Company Background:
Born and Raised Waffles was created three years ago by Michael Henderson after he returned from a trip to Belgium and saw the popularity of fresh waffles. He noticed a gap in the Irish market and began selling plain, ‘fresh to order’ waffles from his converted horsebox to customers throughout Ireland.
Challenge:
Michael wanted to expand his product range to include alternative waffle flavours after being asked by customers, however he had limited knowledge of the product development process. For this, he required the help and support of Foodovation to develop flavoured waffle recipes that are still ‘great to eat’ and fit with his brand, as well as looking at the nutritional benefits.
Solution:
In order to overcome this obstacle,Michael made contact with North West Regional College (NWRC) Business Support Centre (BSC) who supported them through the InnovateUs programme which is funded by the Department for the Economy. This provided 30 hours of 1:1 mentoring support from NWRC Foodovation Manager, Stella Graham, who upskilled Michael in areas such as recipe development to include flavoured waffles, understanding nutrition claims, product labelling and product quality retention when batch producing.
Impact:
On completion of the project, Michael successfully created a range of new waffle flavours which he hopes to start selling soon.
Testimonial from Michael Henderson discussing the benefits of working with NWRC’s Stella Graham:
‘’I thought the project was good value for money because I’m now in a position to scale up as I understand how to develop recipes within the regulations and the requirements needed to upscale a food business. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Stella and NWRC’s Foodovation Centre.’’
