LocalMarkets.ie kicks off in style

Old Millbank Smokehouse smoked salmon, O’Flynn’s sausages with Bad Boy banana ketchup, seafood pie from Taste a Memory, pâté from Flynn’s Kitchen on Arbutus Bread: just a few of the savoury offerings at tonight’s LocalMarkets.ie launch in – where else? – the English Market. There were also teensy pots of strawberry mousse from Bitesize, the Sugar Café‘s macaroons, cheesecake from Glenillen Farm and neat little bags of Mella’s fudge, all to be washed down with vinous offerings from Bubble Brothers and The Wine Buff.

Sound like your ideal shopping basket? Well, it could be. Rory McCann, the managing director and IT expert behind LocalMarkets.ie, got the idea when he kept missing out on the good things at his local farmers’ market in Crosshaven. Now he wants to make the best of Cork artisan food products accessible online to people who aren’t able to get to a market. This is local food, sold online and delivered locally. A new kind of food co-op, as it were. So, even though you might find it difficult to make it to Mahon Point Farmers’ Market or into the city, you can get your hands on a Farmgate Ham, Mature Cheddar & Onion Tart, pick up some cheese from The Crafty Little Food Shop, put yourself on the list for one of Organic Republic‘s fruit and veg boxes and make sure you’re stocked up with Dee’s Veggie Burgers (a great favourite with the Little Brother).

At the moment they only deliver as far north as Rathcormac so I’ll just have to wait until they extend the that area further. Until then, best of luck to LocalMarkets.ie and to all the great producers that they have online.