How Our New Product Found Its Audience

When I think back to the early conversations about launching Flavour Moments, I could never have imagined how quickly things would move once I finally pressed “go” in April. Years of planning sat behind those first packs of goat’s cheese pearls, but nothing quite prepares you for the reality of turning an idea into a business.

What I did have, though, was a lot of support from the Welsh Government-funded organisations that guide new producers like me. Without that, I doubt I would have been ready for any of what followed.

We make small goat’s cheese pearls with flavoured centres. The core range includes fig, pear and honey, and for Blas Cymru / Taste Wales this year I introduced two new flavours: gold-dusted cranberry, and a gold-dusted truffle and honey.

Being based in North Wales, I’m not far from the Food Technology Centre in Anglesey, and it has been central to almost every part of the development process. Everything from nutritional information to packaging requirements, shelf-life testing, even early flavour development happened through conversations and sessions there. I found very quickly that reading things online only gets you so far. Being able to sit down with people who know the regulations and can talk through each step makes an enormous difference.

Before that, Cywain, a Welsh Government supported programme had already shaped much of my preparation. My mentor, Louise, has been with me from the start. She was actually the one who suggested I attend Blas Cymru / Taste Wales. I didn’t know what to expect, but she made sure I was ready. I’ve had sessions on costings, accounting, website set-up, marketing, and plenty of the unglamorous but essential bits that come with letting go of a stable job and starting something completely new. I still ring her regularly – sometimes with excitement, sometimes in a bit of a panic – and she always has time. AMRC has helped too, particularly as orders increased and I realised the machinery I rely on needed small changes. They worked with me to develop improved teeth for the machine so the pearls came out the right shape, which has saved me huge amounts of time.

Even with all that support, stepping into Blas Cymru / Taste Wales, an event delivered by Welsh Government, as a brand-new business was a little unnerving. The scale of the event is striking. More than 150 Welsh food and drink companies under one roof, alongside hundreds of buyers, wholesalers and distributors. I fell into the criteria for the new product wall, so my new flavours sat alongside around 200 others right in the centre of the hall. Buyers could walk through independently and vote for their favourite. I didn’t expect anything to come of it and was genuinely shocked when my name was called. Winning the award was a lovely moment, not least because it came from people who spend their working lives choosing products. It told me that what I’m doing speaks to people.

The award has opened doors. I’ve shared it across social media, which has helped with visibility, but some of the impact has been more surprising. One group of buyers I met at the event invited me to Qatar a couple of weeks later. I assumed it was polite conversation, but the morning after Blas Cymru / Taste Wales ended I received an email with dates asking if I could attend. I took the award plate with me on its “first trip”, as I joked at the time. I never expected export to be part of the business so soon, but it’s something I’m now exploring because of the event.

Blas Cymru / Taste Wales also brought home just how much innovation is happening in Wales. Being in a room with 200 new products, all launched recently, was inspiring. For someone who felt completely new to the sector not long ago, it was reassuring to see how much support exists to help small businesses grow. I spoke to buyers who already knew what they wanted to look at, and others who were simply walking through the showcases to see what caught their eye. It made me realise how valuable it is to be present at an event where people can discover you by chance as well as through arranged meetings.

Looking ahead, my focus is on widening the network of farm shops and delis we supply, alongside building on our listing with Selfridges. I’m developing two new flavours – pesto and sun-dried tomato – with the team in Anglesey, and I’m thinking about new formats that fit the ways customers are using the pearls. People put them on salads, pizzas, grazing platters and cheese boards, and increasingly as part of adult snacking. A grab-and-go style pack is high on my list for next year.

What I hadn’t expected when I launched this year was how quickly the world would open up. Blas Cymru / Taste Wales played a big part in that. It gave me a platform, but more importantly it showed me what’s possible when you have the right support around you. I may not have felt ready in April, but standing at that new product wall just a matter of months later made me realise I’d been better prepared than I thought.

Philippa Galway talks about this and more in the Food and Drink podcast episode Driving Growth at Blas Cymru / Taste Wales 2025. Listen to the podcast here.