The Mallow Makers

Company background

The Mallow Makers was established in 2020 as a lockdown business during Covid-19 and has since grown into household name for lovers of finely crafted, locally made marshmallows. Customers keep coming back because of the consistency of the product, the variety of gift ideas and the quality of the brand with its warm message of sending ‘Squishy Hugs’. What was once a partnership is now run solely by the owner Ingrid who currently undertakes every aspect of the business inclusive of the production of the mallows, branding, social media content, e-commerce platform, packaging and dispatching of orders.

Challenge

The Mallow Makers wanted to develop a range of retail ready sauces suitable for dipping and adding to their popular toasting kits. Ingrid wanted to focus on keeping these flavours suitable for seasonal fixtures and be as compelling as possible.

Solution

To assist with the development of her concept, Ingrid made contact with North West Regional College (NWRC) Business Support Centre (BSC) who supported her through the Invest NI Innovation Voucher programme.

NWRC Food Technology Technical Consultant, Christina Perry provided support in recipe development, recipe standardisation, understanding shelf-life, production upscale, labelling support including ingredient declaration, nutritional and allergens.

Impact

On completion of the project, The Mallow Makers have seven different dipping sauces which can be supplied into retails, markets and added to toasting kits.

Future

Ingrid Maxwell, Owner of The Mallow Makers, described the benefits of working with NWRC’s Business Support Centre via the Invest NI Innovation Voucher programme:‘’I had thought about making my ideas a reality for some time and I was delighted with the support I received from Christina Perry at Foodovation which helped to make it happen. The skilled knowledge and guidance provided on all aspects encouraged and enabled me to launch the product. I would recommend Foodovation to any business and feel the programmes offered by NWRC are extremely worthwhile and beneficial.”