Enterprise award for local firm
Nenagh’s Nutshed Limited was a winner at the recent National Enterprise Awards, which took place at the Mansion House in Dublin.
Nutshed, which makes award-winning peanut butters, is run by sisters Evie and Eliza Ward and the duo took home the South West Region Award on the night. The company has been supported by Local Enterprise Office Tipperary.
Based in Nenagh, Nutshed has grown their business from a humble market stall in 2014 to became Ireland’s first producer of award winning, single origin craft peanut butters, while introducing flavoured peanut butter to the Irish market by creating an exciting and delicious range, now available in over 600 shops around Ireland, in independent retailers, Dunnes Stores, Tesco and SuperValu.
Their fanatical range has recently expanded to South Korea, where their peanut butters are gaining a loyal following from Korean customers through their listings in the super high-end Hyundai Department Stores, as well as the hugely popular online store Market Kurly.
The sisters have grown up with food in their genes following in the footsteps of their parents Peter and Mary Ward who have championed local food produce and fresh ingredients over the years from their store Country Choice based in Nenagh. Peter and Mary were awarded this year a Lifetime Achievement Award from Food writer and Irish Food Writers Guild President, Georgina Campbell
Speaking after the awards, the sisters said: “We are absolutely thrilled with this award and delighted to represent LEO Tipperary in the final of such a key annual competition, we are privileged to be among the 31 top businesses from all around the country! We hope our story will inspire other women to pursue their own enterprise.”
Anthony Fitzgerald of Tipperary LEO added: “The National Enterprise Awards serve to highlight the very best businesses that the Local Enterprise Offices are working with across the country.
“The diversity of sectors and innovation shown again this year is outstanding and the winners will no doubt produce businesses destined for international success.
“These businesses have excelled in their areas and have the potential to follow in the footsteps of previous winners to become successful global companies.
“We would like to extend our congratulations to both Evie and Eliza on winning their award and we look forward to working with you into the future.”
Local Enterprise Office Tipperary have been represented in recent years by firms including Premier Utilities T/a TruePOS, Premier Fire Products Ltd, T/a Waxies, Pergamino T/a The Old Barracks Coffee Roasters, Clonmel Covers Ltd and Horizon Offsite Ltd.
The overall winner at the National Enterprise Awards was Dreamdev Technologies in Co Kildare, which utilises online tools and software to enable faster digitalisation for companies.
HIGHLIGHT
Announcing the award winners at the Mansion House and after earlier launching the new Local Enterprise Office Policy Statement, Minister Burke said; “The National Enterprise Awards are the highlight of the small business and enterprise calendar.
“Year on year the diversity of businesses and the standard of companies that are coming through the process is getting stronger. We should not be surprised given the innovation and endurance that businesses have shown in recent years. We have some outstanding winners but the finalists on the whole have been excellent, and this is very much the start of their journey.”