..........::::::::::Mella's Fudge::::::::::..........

‘SWEET SUCCESS FOR LOCAL FUDGE MAKER’ – FOOD WRITER NORA STRONG

‘Sweet success for local fudge maker.’

That was the eye-catching headline chosen by the Southern Star newspaper to highlight their recently-published feature on Mella McAuley and the path she has taken to make her Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge one of Ireland’s most acclaimed food products.

In her Food Culture column, Southern Star food writer Nora Strong charted Mella’s life as a fudge maker from her early years as an enterprising young 15-year old school girl who made fudge for a local sweet shop in her native Bantry to acclaimed finalist in the prestigious 2011 Great Taste Awards.

In her article, accompanied by a full-colour photograph of Mella pictured in cook’s hat and apron and holding a basket of her popular fudge bars, Nora Strong confessed to her personal love for Mella’s Fudge. ‘I have been known to eat an entire packet in one go despite the fact it is so bursting with butter, flavour and richness’ she wrote.

In describing the product, she noted that ‘Mella’s Fudge has just the right level of sweetness’. Continuing, she said ‘the secret of successful fudge is getting crystals to form at just the right time so that the mixture becomes grainy but fine enough for the texture to feel smooth’ – a quality evident in the making of Mella’s Fudge.

The interview - conducted in what she described as Mella’s ‘pristine’ professional kitchens in Lisavaird – concluded with the observation that ‘nothing could beat the taste of Mella’s Fudge.’

Fine praise indeed!

Family-owned, the Southern Star newspaper is Cork County’s largest circulating weekly with a loyal following of 50,000 readers. Established in 1889, it incorporates the legendary Skibbereen Eagle which once famously reported that it was ‘keeping an eye on the Czar of Russia’ over his expansionist designs on China.

SEVEN WHOLESOME INGREDIENTS MAKE MELLA’S FUDGE A GREAT TASTE AWARDS WINNER

Seven wholesome ingredients - sugar, butter, condensed milk, golden syrup, glucose, water and extract of vanilla – are all that is required to produce one of the most successful new food products to come out of Ireland in recent times - Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge.

How these ingredients blend together - in which quantity, in which order and by what method – is the secret that has helped confectioner Mella McAuley and her Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge to win a number of awards at the recent high-profile Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards ceremony held in London.

Accolades heaped upon the product include a 3 Gold Star Award – one of only five Irish food producers to whom a 3 Gold Star Award was presented.

Naturally gluten-free, Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge is in a class of its own. Not at all chewy, it has a firm yet ever so slightly crumbly consistency. And, as with any food product, it is in the eating that its subtle blend of tastes and texture will be enjoyed.

Left in the mouth to dissolve without chewing, each delicious piece releases a buttery, sweet aftertaste that lingers long enough to make one think ‘I’d love some more.’

The skill required to make her acclaimed, award-winning fudge is something Mella McAuley learned in childhood and has perfected ever since.

Through years of experience and dedication – built on an element of trial and error and some painstaking preparation – she has created in her kitchen in Lisavaird a product that is now ranked amongst the finest and the only tablet fudge in the UK and Ireland to receive a highly- coveted three stars award from the Guild of Fine Food.

MELLA’S FUDGE HITS 50

Though only six years since it was established as a wholly commercial undertaking, Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge has already established itself as a popular product in some fifty retail outlets dotted across eleven counties countrywide.

Largest two markets are Dublin and Cork which, together, make up a total of thirty-nine retail outlets. Other counties in which the product is sold are Derry, Galway, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford and Wicklow.

Asked about her plans for growth, company founder Mella McAuley said ‘since our success at the recent Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards ceremony when we won a 3 Gold Star Award, interest in our product has increased significantly so much so that, if I did not have the pressure to produce more products to meet existing demand, I could concentrate time on expanding our retailer base.’

‘If only all my problems were as sweet’ she said.

NEW PACKAGING AND PRICE REDUCTION BRINGS INCREASED SALES TO MELLA’S FUDGE

The introduction of new packaging and a reduction in retail price has brought increased sales to West Cork fudge maker Mella McAuley whose Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge range is produced at her plant in Lisavaird, near Clonakilty, and sold through specialist food outlets throughout Ireland.

The new packaging, which was revealed to the public for the first time at the recent Bloom Food and Garden Festival in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, consists of an inner cellophane wrapping and an outer sleeve made of fine Kraft paper and printed in four distinctive colours particular to each product variety - vanilla, rum & raisin, walnut and chocolate. Common to each wrapper is a gold embossed logo bearing the Mella’s Fudge branding and an eye-catching honey bee motif.

