The Best Female Owned Irish Food Products
Words: Tobi Ilori
Hero Image: Karen Cox
Words: Tobi Ilori
Hero Image: Karen Cox
International Women’s Day is a good excuse to pause and celebrate some of the women shaping how we eat and drink in Ireland. Our food scene is built as much by producers as it is by chefs, and many of the jars, bottles and ingredients we reach for everyday come from women who quietly built businesses around good food done properly.
Some started at farmer’s markets, others in home kitchens or coastal workshops. What connects them is that their products have become part of the every day rhythm of Irish cooking. Here are a few of the women behind some of Ireland’s best-known producers:
White Mausu
If you’ve opened your fridge in the past few years and spotted a jar of Peanut Rayu lurking beside the mayo, there’s a good chance Katie Sanderson is responsible. As co-founder of White Mausu, Sanderson helped transform what began as a small market stall into one of Ireland’s most recognisable modern condiment brands.
White Mausu’s chilli oils and especially Peanut Rayu and Black Bean Rayu have developed a cult following for a good reason. They’re deeply savoury, unapologetically punchy and capable of improving almost anything they touch, eggs, noodles, dumplings, toast… It’s quicker to name what it doesn’t go with.
Valentia Island Vermouth
On the windswept edge of Kerry, Anna and Orla Snook O’Carroll have been redefining what Irish vermouth can look like. The wife and wife team behind Valentia Island Vermouth produce one of Ireland’s best known vermouth from their family home on the island, using botanicals foraged from the surrounding landscape
Their vermouth captures something uniquely Irish. Sea air, wild herbs and a sense of place that feels deeply connected to the Atlantic coast. It’s the kind of bottle that bartenders and home drinkers alike have begun reaching for when they want something distinctly local in a glass.
West of Dingle Sea Salt
Out on the Dingle Peninsula, Marie Holden harvests sea salt in large batches, drawing directly from the clean Atlantic waters surrounding the coastline. West of Dingle Sea Salt has become an essential staple for chefs across Ireland, prized for its clean mineral flavour and delicate crystals.
It’s the sort of ingredient that doesn’t shout for attention. Instead, it lifts everything it comes in contact with, from roasted vegetables to chocolate desserts. Once you start using it, you’ll find it sneaking into almost every dish you cook
The Burren Smokehouse
Birgitta Hedin Cutin has been smoking salmon in Lisdoonvarna since 1989, blending traditional Irish produce with Scandinavian smoking techniques she brought with her from Sweden. The Burren Smokehouse has since become one of the most respected smoked salmon producers in the country
Their salmon is delicately smoked, carefully sliced and widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Irish seafood craftsmanship. It’s the kind of product that regularly finds its way onto restaurant menus and festive tables alike
Foxes Bow Whiskey
Alice Carroll is the founder of Foxes Bow Whiskey, a Dublin brand inspired by one distinct mission: to create whiskey that tears up the rulebook. The brand blends Irish whiskey tradition with a modern perspective.
The brand takes inspiration from the Liberties and Temple Bar districts, areas long associated with the city’s whiskey heritage, Foxes Bow is part of a wider wave of producers bringing fresh energy into Ireland’s long-standing whiskey story.
Folláin
From West Cork comes Folláin, the jam and preserve brand founded by Máirín Uí Lionáird. Built on traditional recipes and local fruit, the brand has become a familiar sight in Irish kitchens over the years.
Folláin’s jams capture something simple but important: the flavour of good fruit handled properly. Strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant. The classics done right and a reminder that sometimes the simplest things are hardest to improve.
These women have built brands, preserved traditions and helped define what modern Irish food looks like. Often quietly, but always with impact.
This International Women’s Day is a moment to celebrate that work. Though, to be honest, the real celebration happens every time one of their products lands on the table.
