welsh mustard company press releases
Welsh red-hot mustard stake
by David Williamson, Western Mail
May 30 2007 :
In a restaurant overlooking Cardigan Bay two men had an idea which had the potential to transform Welsh cuisine. They both ordered steak. The waiter then asked if they like French or English mustard.
“Can’t we have Welsh?” one of the friends asked.
“There’s no such thing,” the bemused waiter said.
As they ate their steak and gazed out on the Welsh coastline the concept of a national mustard filled the men with excitement. By the time the meal had finished they had decided to register the domain name www.welshmustard.com
Conversations followed over bottles of wine in the coming months, and they decided that their mustard would be a real alternative to the Anglo-Gallic offerings.
It would be hot and sweet – it is 57% honey. But its boldest feature is its rugby jersey red colour. This reflected a fanaticism about rugby among the four founders, Caroline Dalziel-Riddell, Gary and Deborah Fryar and Roger March.
There is nothing twee about the product. The bold lettering on the jars instantly creates an impression of a modern and confident brand. Its creators, who all have outside business interests, do not consider this a romantic attempt to make mustard Welsh. They have no interest in cultivating a sense of false antiquity.
Instead, they are excited by the potential of the commercial venture.
Ms Dalziel-Riddell said, “We’d like one of the biggies to come along and say, ‘Here’s your cheque.’ We’d be liars if we said that wouldn’t be nice.”
Such honesty is as disarming as it is refreshing. They have good reason to believe the product has a profitable future. As well as selling mustard, they create bright green mint sauce. To reflect the three colours of the Welsh flag, a white apple sauce may be released on to the market soon.
Ms Dalziel-Riddell said, “Asda took us on at the end of last year. It’s in 17 sites. Tesco met with us about six weeks ago. They now want to take both products.”
They are also excited that the mustard is in pubs owned by SA Brain.
Ms Dalziel-Riddell said, “We are making an average of 4,000 jars a month.” By the end of the year, they predict they will have made 75,000 jars, and their aim is to have quadrupled this amount in half a decade.
Production takes place at Food Centre Wales, a Technium-style facility based in Ceredigion. Much of the distribution is performed by Castell Howell Foods, a major force in the Welsh food industry.
The founders are now exploring ways to outsource production to allow them to focus on other aspects of running the business.
“We need a provider in Wales,” said Ms Dalziel-Riddell. “It must be very closely monitored.”
They are aware of the potential of product placement to raise the profile of the brand and win first-time customers.
Ms Dalziel-Riddell would love to see the jars on the set of BBC Wales’ science fiction series Torchwood. She said, “We are more than willing to give free jars to any charity or big event, as long as it’s placed in public view.”
While the bold logos were designed by a family friend in Bristol, the smart jars are a wholly Welsh creation.
“The jars came from a lovely chap up in Denbighshire,” said Ms Dalziel-Riddell. “We could get them cheaper in Bristol but it’s a family-run business and we’d much rather stay with them.”
The mustard sells for £2.50 a jar; the mint sauce for £1.75.
Lower-cost mustards are available, but the premium price comes from large amounts of honey used in its creation.
The website is about to be relaunched and gift packs will
soon be developed.
The Welsh Mustard Company draws inspiration from the success of the Welsh Whisky Company, whose distinctively curved bottles of Penderyn have captured imaginations and customers.
She said, “We really believe that Welsh mustard will be an alternative to English and French and will be on every table.
“If you don’t believe in it, nothing will happen.”
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Press Release: The Welsh Mustard Company Limited – 29th December 2006
Welsh Mustard is Red Hot Stuff
Yesterday, Roy Noble was asked by a listener on his morning BBC Wales programme whether or not there was a Welsh Mustard as opposed to English or French. Roy’s research team searched the internet and came up with The Welsh Mustard Company. After a short telephone enquiry to Roger March from the company, Roy then spoke live ‘on-air’ to Roger about the Welsh Red Mustard and its origins.
The amazing thing is that this mustard is right here on our own doorstep as the company is from Aberaeron.
Roger was able to confirm that ‘yes’ Wales does have its very own mustard that is distinctively different to the English and French versions and that it should be on every table and in every restaurant in Wales. Roger informed Roy and his listeners that the Brains Pub/Restaurant chain throughout Wales have the Welsh Red Mustard on their menu and it is also available in Asda Stores in Wales as well as a multitude of smaller retailers. Their rise to fame has been accelerated by the clever use of distributors such as Castell Howell Foods Ltd, Carmarthen and other national distributors.
The brief history of this extraordinary adventure is the stuff dreams are made of - in 1999 as the new millennium dawned, Roger March and Gary Fryar sat overlooking Cardigan Bay with a beer in their hand, putting the world to rights. Gary’s main concern was being offered only English or French mustard to accompany their steak. No-one could offer a Welsh Mustard. So they set about developing exactly that - a Welsh Red Mustard. Now bear in mind that neither of them had any previous experience of the food industry. Roger had retired from the Magistrates’ Courts and Gary was a builder!
