Sweet awards success
A Mid Wales graduate with a passion for making meringues in different shapes, sizes, colours and flavours is enjoying the sweet taste of success after winning three golds in this year’s Great Taste Awards.
Ooomeringues, which is run by Hannah Lake, 26, from her home at Kerry, near Newtown, wowed the judges who gave the business one star gold awards for its caramel and pistachio, cinnamon spiced nut and raspberry meringues.
Great Taste, the world’s largest and most rigorous food awards scheme, is simply about taste, not clever branding or smart packaging. More than 10,000 products, 400 judges and thousands of hours of blind tasting contributed to this year’s awards as Ooomeringues was one of a record 126 Welsh businesses to receive golds with one, two or three stars.
It was the first time Hannah, who set up her business 18 months ago, had entered products for Great Taste judging and she was delighted that all three were awarded gold.
“I was really shocked and pleased when I heard the news and was left thinking that I should have entered all six flavours instead of just three,” she said. “I am now looking forward to the response to the awards and hope to pick up new orders.”
Selling her meringues via her website, she already supplies Harvey Nichols stores, fine food halls, farm shops, delicatessens and garden centres across the UK as well as food wholesalers and distributors. She also exports to fine food halls in Sweden and is attracting interest from other Scandinavian countries.
An equine science graduate with a keen interest in fine food and artisan produce, she left her job in food marketing to set up her own business. Spotting a gap in the market, she opted for meringues, which consist mainly of egg whites, to add value to free range eggs on her partner Richard’s family farm.
Hannah started cooking and experimenting with all sorts of shapes, sizes and flavours and came up with the name Ooomeringues after hearing a series of ‘Ooo’ comments from customers who had spotted her meringues at a food festival.
She believes that meringues will follow cupcakes in becoming the next new food trend in quality retailers, farm shops and food festivals.
“Popularity of cupcakes has reached a plateau after several years as an artisan product, macaroons are now becoming more popular and I hope that my unusual flavours and pastel coloured Ooomeringues will follow a similar pattern,” she said.
“When people think of meringues I want them to think of my quality, handmade meringues rather than the mass produced, machine made ones.”
To help grow her business, she is receiving mentoring support from the Welsh Government’s Food & Drink Wales Mentoring Programme delivered by Mentor a Busnes.
