Energy bars prove a big hit for Ferbane food producer
Breda Maleney is one of six small Offaly food producers given a massive chance by SuperValu to feature her ‘healthy option’ energy bars on SuperValu shelves.
Níos Mó Foods make Pumpkin Seed and Chia Seed bars that are packed full of naturally healthy stuff like organic oats, seeds, crunchy nuts, maple syrup and beautifully juicy fruits.
Every 69g bar contains over 8g of natural protein, meaning they’re great for boosting your energy – at lunch, on the road, or when you hit the gym and are completely suitable for vegans.
Speaking to the Offaly Independent this week, Breda explained that the venture started out of her wanting to make healthier food for her own family to eat.
“I’m into training and fitness myself and I started reading up on what went into healthy energy bars and I discovered that there was too much artificial things going into them. So I started working on my own organic ingredients,” Breda, a school secretary in Clonmacnoise, explains. She first started Níos Mó Foods around 18 months ago and it grew from there.
“People began to say I should do something more with them. So I went to the Food Academy in Ferbane and they told me I had something on my hands.”
Starting out selling her bars at the Irish Game Fayre in Birr, followed by the Food Market in Tullamore, where Breda says she gets her best feedback, she applied to go to the Food academy in October last year, presented her products in March, and by May they went on SuperValu shelves.
“It was quite a quick process in one sense, but behind it all you are getting them nutritionally analysed and everything else.”
Food Academy is a joint initiative between SuperValu, Bord Bia and the Local Enterprise Office Network and since its inception in 2014, has supported over 600 small producers the length and breadth of Ireland. Over the last 12 months, Bord Bia, the Local enterprise Offices and local SuperValu has worked with hundreds of small food producers around the country, through the Food Academy programme and over 300 food start-ups are currently on-shelves in their local SuperValu store.
“I’m a one-woman operation. I make the bars, package them, label them - everything. It is completely different to my day job. I have Tuesdays and Fridays off, so I try and get most of my production done on Tuesday and then deliver to the shops on a Friday morning.
“The bars are on trial for a 14 week period on the shelves and then you get feedback on how many units you’ve sold. The dream would be to get the Níos Mó Foods brand widely known. And I’ve more ideas in mind.”
Selling at retail price of €2.20, Níos Mó bars are available in Buckleys in Birr, Moate, Mullingar, Tri and Run in Mullingar, Roscommon, Athlone, Ferbane and Longford.