Dungarvan Observer, December, 2003

The United Kingdom's fine food Oscars seek to define the very best speciality food and drink from around the world and set them apart from the mainstream. The 'fine food Oscars' go from strength to strength in recognising quality and integrity in speciality food and drink.

Organised by the Guild of Fine Food Retailers the 2003 Awards attracted over 3,500 entries from around the world which were assembled at the Westminster Kingsway Catering College in London over the last week.

150 experts blind tasted all the entries and Chand Foods t/a Tara's Handmade Quality Foods, O'Connell Street, Dungarvan, won a gold medal for her Chocolate Brownie and a Bronze medal for her Passion Cake.

All Gold Award winners will progress to the judging for the Sponsored Classes and the ultimate accolade, the Fortnum & Mason Supreme Championship. Final judging takes place in London during the week before the Speciality & Fine Food Fairs and the awards will be announced at the glittering Great Taste Awards Dinner at Olympia on Saturday 6th September.

Tara and Michael Breen moved back to Dungarvan in November 2002. They have both had a variety filled and challenging life in quite a few countries; U.S.A., Hong Kong and the U.K. to name but three. Tara expressed frustration at the quality, availability and affordability of fresh food in Ireland, a country quite rightly proud of its agricultural economy. From an Indian family, she was keen on Asian snackfoods and when she found that many Irish people were very keen to try new tastes, she started to experiment.

She tried baking a few cakes; they went down very well with the locals. A 'Passion' cake derived from a Norwegian friends family recipe book with quite a few tasty additions, was a particular hit. After months of nagging from husband Michael, a recent MBA graduate from a leading UK business school, she baked some cookies, they too received a very warm reception. A few more tastings interrupted by a distinction in a teaching diploma from the College of Commerce in Cork, determined that Chand Foods was born.

From September 2002, the couple worked tirelessly to perfect the recipes and find somewhere to bake them. The move to Dungarvan led them down the road to The Abbey where a recently retired kitchen was revived to active duty. With the help of some exceptionally keen locals the couple decided to start trying to 'really sell these things' in January of this year. Lots of driving, many late nights and early mornings with Coffee shops, Speciality Deli's amd restaurants up and down the country clamouring for their uniquely fresh products - the die was cast. In March they were delivering twice a week to Cork and weekly to Dublin and Galway.

IFEX 2003 (at Dublin's RDS) marked the launch of four new products (Apple & Brandy Cake, Apple & Almond Tart, alongside Namkin and RazzApple). Michael, Tara et al, now distribute a range of tasty soft drinks and mineral waters, make snackfoods as above, and of course still deliver (with unrivalled reliability) their fresh range of cakes and cookies. The local community have proved very supportive to the couple, and the business is building a very good reputation in food service circles.

Customers as diverse as Cork Institute of Technology, Clery's in Dublin, Butler's Chocolates, The Opera House in Cork, Mocha Beans in Galway, The West Coast Coffee chain in Dublin and of course Butlers and Jitterbeans in Dungarvan now carry their range. The IFEX experience means tara's now delivers to Dublin twice weekly.

Northern Ireland and the UK are expected to come online in the next few months. Chand Foods and Tara are striving to continuously improve fresh food quality standards, and they are working tirelessly with the customer in mind.