County Roscommon food producer selected for Food Academy programme

A County Roscommon based food producer has been selected to take part in this year’s Food Academy programme.

Castlerea based Tímea Kovacs, founder of The Best Free From, is originally from Hungary but moved to Ireland in 2006. The original idea stemmed from her second pregnancy and dealing with gestational diabetes and other gut problems, when she had the necessity to find nutritious, natural and diabetic friendly products.

 “We believe in all natural and preservative free, nutrient dense goodies only, whether it is bread, muffins, or low-carb pizza, our award-winning baking mix range has you covered. All our products are free from sugar, gluten, grain, wheat, yeast, soya but packed with protein, healthy fats, fibre with many dairy free options. The SuperValu Food Academy has given us the opportunity to ensure our products reach everyone that can benefit from them.” 

The Food Academy programme, a unique and tailored business development initiative for start-up and early-stage food and drink producers, was developed by SuperValu over a decade ago, in collaboration with the Local Enterprise Office. Since its inception, 11 years ago, more than 1,000 producers from all 26 counties of Ireland have successfully completed the Food Academy programme.

The new Food Academy producer, The Best Free has launched her products on the shelves of their local SuperValu stores. Recent findings reveal that access to locally sourced and produced food holds significant importance for nearly three-quarters (73%) of Irish people. These findings further highlight the significance of initiatives like Food Academy, which focuses on offering the best of local and Irish products to consumers, throughout Ireland.

The Food Academy is a significant contributor to the overall growth and sustainability of the Irish food industry. Food Academy producers have sold a combined €230 million of products in SuperValu since 2013, supporting 1,500 jobs in the economy. The programme serves as a platform for showcasing quality Irish products and the innovative spirit of food and drink producers across the nation.

Speaking about the launch of this year’s Food Academy producers, Ciara McClafferty, Trading Director at SuperValu said: “At SuperValu, we have supported the Food Academy programme for over a decade now, and it is wonderful to see that talent and innovation continues to grow in this industry. We are always blown away by the level of applications each year and choosing the successful producers to come onto the programme is never an easy task – which in itself is a testament to the calibre of producers in our country. I would like to congratulate The Best Free From, who is beginning its journey with the Food Academy this year.”