Foods of Athenry distribution widens

Gluten-free products will be heading from the fields of Athenry to the town of Rugby, England, exactly one year after a fire destroyed The Foods of Athenry’s bakery.

A year to the day after a fire which devastated their bakery on the day of the company co-founder, Paul Lawless’, birthday, The Foods of Athenry, have secured a slot on the shelves of Tesco.

“We’ve come a long way in a year — that old saying when you have your head down and your arse out you don’t notice a year go by,” said Siobhan Lawless the co-founder of The Foods of Athenry bakery.

The Foods of Athenry have concentrated on the gluten-free niche market. One in 10 Irish people are coeliacs and the company identified a gap in the market which led them to set up a dedicated gluten-free facility alongside their regular bakery in 2010.

Since then, the company has secured distribution in nearly 300 Tesco outlets in Britain as well as nationwide in Ireland, and through Musgrave in Supervalu and Centra outlets, and through BWG in Eurospar, Mace.

Ms Lawless said that all their neighbours and friends had helped to get the business back on its feet and now the company had a bright future after accessing the English market.

“Our kids and their friends all chipped in and helped to clean out the bakery and get it up and running again. The insurance company were fantastic. FBD couldn’t have been nicer,” she said.

The Foods of Athenry were on the verge of signing a contract to supply Tesco Ireland before the fire occurred. Ms Lawless said that being so close to achieving listing with a major shop meant that they never thought of giving up. They were going to drive on and get back to where they had been. Twelve months later the company are hoping that their gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and flapjacks can achieve sales of about half a million units in Britain alone.