Scottish Garlic Growers Win UK Award for Business Know-how

Tag : garlic

A husband and wife team of garlic growers have today won a nationalaward for their business and innovation skills.
The Really Garlicky Company in Nairn won the award and £5,000prize money for the steps they’ve taken to diversify theirporcelain garlic farming business into a wide range of value addedproducts.
Competing against farmers from across the UK, Glen and GilliAllingham won Best Farm Entrepreneur – a new categorysupported by Farmers Guardian - at today’s Country Living andWaitrose Made in Britain Food Awards.
The award is set to be made each year to a farmer who candemonstrate flair, innovation, good business practices and a realpassion for quality and consistency. Any farm-based business iseligible, and there’s no age limit – the judges lookfor that entrepreneurial spirit which has, and will continue to,take your business forward.
Speaking on behalf of the judging panel and making the Best FarmEntrepreneur award, Malcolm Crabtree, MD of the Waitrose Farm atLeckford said:
“We judged the Really Garlicky Company a very worthy winnerfor the research work they continue to carry out into developingporcelain garlic in the UK; their clear vision for the brand, andtheir continual innovation – both on the farming side and indeveloping new products that use the garlic they grow.”

As well as the Farm Entrepreneur award, there were five main foodaward categories to honour farmers, growers, butchers, bakers,cooks and brewers, with each category winner receiving£5,000.
An overall Made in Britain Food Champion of the Year was alsochosen from among these five. This year a ten-year old Devon girlwho started her own business selling duck eggs has eclipsedBritain’s foodie talent to take the top prize.
More than 200 food and drink producers entered the awards and thejudges whittled the entries down to just 18 finalists. The fivewinners, announced in a ceremony at the Burghley Horse Trials today(Friday 5 September), each win £5,000, and be promoted at theCountry Living Christmas Fair 2008 to be held at the BusinessDesign Centre, Islington, London from 12-16 November.
All winners and finalists will also be featured in a specialbooklet, free with the October 2008 issue of Country Living.
Background: The Really Garlicky Company (© courtesy of FarmersGuardian)
From their 415-acre farm at the foot of the Cawdor Hills, nearNairn, Glen and Gilli Allingham are the only UK growers ofPorcelain garlic.
Their 60 acre crop supplies Waitrose and over 300 delicatessens andfarm shops throughout the UK.
Although predominantly arable farmers, their business has expandedrapidly since they first diversified into Hardneck Porcelain garlicseven years ago. Their discovery of a niche product grown in theScottish Highlands, has prompted increasing demand for all thingsgarlicky.
The couple began growing an acre of Hardneck garlic in 2000 as partof a research project with the Scottish Agricultural College. Thetrial was so successful, the pair were spurred to visit garlicgrowers in North America to discuss how best to develop theirideas. Convinced they had discovered an untapped market with a newstrain of garlic, The Really Garlicky Company was launched in 2001.
“We believe the large cloves and sweet flavour of theHardneck garlic packs a powerful punch and is far better than anyother on the market,” says Glen. “It already makes up10 per cent of the North American market and we have set our sightson doing the same in the UK.”
It took three years for Glen (46) and Gilli (39) Allingham to findthe right strain of garlic to grow on their farm.
Their manual system is labour-intensive and everything is done byhand. The seed cloves are planted in October before harvest inJuly, when casual workers are employed to hand-lift the crops.
Once the garlic is harvested, around seven-and-a-half tonnes ispuréed to make 'Eazy Garlic', which is sold all-year-roundto consumers and is used in the company's own branded productswhich include garlic bread, parsley butter, soft cream cheese andaioli.
From originally working out of the farmhouse, the couple movedtheir business into a modern 5,000sq.ft factory unit in Nairn andnow employ a team of eight staff. They’re planning to launcha number of new products over the next 12 months.
ENDS
For further information please contact Esther Black/Giselle Dye,Pagoda PR, 0131 556 0770 or esther.black@pagodapr.com orGiselle.dye@pagodapr.com
External Weblinks
Farmers Guardian feature about The Really Garlicky Company
Waitrose Made in Britain awards
The Really Garlicky Company
Notes to Editors Launched earlier this year, the Country Living and Waitrose Made inBritain Awards promote the UK’s butchers, bakers, growers,brewers and cheese makers and help to fast-track their produce ontothe country’s supermarket shelves. Full details of allwinners and finalists are available onwww.waitrose.com/madeinbritain or in a special booklet, free withthe latest issue of Country Living Magazine, on sale Monday 15September, 2008. Waitrose has 192 branches across Britain, with twobranches in Edinburgh, at Comely Bank and Morningside. Theretailer and its sister company, John Lewis, are entirely co-ownedby the 69,000 'Partners' who work for the John Lewis Partnership.Waitrose is dedicated to offering quality food that has beenresponsibly sourced, combined with high standards of customerservice www.waitrose.com