Designed to convey the handmade, premium quality nature of the Mella’s Fudge range, the new packaging works to give the product added ‘eye appeal’ that has led to an increase in interest being shown by consumers and retailers alike.

In parallel, the weight of each bar has also been reduced to a more popular 100gms size – a change that has led to a corresponding reduction in retail price to just under €3 a bar.

‘Together, these changes have helped boost consumer demand and bring about a growth in shop sales’ owner Mella McAuley said. ‘Since their introduction, a number of new retail and hospitality outlets have begun stocking our product, the most recent being the Lime Tree Café in Dublin’s Kilmainham district.’

13th October 2011

MELLA’S FUDGE ADDED TO MENU AT DUBLIN’S LIME TREE CAFÉ

The delightfully elegant Lime Tree Café in Dublin’s Kilmainham district has become the latest high-profile outlet to stock Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge.

Close to the Royal Hospital and the historic Kilmainham Gaol – both highly popular conference and tourist venues – the Lime Tree Café caters for a cosmopolitan clientele that includes customers from the immediate and surrounding areas of the city plus those drawn to these two local attractions from elsewhere in Ireland and abroad.

Commenting, Mella McAuley described Lime Tree Café as a busy ‘showcase outlet’ for her Mella’s Fudge product range.

‘It’s proximity to Heuston rail station and the extensive new office developments that have sprung up in the area gives our products high level exposure to Lime Tree Café’s extensive customer base. Besides, could anything be more enjoyable than an aromatic coffee and a melt-in-the-mouth piece of vanilla fudge...a tasteful combination, surely?’ Mella said.

13th October 2011

AWARDS SUCCESS BOOSTS MELLA’S FUDGE EFFORTS TO INCREASE HOME AND EXPORT SALES

The success achieved by West Cork made Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge at the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards ceremony held in London recently is expected to give a major boost to the company’s drive to increase sales in home and export markets.

Regarded as the food industry’s Oscars, the Great Taste Awards are the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious accolades for fine food and drink.

In this year’s event, Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge won a 3 Gold Star Award – one of only five Irish food producers to whom a 3 Gold Star Award was presented and the only tablet fudge in the UK and Ireland to achieve the three stars standard.

On its way to achieving this success, Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge got down to the last 19 out of 7,413 entries at the Great Taste Awards in Kensington, London.

Other awards presented to the West Cork producer included a Gold 2 star Great Taste Award for the vanilla flavour and a Gold 1 star award for each of the rum & raisin and walnut varieties.

Two years ago, Mella’s chocolate flavour fudge scooped silver in the Irish Food Awards. Mella’s Fudge, which is produced in Lisavaird, near Clonakilty, was alone in being the only fudge made in Ireland to have won such awards.

September 2011

WATERFORD GIVES TALL SHIPS WELCOME TO MELLA’S FUDGE

The highlight of the year in the south east city of Waterford was the arrival of the Tall Ships Race...and the presence there of Mella McAuley who had brought her distinctive range of Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge to add her own particular brand of sweetness to this major maritime and tourism occasion.

There, on the last weekend of June, Waterford was thronged with thousands of onlookers who had come to view the arrival up the River Suir of some of the world’s finest remaining sailing vessels – the second occasion on which they had visited the port in recent years.

Returning to her roots as a young market stallholder in the West Cork town of Bantry, Mella set up shop to the delight of seafarers and spectators alike.

Now the call around Waterford City and on the high seas beyond is ‘Yo! Ho! Ho! and a bar of Rum & Raisin!

June 2011

MELLA BRINGS HER FUDGE TO MARKET

Despite the fact that her Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge is now being sold through 50 retail outlets across eleven counties – with new outlets continuing to come on stream – Mella McAuley has not forgotten her retailing roots.

Throughout the summer, she will be spending time away from her kitchen at Lisavaird to man her stall at the popular Friday market in Bantry and at the Sunday morning market in the picturesque West Cork village of Schull.

Another major market even on her retailing radar is the acclaimed Bloom gardening and food event which takes place in Dublin’s Phoenix Park over the June bank holiday weekend.

