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It is billed as the ‘most luxurious department store in the world’ and it has just placed an order with a Co Armagh gourmet food firm – just two months after opening.
The deal is a major coup for O’Chatten Smokery, which specialises in artisan foods like smoked Lough Neagh eels, pancetta, smoked duck breast fillets and pastrami.
The business – based at the Bluestone Business Centre in Craigavon – is owned by Andrew Chatten and business partner Frances O’Hagan.
They are thrilled that they will now be supplying their fine foods to Fortnum & Mason, which has been in business in London for over 300 years.
O’Chatten Smokery is Northern Ireland’s only commercial smokery, plugging a gap which previously saw other businesses having to export products to Europe to be smoked.
The company – which was a huge success at the recent Balmoral Show and nominated in the inaugural Food Heartland Awards – is also in the process of developing a luxury charcuterie range.
It is intended that this will be offered to other retailers, among them Waitrose, Sainsburys and another famous London store – Harrods!
Craigavon Industrial Development Organisation provided assistance to Andrew in establishing the business – through the Regional Start Initiative – to turn his idea into a reality.
He is also running trials with a major poultry processing company who have expressed a very keen interest in his product and process.
If this goes well he hopes to expand, taking on another unit for the production and taking on staff to meet the demand.
@SmokeryO telling us all about smoking @LoughNeaghEels delicious with @ourdailywheaten @Harnettoils #photobomb pic.twitter.com/lsKqFdUXxM
— LoughNeaghEels (@LoughNeaghEels) 26 June 2016
