Having won the prestigious Welsh Food Enterprise Award for Best Food and Drink Producer at the Royal Welsh Show, Môn ar Lwy, based in Bodorgan, Anglesey went on to launch a vegan line of ice cream and are now tenants at the Oriel Mon gallery and museum’s café in Llangefni.
Helen Holland, with chef, trainer and new business partner Lloyd Treadway at her side, has called it Sitrws (Citrus), because of their zest for life.
Said Holland: “I am delighted to be running Sitrws alongside Lloyd, who has already designed a fantastic menu which will be completely fresh using local ingredients. We will also be working alongside Coleg Llandrillo Menai to further develop the skills of young people and are both passionate about quality and creating a worthwhile service that is accessible to all here on the island.
“We are recruiting staff and refreshing the look of the interior, which is very exciting as I’ve always wanted to open a venue like this. “It will be the perfect place to display our products and to trial different flavours and textures with our freshly baked goods, as well as catering for functions and holding events for local artists, sports personalities, singers, organisations, and the community.”
Reflecting on the Royal Welsh Show and the road ahead, Holland added: “To win such a prestigious title was a huge honour for us as it was on the national stage and gave us a confidence boost following the challenges of the pandemic.
“So much is happening at the moment, we are in a really good place now and this was a reminder we are moving in the right direction and can step up to the next level as a business, which we are more than ready to do after almost 15 years in the industry.”
Having developed more than 150 flavours over the years using natural ingredients supplied by local producers since 2008 – Bursting Blueberry was the first Great Taste Award – Helen says the construction of their own purpose-built dairy 10 years ago was the turning point for the company.
Concluded Holland: “That enabled us to scale-up and supply restaurants, convenience stores and farm shops after we had experienced a surge in demand. The new café will allow us to expand further, providing another outlet for our ice cream and sorbets, as well as showcasing freshly baked patisseries and supporting local businesses and bringing the community to the forefront of all we do – that was and always will be so important to us.” For more visit monarlwy.co.uk
