Pudding maker out to give the US its just desserts

A MIDLANDS pudding maker is targeting the United States as a potential new market for a Great British tradition.

Ellen Halpin-Barnett makes Christmas puddings to her great-grandmother’s recipe and has identified North America as a possible outlet for her products after tasting export success by winning orders in Ireland.

Worcester-based Mrs Halpin-Barnett, who launched her fourth generation Grandma Lily’s Christmas puddings in July at the Windsor Food Festival, is hoping a visit to Chicago as part of the inaugural Midlands Engine trade mission to the USA and Canada will whet the appetite of US buyers for the festive treat.

The trade mission, which took place last week, was the first time that businesses and organisations from across the entire Midlands region came together as one entity to promote trade opportunities.

Mrs Halpin-Barnett, whose business trades as Luxury Hampers and Gifts, has been working with trade advisors in Worcestershire for the past few months, honing her export strategy.

She said: “I’m already stocked in local farm shops and I’m hoping to expand the number of outlets here and I’ve had great success so far at a number of food fairs.

“Ireland was the natural place to start exporting and I’m delighted that I’ve already attracted a number of outlets but my dream is to sell to the US, where there is a huge Irish population.”

She said she had family in Boston and believed her product would go down well in such a market.

“I’m very excited by the export opportunities – the sky is the limit,” she added.

The recipe for the Christmas puddings has remained unchanged since her great-grandmother Lily began making them in Ireland in the 1880s and is a light, fruit-filled pudding, flavoured with warm Christmas spices and liberally laced with Irish whiskey.
 
Mrs Halpin-Barnett began to make the puds commercially when her family and friends encouraged her to include them in the luxury hampers she sells online.