The mustard is hand-made by themselves with the partners at the Food Centre Wales in Horeb, Llandysul.
The mustard was developed by them specifically as a definitive alternative to the English and French mustards commonly offered in restaurants across the UK. It has many qualities which distinguish it from the more commonly used table mustards:-
It is RED - Rugby Jersey Red
It is SWEET - Honey Based
It is HOT - Hotter than it’s English equivalent
It has an unusual assault on the senses – delivering a sweet taste when it first touches the tongue and then travelling quickly to the back of the mouth to deliver a surprisingly hot ‘blast’.
Besides being used in its raw state (straight from the jar) to accompany hot and cold meats and cheeses, Welsh Chefs, including the head chefs at the Harbourmaster Hotel, Aberaeron, the St. David’s Hotel, Cardiff, and the Royal Hotel, Llangollen have also found it to be an ideal ingredient in their recipes for sauces, dips and dressings – they say that:-
The honey adds body and a rich sweet taste
The colour makes it ‘bold’ and interesting
The mustard gives it a spicy flavour with varying levels of heat according to the quantities used
The company were finalists in The 2006 Ceredigion Business Awards, but it already looks as though 2007 will be even more successful with a re-branding and re-launch as well as bringing onto the shelves their next product, a Welsh Mint Sauce. Well done – it’s good to see that the entrepreneurial spirit in Wales is thriving.
The Welsh Mustard Company Ltd
Ceredigion
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Press Release: The Welsh Mustard Company Limited
29th December 2006Townhill Boy is Red Hot Stuff
Born and raised in Townhill in the 50’s, Roger March has once again been launched into the media spotlight. Our more advanced readers may remember Roger making the headlines as a trumpeter and singer when he shared the stage with the late Roy Castle and Dick Emery at the New Victoria Theatre, London in 1971, having won the final of the annual Talent Show at the Patti Pavilion, Swansea or when he later toured with the Gene Pitney in the early 80’s. You may even have read of his exploits as an accomplished after-dinner speaker or seen him on the HTV programme “Mainly for Men”.
Well, Roger is now living near Aberaeon and is still ‘hot stuff’. He is now Managing Director of The Welsh Mustard Company Limited which makes ‘Welsh Red Mustard’ currently taking Wales by storm.
Yesterday, Roy Noble was asked by listener on his morning BBC Wales programme whether or not there was a Welsh Mustard as opposed to English or French. Roy’s research team searched the internet and came up with The Welsh Mustard Company. After a short telephone enquiry to Roger March from the company, Roy then spoke live ‘on-air’ to Roger about the Welsh Red Mustard and its origins.
Roger was able to confirm that ‘yes’ Wales does have its very own mustard that is distinctively different to the English and French versions and that it should be on every table and in every restaurant in Wales. Roger informed Roy and his listeners that the Brains Pub/Restaurant chain throughout Wales have the Welsh Red Mustard on their menu and it is also available in Asda Stores in Wales as well as a multitude of smaller retailers. Their rise to fame has been accelerated by the clever use of distributors such as Castell Howell Foods Ltd, Carmarthen and other national distributors.
The brief history of this extraordinary adventure is the stuff dreams are made of - in 1999 as the new millennium dawned, Roger March and Gary Fryar sat overlooking Cardigan Bay with a beer in their hand, putting the world to rights. Gary’s main concern was being offered only English or French mustard to accompany their steak. No-one could offer a Welsh Mustard. So they set about developing exactly that - a Welsh Red Mustard. Now bear in mind that neither of them had any previous experience of the food industry. Roger had retired from the Magistrates’ Courts and Gary was a builder!
The mustard is hand-made by themselves with the partners at the Food Centre Wales in Horeb, Llandysul.
The mustard was developed by them specifically as a definitive alternative to the English and French mustards commonly offered in restaurants across the UK. It has many qualities which distinguish it from the more commonly used table mustards:-
It is RED - Rugby Jersey Red
It is SWEET - Honey Based
It is HOT - Hotter than it’s English equivalent
It has an unusual assault on the senses – delivering a sweet taste when it first touches the tongue and then travelling quickly to the back of the mouth to deliver a surprisingly hot ‘blast’.
Besides being used in its raw state (straight from the jar) to accompany hot and cold meats and cheeses, Welsh Chefs, including the head chefs at the St. David’s Hotel, Cardiff, the Harbourmaster Hotel, Aberaeron and the Royal Hotel, Llangollen have also found it to be an ideal ingredient in their recipes for sauces, dips and dressings – they tell us that:-
The honey adds body and a rich sweet taste
The colour makes it ‘bold’ and interesting
The mustard gives it a spicy flavour with varying levels of heat according to the quantities used
The company were finalists in The 2006 Ceredigion Business Awards, but it already looks as though 2007 will be even more successful with a re-branding and re-launch as well as bringing onto the shelves their next product, a Welsh Mint Sauce.
The Welsh Mustard Company Ltd
Ceredigion
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