June 2011


	NEWS	HOME

	‘SWEET SUCCESS FOR LOCAL FUDGE MAKER’ – FOOD WRITER NORA STRONG ‘Sweet success for local fudge maker.’ That was the eye-catching headline chosen by the Southern Star newspaper to highlight their recently-published feature on Mella McAuley and the path she has taken to make her Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge one of Ireland’s most acclaimed food products. In her Food Culture column, Southern Star food writer Nora Strong charted Mella’s life as a fudge maker from her early years as an enterprising young 15-year old school girl who made fudge for a local sweet shop in her native Bantry to acclaimed finalist in the prestigious 2011 Great Taste Awards. In her article, accompanied by a full-colour photograph of Mella pictured in cook’s hat and apron and holding a basket of her popular fudge bars, Nora Strong confessed to her personal love for Mella’s Fudge. ‘I have been known to eat an entire packet in one go despite the fact it is so bursting with butter, flavour and richness’ she wrote. In describing the product, she noted that ‘Mella’s Fudge has just the right level of sweetness’. Continuing, she said ‘the secret of successful fudge is getting crystals to form at just the right time so that the mixture becomes grainy but fine enough for the texture to feel smooth’ – a quality evident in the making of Mella’s Fudge. The interview - conducted in what she described as Mella’s ‘pristine’ professional kitchens in Lisavaird – concluded with the observation that ‘nothing could beat the taste of Mella’s Fudge.’ Fine praise indeed! Family-owned, the Southern Star newspaper is Cork County’s largest circulating weekly with a loyal following of 50,000 readers. Established in 1889, it incorporates the legendary Skibbereen Eagle which once famously reported that it was ‘keeping an eye on the Czar of Russia’ over his expansionist designs on China. SEVEN WHOLESOME INGREDIENTS MAKE MELLA’S FUDGE A GREAT TASTE AWARDS WINNER Seven wholesome ingredients - sugar, butter, condensed milk, golden syrup, glucose, water and extract of vanilla – are all that is required to produce one of the most successful new food products to come out of Ireland in recent times - Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge. How these ingredients blend together - in which quantity, in which order and by what method – is the secret that has helped confectioner Mella McAuley and her Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge to win a number of awards at the recent high-profile Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards ceremony held in London. Accolades heaped upon the product include a 3 Gold Star Award – one of only five Irish food producers to whom a 3 Gold Star Award was presented. Naturally gluten-free, Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge is in a class of its own. Not at all chewy, it has a firm yet ever so slightly crumbly consistency. And, as with any food product, it is in the eating that its subtle blend of tastes and texture will be enjoyed. Left in the mouth to dissolve without chewing, each delicious piece releases a buttery, sweet aftertaste that lingers long enough to make one think ‘I’d love some more.’ The skill required to make her acclaimed, award-winning fudge is something Mella McAuley learned in childhood and has perfected ever since. Through years of experience and dedication – built on an element of trial and error and some painstaking preparation – she has created in her kitchen in Lisavaird a product that is now ranked amongst the finest and the only tablet fudge in the UK and Ireland to receive a highly- coveted three stars award from the Guild of Fine Food. MELLA’S FUDGE HITS 50 Though only six years since it was established as a wholly commercial undertaking, Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge has already established itself as a popular product in some fifty retail outlets dotted across eleven counties countrywide. Largest two markets are Dublin and Cork which, together, make up a total of thirty-nine retail outlets. Other counties in which the product is sold are Derry, Galway, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford and Wicklow. Asked about her plans for growth, company founder Mella McAuley said ‘since our success at the recent Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards ceremony when we won a 3 Gold Star Award, interest in our product has increased significantly so much so that, if I did not have the pressure to produce more products to meet existing demand, I could concentrate time on expanding our retailer base.’ ‘If only all my problems were as sweet’ she said. NEW PACKAGING AND PRICE REDUCTION BRINGS INCREASED SALES TO MELLA’S FUDGE The introduction of new packaging and a reduction in retail price has brought increased sales to West Cork fudge maker Mella McAuley whose Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge range is produced at her plant in Lisavaird, near Clonakilty, and sold through specialist food outlets throughout Ireland. The new packaging, which was revealed to the public for the first time at the recent Bloom Food and Garden Festival in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, consists of an inner cellophane wrapping and an outer sleeve made of fine Kraft paper and printed in four distinctive colours particular to each product variety - vanilla, rum & raisin, walnut and chocolate. Common