Dangerous Food duo mark major milestone

* Llyr Jones and Dominic Haynes  who have expanded

and are selling cheese products with the help of a grant

from Denbighshire County Council.

A pair of entrepreneurs who put on face masks and protective clothing to make their fiery chilli jam are celebrating a major milestone - netting their 150th stockist.

Dominic Haynes and Llyr Jones, who launched the Dangerous Food Company less than three years ago when they were both made redundant from an Irish dairy, are now supplying their unique brand of chilli jams to restaurants, farm shops and delicatessens across the UK – and even as far away as Alphen in Holland.

They say an £2,300 grant from Denbighshire County Council has fuelled their rapid growth, including recent expansion into the luxury goats’ cheese market, and helped them to meet customer demand more readily through the purchase of a walk-in fridge.

And as the St Asaph-based enterprise prepares to unveil a new, top-secret product ahead of the Hamper Llangollen food festival on October 15 and 16, the duo are have signed up their 150^th outlet – the soon-to-be opened Frankie’s Farm Shop in Dyserth.

“We are finally at the stage where we know it’s working,” said Dominic, 33, who lives in St Asaph.

“We’ve done it all debt-free and it’s just grown and grown. There have been some initial dark days, like every business, but now everything is falling into place. It’s now all about expansion and doing things quicker.

“In order for a business to grow you have to outlay money but if half the cost can be taken away it means you feel more confident and safer about expanding and you can grow more quickly and make the business more successful.

“Already, with just the two of us on the ground, we’ve acquired a small part of the food market and we want to spread our products further and further afield.

“We have customers in London and the Scottish borders but there are more than 2,000 farm shops and delis nationally so the next step is to push these. Our aim is to reach as many as possible.”

The duo, who’ve been friends for 11 years, started making fiery chilli chutneys suitable for meat, cheese and barbecues in January 2013, combining hot chillies with traditional British fruits to enhance the flavour.

Dominic, who graduated from Nottingham University with a degree in product design, was renowned for his culinary skills among friends and family and created no fewer than 38 versions of what is now the firm’s original product, Red Chilli and Lime Jam, in his home kitchen before deciding on his final ‘wow factor’ recipe.

“I’ve always been pretty good in the kitchen. Everybody knew me for cooking really spicy food at uni and used to complain about the smell,” he said.

In the early days, the friends decided to sell some of the jam at a weekend food event and were stunned when all 600 jars flew off the stall. The very next day, the pair found out they were being made redundant from their sales jobs which gave them the incentive to sell the jams full-time.

By May 2014, the businessmen had developed three jam products; their original Red Chilli and Lime Jam, Habanero Chilli with Sun-ripened Mango Jam, which scooped two stars in the Great Taste Awards in 2015, and Jalapeno Chilli and Apple Jam, and had moved production out of Dominic’s modest home kitchen to premises at Patchwork Pate in Ruthin.

More flavours followed including the fiery Ghost Chilli Jam containing one of the world’s hottest chillies and requiring protective eye gear during production.

  

In August last year, they branched out and sourced a luxurious goats’ cheese product from Holland to offer under their brand which has been well-received in the gourmet food market – and has led to a coveted stockist contract across the Channel for their jams.

And thanks to a business grant provided by Denbighshire County Council at the start of 2016, they were able to purchase a purpose-built outdoor storage facility which enabled them to quadruple their order capacity and expand.

“We’d taken on some big wholesalers and the fridge meant we were able to store the products with ease,” said Dominic, who attended Blessed Edward Jones Catholic High School in Rhyl while growing up.

“The grant made our growth manageable and easier. For any business like ours, January and February is quiet and to outlay that kind of money ourselves would have carried much more risk.

“We are still working 50 or 60 hours a week. Llyr and his partner recently had their first child, Molly, eight weeks ago. The amount of work we need to do made any paternity leave tricky but we were able to work these hours when we wanted to so there’s a degree of flexibility.”

Kirsty Davies, Business Support and Networking Officer for Denbighshire County Council, said: “It’s incredibly rewarding to watch local businesses succeed, especially so soon after launching.

"Our business grant scheme is designed to encourage new businesses to take those first steps towards expansion and ultimately create new jobs and support development of the local economy, which is a council priority.

“Many small businesses face hurdles on the path to growth including a lack of resources or facilities and this project helps to mitigate some of these, allowing innovation and talent to flourish uninhibited."

