Award winning Shera gearing up for growth of her business in Portadown

Portadown businesswoman Shera McAloran describes winning two major titles in this month’s influential Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards as “a highlight of my career to date”.
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As managing director of Karri Kitchen, an innovation-led producer of Asian-style dishes for retailers including the 150 supermarkets of Aldi Ireland throughout the Republic, Shera runs the small food manufacturing enterprise outside Portadown with husband Richard.

She gained the Healthier Product Innovation Award for her mango chicken curry, her own recipe, and was Highly Commended in the Small Company Award at a gala event attended by around 400 industry leaders.

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Originally from Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, Shera continues: “When my home Indonesia was mentioned alongside Northern Ireland and all of the incredible local produce in the awards, it was one of the proudest moments in my business life. To bring the South Asian flavours I grew up with in Indonesian to Northern Ireland and for that to be celebrated at this special event was truly special.”

Shera McAloran, managing director of the award winning Karri Kitchen in PortadownShera McAloran, managing director of the award winning Karri Kitchen in Portadown
Shera McAloran, managing director of the award winning Karri Kitchen in Portadown

“Everyone works so hard at Karri Kitchen and it is testament to that hard work and passion to have achieved these wonderful awards,” says Shera, who is experiencing “tremendous growth” at the small food manufacturing enterprise that specialises in developing Asian fusion ready meals from original recipes based on her experience of cooking with her mother. Shera, for instance, has seen business with Aldi Ireland grow significantly as its shoppers are enjoying the quality and taste or her meals for cooking at home.

Yet Shera’s career didn’t start in food development and production. “I started my career as a flight attendant for Lion Air, one of the biggest airlines in Indonesia and flew on services across South-East Asia,” she explains.

The travel bug from the flights led her to move to Australia and to pursue a career in another passion, good food.

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A graduate fashion designer in Indonesia, Shera won a couture design award for Jakarta Fashion Festival, one of the biggest fashion events in Indonesia. In Australia, Shera secured a post as the café and store manager for Aboutlife, which she describes as “an incredible organic marketplace and one of the largest in the country”. She subsequently began developing a career in health nutrition.

“This experience cemented my desire to pursue a career in health-driven hospitality,” she remembers. She also met Portadown businessman Richard McAloran there which led to Shera moving with him and marrying in Northern Ireland.

This focus led to Shera thinking about starting her own enterprise, encouraged by Richard, in 2017.

“Karri Kitchen was created to provide super tasty, healthy dishes from the best local ingredients and offering the authentic South-East Asian flavours I grew up loving,” she continues. “All our ready meals are methodically created to ensure every dish is as nutritionally balanced as possible. We are massive supporters of Intuitive Eating - listening to your body and trusting its instincts to make better choices around fresh, nutritious food without any influence from a ‘dieting’ culture.

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“One of my favourite things I get to do is developing new product ideas. I’ll examine business and industry trends and see if we can expand on these and make healthy nutritious variants to fit our ethos at Karri. I really want to see people make better nutritional choices and have focused the business on health, negating diet culture and being as sustainable as possible.”

Shera combines her role at Karri Kitchen with looking after Joaquin, the couple’s four-year-old son: “I ensure I get to spend quality time with Joaquin. I always aim to be finished by 4pm to collect Joaquin from my mother-in-law and share some quality time! Another thing I try to prioritise is my own health. I adore running and this has become a big part of my life. I run at least twice a week. It’s where I do my best thinking and love the immense satisfaction it gives me.”

She’s currently developing ambitious plans for the short and long-term growth of the small business in Northern Ireland and also in the Republic of Ireland. Winning business from such a successful and fast growing retailer as German discounter Aldi Ireland has been a major boost for Shera and husband Richard.

The growth of the progressive company has also been assisted by business development agency Invest NI in expanding sales and operations.

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Karri Kitchen is also an active member of Food NI, the independent food promotion body behind a series of imaginative initiatives designed to promote the food and drink industry here.

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