Mussenden Sea Salt from the Causeway Coast for table of top New York chef

Claire is taking part in TOAST involving restaurateur and businessman Tom Coliccjio, owner of Craft Hospitality, a distinguished chef, activist and writer. The food tasting event will also feature a number of New York’s leading chefs.

The invitation to Claire to show her unique products at the event follows her participation last year in a trade mission to New York and Boston by Awaken Angels, an organisation founded by Mary McKenna that campaigns for equity for women-led businesses. It seeks to encourage investment for Irish connected business women by making this accessible, affordable and educational.

“We met with Joe Kennedy in Boston and, as a direct result of that trade mission and the support of Awaken Angels, I have had this fabulous opportunity to take part in TOAST,” explains Claire. Bushmills is also taking part in the tasting event which will raise funds for charity.

Claire runs Mussenden Sea Salt, Northern Ireland’s first producer of natural sea salt in her home town.

She harvests sea salt by hand from the rugged coastline where the often turbulent Atlantic merges with the Irish Sea and from stunning beaches such as the picturesque Downhill Strand, one of Northern Ireland’s Blue Flag beaches.

She collects the salt herself in glass jars for a limited amount of processing at the small plant in Coleraine.

Her focus on this innovative business is on developing the project without adversely affecting the marine environment in particular.

She decided to set up her first food business from her experience of sea salt producers outside Northern Ireland. Many of the world’s top chefs also use sea salt for richer flavours.

Research into the sea salt sector and the extent of the market opportunity led Claire, who had always been keen on running her own business, to turn an idea into a novel small enterprise.

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