What's the history of your business?
We are a recent start up, our first subscription boxes went out in January and have been getting an overwhelming response so far. It all started for me when I graduated from finance in the University of Maynooth in county Kildare in 2011. Ireland was in the depths of the recession so there wasn't too many jobs at that time, so I decided to do something different, separate myself from the crowd and have a bit of adventure as well. I applied for a finance internship in Shanghai and was lucky enough to get it.

While there I managed to get a full-time roll in a boutique strategy consultancy in Beijing working for some influential business figures in that region and learned a lot from them.

I worked on many projects including ones in the food and beverage industry for large corporations. I learned a lot about market trends and began to get a different perspective on Ireland and what really makes us unique. I wanted to return to Ireland and learn more about the industry so I applied to Kerry Group to learn the ropes of the food industry and with the growing demand for high end Irish artisan produce abroad the Irish Taste Club was born.

Do you see the Irish food landscape having changed since the Celtic Tiger hit, and if so, how? Are the Irish expecting more from their food now?
Since the Celtic tiger more and more Europeans came to Ireland to work and began having an influence on our cuisine. This has definitely played a role in the change of Ireland's food and consumer trends.

But ironically if we fast forward from the Celtic tiger I think it was actually the recession that has played a key part. It has helped people take stock and realise what they are really passionate about and in many cases in Ireland that's food. People are going back to their roots, food production is what Ireland was really famous for.

Any interesting business plans in the works?
We are a start-up company so everything is new and exciting. We will be attending events throughout the year in the US so that will be interesting for sure. We just launched our recipe eBook that people can download for free on our site. It’s got some great recipes and exclusive interviews with the award winning makers behind our products.

Are there any points you'd like to drive home about your business?
Irish Taste Club is an Irish Artisan food monthly subscription service. We hand-pick the best products from Ireland's independent producers and deliver it to US customers every month. We give people in the US a unique chance get an Irish farmers’ market straight to their door and taste the best Ireland has to offer. For producers, we give them a chance to get market exposure and showcase their products to a new, potentially huge audience and in many cases we give them their first online sales and exports.

As a farmer's son from the west of Ireland, I'm really proud to be involved in something that will showcase the quality Ireland has to offer and make a real difference to the Irish economy along the way. 
 
Join our club at www.irishtasteclub.com