Cork business serves up success

A Cork based food producer has been voted into the VegFest UK Hall of Fame, joining such names as Moby, Ozzy Osbourne, Russell Brand and Sinéad O’Connor.

Dee’s Organic Omega Burgers were voted as one of the top five meat-free meal options in the ‘vegan sausages and burgers’ category in a poll run by the organisers.

VegFest was held in Bristol at the end of May, with over 25,000 people attending the week long event.  

In advance of the event, festival-goers were asked to participate in an online poll that gauged their love of all things veggie-related – from their favourite vegetarian food and cosmetics brands, to favourite musicians, actors and sports stars.

The polls also remained open throughout the three-day event, meaning voters could ‘taste test’ some of the shortlisted food options at the festival and promptly record their votes via their smartphones.

Dee’s Organic Omega Burger was placed fourth in its product category, when all the votes were tallied. 

“We’re making real progress when it comes to creating a strong market presence in the United Kingdom. Last year, UK sales and distribution agreements were negotiated with The Health Store, Whole Foods Market and Marigold Health Foods,” said Deirdre Collins, who established Dee's Eat Well, Be Happy in Ballincollig in 2009.

“Dee’s is not like a traditional fake meat product. Instead, we offer a combination of extremely tasty, premium veggie ingredients that happen to be meat-free. Wholegrain foods like brown rice and ancient grain millet, super-seeds such as hempseeds and sunflower seeds are all blended with delicious fresh Irish vegetables. It’s tasty food that’s for everybody, not just for vegetarians!”

With the support of Tesco Ireland, Dee’s Eat Well, Be Happy promoted Ireland’s first ever ‘National Vegetarian Week’, that took place all last week.