It was a sentiment echoed by Hugh Evans OBE Leader of Denbighshire County Council.

He said: "The business grants are part of our Economic and Community Ambition Strategy which is helping towards creating flourishing private businesses, job growth and improved incomes in the county."

The Dangerous Food Company exhibits their products at food festivals every weekend and is committed to supporting local, independently-run small businesses.

As well as employing themselves, one other full-time member of staff and a new part-time worker, in addition to agency support when required, the company now has six jam products to its name – and one more in development which will be launched to coincide with Hamper Llangollen food festival.

Dominic is remaining tight-lipped on the secret ingredients but promises the product will be ‘something that has not been tried before’. 

“We try and make our products all about flavour and the fruit really plays off the heat. We want our customers to taste the flavours,” said Dominic.

“We’re looking forward to going back and meeting all our oldest customers at Hamper Llangollen.

“It’s our most local festival and it’s important to us to go back and support our local economy. We will never change that ethos.”

To find out how to apply for a Business Development Grant go to Denbighshire.gov.uk/business or call 01824 706896.

Police act over noisy motorbike exhausts in Llan

Police are urging motorcyclists to ensure their bikes are legal after tickets were handed out at the weekend for exhaust offences.

Seven motorcyclists were handed TORs (Traffic Offence Reports) last Sunday afternoon on the Horseshoe Pass, Llangollen following several complaints regarding noisy bikes.

* An exhaust without a 'baffle'.

Inspector Alun Davies of the Roads Policing Unit said: “We get complaints from residents across north Wales every weekend regarding noisy exhausts on motorbikes.

"Only recently I attended a meeting in Llangollen where noisy exhausts from motorcycles was the main complaint I received.

“We find that motorcyclists are deliberately removing the ‘baffles’ from exhausts which then makes them extremely loud. We are simply asking bikers to have respect for local residents and to ensure their bikes are fully legal.”

Update on new Cefn Mawr health centre

Cefn Mawr could be set to get a new health centre after a campaign led by Assembly Member Ken Skates.

The Clwyd South AM (pictured) recently met Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board bosses to make a personal plea for a 21st century facility.

Health chiefs confirmed the current Caritas Surgery will undergo immediate upgrades to improve the building, and also said they would ‘develop a plan to provide more modern premises’ for Cefn and the surrounding area.

A BCUHB statement said: “It was agreed by all in the meeting that the current premises occupied by the GP practice are not adequate. The health board will carry out immediate work to improve the condition of the current building, whilst at the same develop a plan to provide more modern premises. The improvement work will begin the first week in October.

“The health board was in the process of reviewing the options for building developments for GP services across Wrexham and this work would be completed at the end of September. This work would recommend priorities for investment in premises in Wrexham and would include proposals for the Cefn Mawr area.

“Once a clearer view of what was required was agreed, all potential sites would be considered, including the Co-op building, and it was agreed that the health board would inform the owners of the site of their intentions to move things forward quickly.

“It was envisaged that a formal business case would be produced for submission to Welsh Government by the end of December.”

Mr Skates last year organised a petition which called for a new, purpose-built facility in Cefn and was signed by 2,000 people.

He said: “It was a very positive, productive meeting, and I’d like to thank Betsi chief executive Gary Doherty and chairman Peter Higson for their time and continuing interest in improving health services for my constituents in the Cefn Mawr area.”

The two local councillors who launched the petition with Mr Skates – Ken Bathers and Derek Wright – were also present at the meeting at Wrexham Maelor Hospital after years of calling for a new health centre.

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones added: “It would be wonderful to see a brand new health facility in Cefn. Ken has put a great deal of energy into this campaign, as have Ken Bathers and Derek, and I look forward to the health board’s plans becoming a reality.”

Mr Skates successfully campaigned for new health centres in Chirk and Llangollen, which were built with money from the Welsh Labour Government, and pledged to deliver continued spending on health in Clwyd South if re-elected in May.

County installs new library system

Over the next few weeks, Denbighshire Library Service will be installing a new library management system, as part of a new all-Wales scheme, supported by the Welsh Government.

This will offer people an improved site to renew and reserve their own items and will also give them access to their own records and the library catalogue online, as well as a range of digital services.

