One of County Armagh’s “biggest and most successful” community groups has launched a new social enterprise that will see profits from upcycling waste from Armagh’s famous Bramley apples “reinvested in the community”.
Based in the village of Scotch Street, Portadown, Richmount Rural Community Association has, for two decades, been working to improve the quality of life for people living in rural Armagh – particularly for senior citizens and those most in need.
At the core of the association is Chairperson, Joe Garvey BEM, who has been instrumental in shaping the voluntary group’s focus for the last 15 years.
Related: Joseph Garvey makes King’s New Years Honours list for ‘services to community’ in Armagh
However – like many voluntary and charitable organisations – Richmount Rural Community Association is aware that funding for community groups in the future is likely to be more challenging.
And so – to aid their self-sufficiency – the organisation have now developed an apple-solutely fantastic new social enterprise that will sustain and enhance its services and also create employment in the area.
Using modern “closed loop heat pump hydrators” – which have a low energy requirement – the social enterprise known as Richmount Health Foods will “gently” extract the moisture from Bramley apple peel and cores.
Once extracted, these waste products – which otherwise have no valuable use – are upcycled into a viable health product in the form of a natural “superfood” powder which will be sold under the brand name, Macha’s Orchard.
Richmount Health Foods claim that regular consumption of apple powder can be associated with all sorts of benefits, such as living longer and more specifically, a lower risk of dying from cancer.
They say that due to their use of Armagh Bramley apples their powder is “unique” and weight-for-weight the peel contains a “higher concentration of nutrients than the flesh of the apple”.
Likewise, the cores contain a large amount of fibre – especially the carpels.
Macha’s Orchard’s products description explains: “Hidden inside the skin of an apple is an array of natural chemicals called phytonutrients, including vitamins and antioxidants that can have some exceptional health benefits.
“In fact, eating an apple with the peel on contains 50% more phytonutrients than a peeled apple. In Macha’s Orchard Apple Powder we concentrate this goodness which can easily be incorporated into your normal diet.”
Every care has been taken to implement the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, and their production facility holds a 5 star Food Hygiene rating.
The innovative and sustainable new process also ensures that “nothing in a Bramley apple is lost!”
So impressive is the new enterprise, that Richmount Health Foods won the local heat of Go Succeed’s ‘The Ultimate
Pitch’ competition for Innovation.
Joe Garvey made the ‘Ultimate Pitch’ to a panel of judges from across the business and civic communities and was also recognised as the Social Impact Award winner.
The product is due to go on the market mid-June 2025, starting with the Armagh Agricultural Show on June 14, where it will be at the ABC Council’s Food Heartland tent, and via Macha’s Orchard website.
