Meet the Portadown man who is bringing Tayto crisps, Jammie Dodgers and Nutty Krust to the American Midwest

Gerard Campbell has been living in Milwaukee for the past 28 years, but only recently did he decide to bring a taste of home to the American Midwest.

He had been working at Tralee Irish Imports in the city, but when the store closed in March Gerard took over the space, beefed up his offering of Northern Irish products and renamed it O’Malley’s European Foods – using his wife Colleen’s maiden name.

Thanks to the shop he has got to know a lot of ex-pats: “When I moved to Milwaukee I knew maybe 10 people from the island of Ireland. Since I started working in the shop about a year ago I know over a couple of hundred.

"I never realised there was such a large contingent of people from Northern Ireland, the Republic, England, Scotland and Wales over here. It’s a very ethnically diverse city.

"Everyone is excited that we're here. They can get their soda bread, their wheaten bread, their brown sauce or their pickled onion Monster Munch, their Tayto cheese and onion crisps, their Jammie Dodgers.”

Gerard’s late father Eddie had worked in Irwin’s bakery in Portadown in the 60s and 70s and his son is proud to stock Irwin’s famous Nutty Krust in the store along with soda farls, potato bread and wheaten bread all the way from the Co Armagh town.

Gerard, who is helped in the shop by his wife and 13-year-old daughter Orla, said: “Most of our shelf stock – crisps, chocolate, groceries like jams, sauces, condiments, curry sauces – all of that comes directly from Ireland or England and a place in Scotland as well.

“All of our meat products – because the US government don't allow you to import meat products – they come from New York and Georgia. Things like sausages rolls, meat pies, Irish-style sausages, bacon. Those are very popular amongst the customers.”

Gerard grew up in Portadown before studying at Jordanstown. It was while he was working with the Corrymeela Community in Ballycastle, teaching peace and reconciliation, that he met his wife Colleen from South Carolina.

Gerard said: “That's what brought me to America. I was there like a flash, Northern Ireland was starting to calm down a bit in the 90s leading up to the agreement but I had the opportunity to get away and I took it.

“All my family is still there in Portadown, I go back to visit them every year for a couple of weeks. My mother (Ann) is 84, she's as active as ever.

"It's always nice to come home and see the positive changes that have been made around the country.

Gerard said Milwaukee was very much a manufacturing town: “Famous exports would be Miller beer, the Fonz, and Laverne and Shirley. Caterpillar is based here along with a lot of companies who have places in Ireland, north and south.

"We’re beside the Great Lakes – it’s very hot in the summer, but it can be a pretty long winter with snow as late as May 10.”​