Emma enjoys life in the tasty cheese business
She might be marooned in a chilly "cheese-room", but Bangor chef Emma Darragh's enthusiasm for her aromatic products warms up the glasshouse-like space.
The cheese-room is a unique feature for Avoca in their new Belfast lifestyle store. It’s for retail sales and tastings, as well as providing cheeseboards for their in-store restaurant and deli. And Emma, who’s doing a degree in Culinary Art, explains that there’s a hole in her range of cheeses. It’s one that she’s bursting to fill.
“I have English, Irish, French, Spanish and Italian cheeses, but we really need some local cheeses.
Our customers are keen to buy a Northern Ireland cheese and we’re also very enthusiastic about new cheesemakers providing products for us. For those who want to learn, I’m referring them to Sheridan Cheesemongers, who have been instructing me about cheese.
But one farmer who came in said that there really should be a piece in the News Letter to encourage more rural people to diversify and invent some new Northern Ireland cheeses.”
Avoca, the food and fashion firm owned by the Pratt family, has opened its new 14,000 square foot store in Belfast last month, after a 700,000 fit-out.
The company is in the former Habitat building on Arthur Street, between Donegall Place and the new Victoria Square Shopping Centre. It employs about 60 full and part-time staff and stocks clothes, giftware, books and household items. There’s also a food hall, cafe and kitchen shop, as well as on-site kitchen and bakery, as Avoca’s Business Development Manager Niamh Banks told me:
“The food is always very popular. They are baking our breads, scones and other products from 4.30 am every day.”
The Belfast store is slightly bigger than their flagship store on Suffolk Street in Dublin, which is 12,000 square feet. They haven’t been pushing for a big publicity launch, however, but as Niamh told me, they’re becoming known by word of mouth.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the response in Belfast. It’s so touching. Customers have even sent us welcome cards thanking us for coming!”
Simon Pratt, managing director of Avoca, has described the Belfast store as ‘‘a little oasis of good taste’’.
The business was bought by his parents Donald and Hilary Pratt in 1974, when it had revenue of about 4m a year.
The original weavers’ mill in Co Wicklow was taken over to bring employment to the area. That traditional industry had a Royal stamp of approval, including supplying to the Queen.
It came from a novel idea by the spinster sisters: Winifred, Emily and Veronica Wynne, who ran Avoca mill before the Pratt family took it over.
They are credited with developing the car rug, two of which were presented to the Queen on her coronation. They had also previously presented a waistcoat to George VI.
When the sisters died, the mill was in danger of being redeveloped, but Simon’s parents saved it. Donald Pratt was a solicitor and wife Hilary was a school teacher and they both quit their jobs to buy the mill. They have now passed the business on to their children, and it has annual sales of about 40m.
Daughter Amanda Pratt’s philosphy is that shopping should be Happiness Therapy. This extends to putting that logo in badge form on some pieces in their clothing range.
Whether that will find favour with NI shoppers remains to be seen, but business is brisk in the food hall and gift department when I visit. Niamh tells me that some areas have been surprising successes: “The costume jewellery is selling phenomenally well, as is the Cath Kidston range, which is doing brilliantly. And Wellies for adults are a huge Christmas seller.”
The shop is laid out in quirky self-contained areas, including a greenhouse with glassware and bespoke pieces. Throughout the lifestyle store, the displays have very affordable items beside expensive ones. With Euro prices converted exactly to sterling, it might make some products seem pricey, but the range and quality are undoubted. And for those who’d like to purchase, but need a financial incentive, the store’s New Year sale starts on January 3, before their spring/summer range arrives.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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