A service spokesperson said: "ln order for this work to progress there may be delays in reserving some items which are currently out of stock, and we will be unable to accept requests for items that need to be purchased during the transition period.

"The new system will be available in late August and we apologise for the inconvenience that this may cause in the interim."

Chocolatier Jo aims to put bite on world record in Llan

* Aiming for a world record...chocolatier Jo Edwards.

A top chocolatier is aiming to snatch a world record from TV chef Gino D'Acampo and become the fastest truffle maker on the planet.

Jo Edwards, who set up her successful artisan chocolate company, Aballu, in 2006 will be going all out for the new benchmark in front of thousands of discerning chocoholics at the Hamper Llangollen food festival.

Jo aims to celebrate her decade in business by smashing the world two-minute record for chocolate truffle making set by the celebrity chef on his TV programme four years ago.

And she reckons that, given the right conditions, she can not only better his formidable tally of 47 but go on to smash it to pieces by rustling up over 50 truffles within the allotted 120 seconds. 

  

Jo, 42, who lives in Bradley, will bring many years of creating specialist chocs to bear on her record attempt, which will come in front of the public on the first day of Hamper Llangollen.

The crowd-pulling festival will see the Denbighshire tourist town become the culinary capital of Wales over the weekend of October 15 and 16.

After growing up in a village pub in Brymbo near Wrexham, Jo went off to Cardiff University from where she graduated with a degree in Language and Communication in 1997.

After a spell working as a publicity officer at the Welsh Office she moved back home to North Wales to join a large pub chain and later became a night manager at a supermarket in Wrexham.

At one stage Jo had little cash to spare for Christmas presents and came up with the idea of making chocolates for her family and friends.

Her creations were such a big hit that in 2005 she decided to resign from the supermarket and set up her own business.

A year later she had started Aballu, which is based at the Cocoa Rooms in Station Road, Rossett.

She and her two assistant, trainee chocolatiers Robyn Johns and James Rayfield, now lovingly produce a wide range of truffles in exotic flavours like Balckcurrant and Rosemary and chilli, ginger and lime along with chocolate animals in lamb and mint, duck and orange and pork and apple.

This year will be Jo’s 10^th time of exhibiting at Hamper Llangollen and to mark the anniversary of Aballu she decided to do something to make a big impact at the festival.

She said: “I wanted to do something to celebrate and when one of my friends started joking about going for a world record I decided that’s exactly what I’d do.

“It had to be something achievable at the show, so I did some research and came up with the idea of an attempt on the one for making the most chocolate truffles in two minutes.

“It was set by Gino D’Acampo on his show Gino and Mel in December 2012 when he made 47 truffles and won himself a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

“I’ll be making my attempt on the Saturday of Hamper in front of quite a large crowd on the main demonstration stage.

“What I have to do is use a mixture of cream and chocolate to roll out each truffle and then add three coatings.

“According to the rules, I must have two official timekeepers and two witnesses – one of whom is from the food industry – present to ensure everything is done properly.

“The truffles must all be of the correct shape and one of the witnesses has to taste them make sure they’re actually edible.

“A video will be made of the attempt which will then be sent off to the Guinness Book of Records to be verified, and that will take about eight weeks, I’m told.”

Jo added: “It’s obviously going to be nail biting waiting to hear if I’ve managed it but I’m confident I can beat Gino’s record.

“I reckon I can do more than 47 truffles and I’m actually aiming for 50 or 55 within the two minutes.

“I see it as a personal challenge which is down to just me and my skills.

“I’m delighted to be doing it at Hamper Llangollen where I’ve been exhibiting every year since I started my business.

“It has such a fantastic atmosphere, with some really nice food and drink producers and great crowds.” 

If she’s lucky enough to set a new world record Jo won’t be toasting the success of her achievement back at her Rossett base.

She explained: “The building we’re in, which in the past has been all sorts of things like a hairdressers, a greengrocers and a post office, and the building next door, which was once a bank, used to be part of cocoa rooms set up in Victorian times as part of the temperance movement to keep the young men of Rossett away from the demon drink.

“That means it still has a covenant on it that I can’t buy, sell or serve alcohol on the premises.

“As I use very small amounts of rum and Welsh whiskey in some of my truffles I had to get special permission from the landlord to use alcohol and that is now written into my contract.”

Hamper Llangollen chair Colin Loughlin is delighted the food festival has played a part in Aballu's success story.

