Episode 3
COMPANY – BLATH NA MARA, INIS MÓR, THE ARAN ISLANDS
Jenny and David O’Halloran are now the majority owners of Blath na Mara wholesale seaweed company. They moved across the world from Auckland, NZ to Inis Mór, Aran Islands just three years ago after Jenny’s Dad Mairtín, a native of the island, enticed them back with the offer of the business.
The couple now live on Inis Mór with their two young daughters and are expecting a third child in May 2019 (or as they like to say ‘we’re expecting a new seaweed harvester!’)
Jenny’s background is in Agri-food, Dave’s in Marine Biology and they’re both foodies, a passion that inspired them to create a whole new business to run alongside Blath na Mara and one that would use the seaweed for a brand new range of food products.
The couple want to launch the first of their food products, a seaweed pesto. Before Sonya came on board it remained something only islanders and visitors had tried, thanks to Jenny’s Auntie’s café but now they want to get it off the island and onto the shelves….and they want Sonya to realise their dreams.
By drafting in Colette Twomey, CEO of Clonakilty Black Pudding Co. – someone who’s taken a product that may divide people in terms of its appeal and brought it to a global stage, Sonya endeavours to lead the couple and their brand new pesto to success and ultimately the retailer’s shelves….the results are show-stopping.