Industry & Business

Fiid, the producer of ambient vegan ready meals, emerged as the winning start-up business from the Lions Den competition held at the recent 2019 National Food & Drink Business Conference & Exhibition at the CityWest at the Citywest Hotel & Convention Centre in Dublin, which attracted over 2,000 visitors from across Ireland.

Shane Ryan (pictured above), founder of Fiid, successfully confronted the Lions Den judges, comprising Alison Cowzer of The Company of Food and an RTE Dragons Den investor; Holly White, Author and Food & Lifestyle Influencer; Colum O’Sullivan, Co-founder of Cully & Sully; and Brian Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of Freshly Chopped.

The Lions Den competition, organised by Bradley Brand & Design, provides an opportunity for food and drink start-ups to accelerate their growth by gaining industry-wide exposure along with invaluable advice and feedback from the Lions.

Fiid sources vegetables, legumes, herbs and spices to produce convenient, plant based meals. No additives or preservatives are used and Fiid’s meals are ready to eat after just two minutes in the microwave. Its range of nourishing lunch bowls are high in protein and fibre and made using 50% vegetables delivering 3 of the 5 a day for consumers.

Furthermore, the bowls have a twelve month shelf life and do not require refrigeration. Indeed, Fiid’s aim is to make food for foodies who don’t have time to cook.

The range includes Hearty Moroccan Chickpea Tagine, Italian Sundried Tomato & Lentil Ragu and Smoky Mexican Black Bean Chilli. Fiid’s products are currently available in over 150 stores across Ireland and the fledgling company also sells direct to consumers via its website. Fiid commenced exporting to the UK in May 2019 after gaining a listing with Ocado.

The other three Lions Den finalists were Gogo Roos/Humble Acre, Simply Fit Food and Sweet Potato Pizza Company.

For further information about Fiid visit www.eatfiid.com.