Success story: Amara Eats
Background
Based in Torfaen, Amara Eats is a street food and event catering business that brings authentic West African flavours to South Wales. Founded by Laura Beech as a way to celebrate and share her daughter’s Nigerian heritage, the business serves a range of traditional dishes, including jollof rice, beef and chicken suya, and freshly fried plantain.
When Laura decided to diversify into food manufacturing and develop a packaged zobo drink, she was referred to ZERO2FIVE for technical support. Zobo is a refreshing drink from West Africa that’s made from the hibiscus plant (Hibiscus sabdariffa) blended with fruits and spices. It’s known for its rich purple colour and distinctive tart flavour.
As Laura prepared to launch the product at local farmers’ markets, establishing a robust food safety management system was a key priority.
Support from ZERO2FIVE
ZERO2FIVE provided one-to-one mentoring, guiding Laura through the development of a detailed HACCP plan and helping her to understand the critical controls required to manufacture the product safely.
The support focused on identifying the key factors underpinning product safety and quality, including appropriate cooking times and temperatures, evaluating suitable packaging formats, considering shelf-life requirements, and undertaking water activity (Aw) testing to provide additional evidence for product safety and stability.
Benefits of the support
Thanks to the support provided by ZERO2FIVE, Laura has developed a HACCP plan for the zobo drink and gained a better understanding of the regulatory requirements associated with bringing a new food product to market.
As Amara Eats prepares to launch its zobo drink at local farmers’ markets, Laura is continuing to work with ZERO2FIVE to develop compliant product labelling, ensuring that information provided to consumers meets food information regulations.
Laura Beech, Owner, Amara Eats:
“The support from ZERO2FIVE exceeded my expectations in many areas. The guidance they provided was professional, knowledgeable and very helpful. I now have a very detailed and precise HACCP plan to present to my local Environmental Health department. I doubt that I could have achieved such a professional and thorough document without ZERO2FIVE’s support. I feel fully equipped to approach my EHO and discuss the production of my product with confidence.”
Get in touch with us
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help your business or have any questions about the support we can offer, then please get in touch.