He said: "Jo is a very talented chocolatier and is a very welcome regular at Hamper Llangollen.

"She has come up with a really novel way of celebrating her 10th anniversary and I'd like to wish her all the best in her world record attempt.

“Thanks to a whole host of indigenous companies, North East Wales is rapidly establishing a reputation as a centre of excellence for high quality products.

“The food festival is a perfect shop window for the companies who form the backbone of the local economy."

* For more information about Hamper Llangollen go to www.llangollenfoodfestival.com and for more information about Aballu go to www.aballu.co.uk

Food Assembly celebrates milestone with tasting session

A local food group will celebrate passing a major milestone with a special party at a town pub.

The Taster Extravaganza will be hosted by the Llangollen Food Assembly at the Ponsonby Arms on Wednesday (August 17).

The event has been arranged to mark the fact that the assembly recently signed up its 400th member.

The assembly has been running for nine months since its launch in November 2015 by Robyn Lovelock and her son Harris.

She said: "We now have over 400 registered customers with many people shopping almost weekly.

"Customers are mostly based in Llangollen or nearby, but quite a few come along from Chirk, Corwen, Ruabon and even the edges of Wrexham and Oswestry. 

"Orders are all placed online, and then collected weekly at the Ponsonby Arms between 6pm and 7.30pm on a Wednesday evening, or Thursday by arrangement."

She added: "We're expanding our range all the time, but you can be sure to have a wide choice of meat, veg, cheese, bread, eggs, cakes, coffee, chutneys, sauces and preserves - we're hoping to add pates, pies and more cheese over the coming weeks.

"Of every £1 spent, 92p stays local, supporting farmers and food producers and their families.

"The collections themselves are family-friendly affairs, outside if the weather cooperates, and a chance to chat with the people producing the food themselves - so customers can make dietary-specific requests, or give feedback on previous orders.

"No purchase from the Ponsonby Arms is required, but they have a wide selection of alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks and many customers arrange to meet friends for a drink and chat as they pick up their shopping.

"It's free to join and as a member, you're sent weekly emails with recipe ideas to inspire your cooking with local food.

"At the Taster Extravaganza at the Ponsonby Arms on Wednesday samples of the food produced by all our local farmers and food producers will be available, including meat from Abbey Farm and Pen Y Lan Pork, super fresh locally grown vegetables from Babbinswood Farm, cakes from the Cabin Kitchen, specialist bread created just for the event and quiches from Bar Llaeth Bakery and possibly some wild-caught venison butchered locally by the Wild Bushcraft Company.

"All food is grown, raised or produced within 12 miles of Llangollen."

* For more information, please visit www.foodassembly.com or contact Robyn at llangollenFA@gmail.com

Display house numbers says ambulance service

THE Welsh Ambulance Service is appealing for people to display their house name or number prominently in order to help save lives.

In Wales there are still many properties that don’t have door numbers or names, which could mean that precious time is wasted by blue light services searching for the property in an emergency.

Now, the Trust is urging householders to help further reduce response times by ensuring that their properties are clearly and prominently identified, and that there is nothing obstructing them.

Head of Operations Richard Lee said: “We need to get to 999 calls as quickly as possible. Sometimes if a house does not have its name or number clearly displayed there is a delay in us reaching the patient.

“It's vital that all properties display their name or number clearly and that it is visible from the road.

“Our control rooms have digital mapping systems to find addresses but in a life threatening emergency it's a good idea to send somebody outside to flag the ambulance or response car down. In these cases sometimes seconds save lives.”

The Trust is also encouraging anyone visiting Wales on holiday this summer to take steps to make sure they are prepared in the event of an emergency.

That means making sure you know the full address you’re staying at and checking what medical facilities are in the local area.

Richard added: “The NHS Direct Wales website has a useful search facility to help you find the nearest Pharmacy, Minor Injury Unit or Emergency Department.

“Also, if you are taking any medication, it’s important to make sure you have enough to last you the whole holiday.

“Please remember only to use 999 in the case of a genuine life-threatening emergency.”

What can you do? Follow these simple steps:
* Ensure that your house number or name is visible from the road.
* Ideally, house numbers should be the same size as the figures on a number plate.
* Help the numbers stand out – choose white numbers and place on a black background or vice versa.
* Encourage your neighbour(s) and local shopkeepers to follow suit.