Kilcormac beetroot juice wins Great Taste Award!
A Great Taste Award, the world’s most trusted food and drink awards, was awarded to Anne Marie Feighery for her homegrown beetroot juice, produced on the Feighery farm in Kilcormac.
Out of 12,777 products entered from 106 different countries, the Feighery’s Farm Beetroot Juice has been a rising star on the artisan food market since its very recent launch in March of last year.
“To get a Great Taste Award star was a lovely surprise because it’s a fairly prestigious competition,” begins a delighted Anne Marie.
“I felt I was being very optimistic entering the competition in the first place because there were so many products, I was anticipating my juice might get a little bit lost.
“I was competing with quite a few exotic flavours compared to the humble beetroot, but it was a lovely surprise when I got the star and I’ll be able to add that to my labels.”
Feighery’s Farm Beetroot Juice is made from just two ingredients, 70% of them homegrown, and pesticide-free, on the Feighery Farm, and 30% apple juice which is produced at Con Trass’ Apple Farm in Tipperary, where the juice is pressed and bottled.
The juice already won a Blas na hÉireann silver food award within six months of its launch, and is in the running for another, and, is a finalist in the Irish Made Awards.
Earlier this year, Anne Marie who also works in the equine industry, featured on both Ear to the Ground, and Irish Country Living, and has seen her business increase three-fold since its inception.
“I saw a gap in the market when the only beetroot juice available to the consumer here was imported versions from Germany, Switzerland and the UK,” she explains.
“I launched the juice in March of 2019, but the concept was formed the previous July when my father discovered the powers of beetroot.
“He’d always be very well versed on the health benefits of food, and I heard him talking about beetroot juice a lot and how it can naturally reduce your blood pressure.
“I think a lot of people in the country are predisposed to high blood pressure, my dad being one of them, so he was curious to try it at least.
“I’d always go looking for the Irish version of a product, and it was quite surprising when I found there was none.”
From there, things progressed quickly when Anne Marie got in touch with the artisan food specialist in Teagasc to tell him she had an idea for a new product.
“We planted the crop on the home farm and it was due to be harvested when I was in the middle of product development.
“At that point, I had to move very fast - on my labels, my nutritional analysis, branding, on everything. I knew someone in Tipperary who owned an apple farm, Con Trass’ Apple Farm, to see about getting the beets pressed in the machines there.
“And within less than nine months we had the product ready to go.”
The Feighery’s Farm Beetroot Juice is now available to buy in SuperValu stores across the country, as well as artisan stores such as Avoca, the Happy Pear, Ardkeen’s in Waterford, and independent stores nationwide. You can also get it online on the Feighery's Farm website.
It has multiple health benefits attributed to it, including its ability to lower blood pressure, boost energy levels, and promote a healthy immune system to name but a few!
“Awards like these really help get the message out there, not only about the health benefits but also about how good it tastes,” continues Anne Marie.
“The fact that it is grown in Offaly, there’s traceability and accountability there, it’s putting locally grown food on the market. It’s a good energy drink that actually tastes good.
“I’ve got great support behind me, from the growing side of things to the harvesting, and my family is instrumental in that. So a big shout out to my dad and mam, Billy and Anne Feighery, and my brothers Alan and William.”