A RANGE of healthy, chilled baby food, devised by the new Irish company Pip & Pear, is being trialled in a Spanish supermarket chain next month.
Waterford-based Pip & Pear is owned and run by Irene Queally, daughter of Peter Queally, a co-founder of Dawn Meats. The company’s products were launched in May and are already stocked in 110 SuperValu stores.
The company has taken part in Aldi baby products promotions and plans to enter the British market by the end of the year. Queally and her husband Bill Fitzgerald also own No 9 Barronstrand Street, a restaurant in Waterford.
Queally got the idea for Pip & Pear after she had her second child and could not find healthy, chilled baby food. “I always felt bad about giving food from a jar because it was nothing like I’d make myself,” she said. “I asked why there weren’t more short-shelf-life products for babies.”
Queally began making batches of the food in the restaurant kitchen when it was closed in the evenings, and put her recipes on the menu for visiting babies. “We sell a lot of it now,” she said. “People are out for lunch with their kids and want everyone to have a good meal.”
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The product has won awards at Blas na hEireann. “We’re in talks with a couple of other multiples here — it’s very exciting,” said Queally.