to each wrapper is a gold embossed logo bearing the Mella’s Fudge branding and an eye-catching honey bee motif. Designed to convey the handmade, premium quality nature of the Mella’s Fudge range, the new packaging works to give the product added ‘eye appeal’ that has led to an increase in interest being shown by consumers and retailers alike. In parallel, the weight of each bar has also been reduced to a more popular 100gms size – a change that has led to a corresponding reduction in retail price to just under €3 a bar. ‘Together, these changes have helped boost consumer demand and bring about a growth in shop sales’ owner Mella McAuley said. ‘Since their introduction, a number of new retail and hospitality outlets have begun stocking our product, the most recent being the Lime Tree Café in Dublin’s Kilmainham district.’ 13th October 2011 MELLA’S FUDGE ADDED TO MENU AT DUBLIN’S LIME TREE CAFÉ The delightfully elegant Lime Tree Café in Dublin’s Kilmainham district has become the latest high-profile outlet to stock Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge. Close to the Royal Hospital and the historic Kilmainham Gaol – both highly popular conference and tourist venues – the Lime Tree Café caters for a cosmopolitan clientele that includes customers from the immediate and surrounding areas of the city plus those drawn to these two local attractions from elsewhere in Ireland and abroad. Commenting, Mella McAuley described Lime Tree Café as a busy ‘showcase outlet’ for her Mella’s Fudge product range. ‘It’s proximity to Heuston rail station and the extensive new office developments that have sprung up in the area gives our products high level exposure to Lime Tree Café’s extensive customer base. Besides, could anything be more enjoyable than an aromatic coffee and a melt-in-the-mouth piece of vanilla fudge...a tasteful combination, surely?’ Mella said. 13th October 2011 AWARDS SUCCESS BOOSTS MELLA’S FUDGE EFFORTS TO INCREASE HOME AND EXPORT SALES The success achieved by West Cork made Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge at the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards ceremony held in London recently is expected to give a major boost to the company’s drive to increase sales in home and export markets. Regarded as the food industry’s Oscars, the Great Taste Awards are the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious accolades for fine food and drink. In this year’s event, Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge won a 3 Gold Star Award – one of only five Irish food producers to whom a 3 Gold Star Award was presented and the only tablet fudge in the UK and Ireland to achieve the three stars standard. On its way to achieving this success, Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge got down to the last 19 out of 7,413 entries at the Great Taste Awards in Kensington, London. Other awards presented to the West Cork producer included a Gold 2 star Great Taste Award for the vanilla flavour and a Gold 1 star award for each of the rum & raisin and walnut varieties. Two years ago, Mella’s chocolate flavour fudge scooped silver in the Irish Food Awards. Mella’s Fudge, which is produced in Lisavaird, near Clonakilty, was alone in being the only fudge made in Ireland to have won such awards. September 2011 WATERFORD GIVES TALL SHIPS WELCOME TO MELLA’S FUDGE The highlight of the year in the south east city of Waterford was the arrival of the Tall Ships Race...and the presence there of Mella McAuley who had brought her distinctive range of Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge to add her own particular brand of sweetness to this major maritime and tourism occasion. There, on the last weekend of June, Waterford was thronged with thousands of onlookers who had come to view the arrival up the River Suir of some of the world’s finest remaining sailing vessels – the second occasion on which they had visited the port in recent years. Returning to her roots as a young market stallholder in the West Cork town of Bantry, Mella set up shop to the delight of seafarers and spectators alike. Now the call around Waterford City and on the high seas beyond is ‘Yo! Ho! Ho! and a bar of Rum & Raisin! June 2011 MELLA BRINGS HER FUDGE TO MARKET Despite the fact that her Mella’s Handmade Butter Fudge is now being sold through 50 retail outlets across eleven counties – with new outlets continuing to come on stream – Mella McAuley has not forgotten her retailing roots. Throughout the summer, she will be spending time away from her kitchen at Lisavaird to man her stall at the popular Friday market in Bantry and at the Sunday morning market in the picturesque West Cork village of Schull. Another major market even on her retailing radar is the acclaimed Bloom gardening and food event which takes place in Dublin’s Phoenix Park over the June bank holiday weekend. June 2011

	'Fudge is a difficult product to master, with many fudge makers erring on the side of sweetness and, thereby, sickliness. Mella errs on the right side of sweetness, so her four fudges - vanilla, rum 'n' raisin, chocolate, and walnut - are pure swooshes of buttery goodness and energy without a David Lynch-style sugar jag following through at the end. Beautiful fudges, beautifully made and packaged, and a real treat as a gift. For yourself. Because you're worth it.' John and Sally McKenna, The Bridgestone Irish Food Guide, 2007.