Viva Mexico! Burren Balsamics, Armagh export champion, wins new business

The new export business won by Co Armagh’s Burren Balsamics is the outcome of a ‘meet the buyer’ event in London last October during which Susie Hamilton Stubber, the Northern Ireland artisan company’s managing director, and Bob McDonald, development director, connected with buyers from El Palacio de Hierro, the upscale chain of department stores in Mexico.

Following successful commercial conversations, Burren Balsamics, a UK Business and Trade export champion, has just fulfilled its first-ever order to the store in Mexico City.

Burren Balsamics has now been invited to attend the opening of El Palacio de Hierro’s flagship store in Polanco, Mexico City on Thursday, August 3.

The event will involve a press conference and dinner with attendance of El Palacio de Hierro directorates, His Majesty’s Ambassador to Mexico, media, influencers and Department for Business and Trade Mexico senior officers.

Founded in 1888, El Palacio is often described as the Harrods of Mexico. The stores provide an extensive range of luxury clothing, electrical goods and gourmet foods.

Susie Hamilton Stubber, founder and managing director of Burren Balsamics in 2014, a specialist in flavoured vinegars for chefs and home cooks, says: “We were thrilled to receive our first order from such a prestigious and influential as El Palacio del Hierro is and to be representing Northern Ireland in Mexico. We delighted to be working with the Department of Business in promoting British foods throughout Mexico.

“It’s a marvellous opportunity for us to promote and sell our natural fruit infused vinegars, relishes and jams at Palacio and other outlets especially chefs in top hotels and restaurants across the country,” she adds.

Burren Balsamics, which has won a host of quality awards and exports worldwide, has a key role in helping the department to reach out to business, by sharing their exporting expertise with new and inexperienced exporters and promoting the benefits of exporting.

The Department for Business and Trade’s Export Champion programme, allows successful exporters of all sizes to support their peers – other businesses - to develop their export potential.

In November 2022, Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch announced eight UK business leaders as Export Champions including Armagh’s Burren Balsamics. Between them, they represent a variety of key sectors in the economy and offer voluntarily support for exporting.

Burren Balsamics is now following up its initial success from the ‘meet the buyer’ event in Mexico by supporting the DBT Food and Drink team is leading the UK Happening events in collaboration with the Palacio de Hierro store. One of Mexico’s leading retailers, it has outlets in Mexico City and a large footprint across Mexico’s largest provincial cities and is very well established in its luxury food and gourmet products.

The ‘UK Happening’ month-long promotional event is to celebrate 200 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Mexico. It will promote UK food and drink brands including Burren Balsamics.to shoppers across Mexico.

The kick-off event will take place on Thursday, August 3 – the event will involve PR, Press, Media, social media, marketing, and attendees will include head of mission, directors from Palacio de Hierro, movers and shakers from the gourmet and high end food and drinks industry.

“Activations” will take place at Palacio were brands will offer tasting sessions for customers – Burren’s directors will be an integral part of these activities.

Katie Brown, Agriculture, Food and Drink Lead - Department for Business and Trade, Northern Ireland, adds: “The Department is delighted to see the exporting success that Burren Balsamics has had in recent months, specifically the company’s recent export win with Mexican department store chain, El Palacio de Hierro.

“The Department for Business and Trade’s free export support is available to businesses of all sizes, across the UK, including Northern Ireland.

“In the coming months, we plan to host a number of events to support Northern Ireland food and drink producers enter the global marketplace, including a 2-day virtual meet the buyer event in September and an exploratory trade mission to Anuga Tradeshow in Germany, the biggest food show in Europe this year, in October.

“Expressions of interest for both events are now open to all Northern Ireland food and drink producers, and we would encourage applications from small, artisan food producers who are ready to take their business to the global stage, adds Katie.