant power in our everyday.