Team
Food on the Edge is an event run by a highly experienced professional team with a wide range of expertise, leaders in their fields, with a proven track record of delivering exciting and well organised events and projects. The team consists of: EatGalway members JP McMahon (Symposium Director), Drigin Gaffey (Operations), Edel McMahon (Graphic Design) and Abigail Colleran (Event Co-ordination); Olivia Collins, Food PR (Communications); Ruth Hegarty, Egg & Chicken (Sponsorship) and The Foodie Forum (Support Team).
EatGalway
The EatGalway Restaurant Group (Aniar, Cava Bodega, Tartare Café + Wine Bar) is owned and operated by husband and wife team JP McMahon and Drigín Gaffey. As Culinary Director, JP manages all aspects of the food side of the business. He chefs, teaches and promotes the restaurants through traditional and social media outlets. His is passionate about good food and supporting local farmers and suppliers. Drigín is Managing Director and oversees finance, sales and marketing, HR, training and all management of the three restaurants. All three restaurants serve the best of local, artisan and seasonal produce, with an emphasis on ethical eating. Catering for all tastes, from Spanish tapas to contemporary culinary flair, EatGalway’s award-winning restaurants will make memorable your gastronomic experience of Galway.
Olivia Collins – FOOD PR & MARKETING
Communications & Marketing
Food PR and Marketing provide online and offline marketing and PR services to restaurants and food producers across Ireland. We also assist international food brands looking to break into the Irish food scene. Olivia Collins is the owner of the agency and directs all client accounts. Olivia founded the successful award-winning consumer PR agency Those Two Girls PR for over 10 years before dedicating the agency to food.
Food PR and Marketing works with Michelin starred restaurants, multi-award winning venues, high profile chefs and quality artisan producers from all over Ireland developing online strategies, PR campaigns and managing marketing budgets. Olivia runs PR and social media training workshops across the country.
Ruth Hegarty – EGG & CHICKEN Sponsorship
Ruth Hegarty is owner of egg&chicken, a specialist food project management and consultancy services working directly with producers of good food and with organisations and groups promoting or developing our food culture. She was Secretary-General for 11 years of Euro-Toques Ireland (Irish branch of the European chefs group promoting local sourcing and culinary heritage) where she created and managed a broad range of projects across food education, culinary education and training, food & cooking related awards, competition & conferences, food tourism, food policy & more. Previously, she also has experience in working with start-up companies through Griffith College Dublin. Having both family background and personal experience in food production and the restaurant industry, Ruth has always been passionate about food and has an avid interest in farming. She holds a Masters in European Economic & Public Affairs from UCD with a thesis on ‘European Food Quality Policy: Protecting Europe’s Traditional and Speciality Foods’. www.eggandchicken.ie @eggandchick
Jacinta Dalton & Cormac Handy – THE FOODIE FORUM
Catering Co-Ordinators
FoodieForum co-founders Jacinta Dalton & Cormac Handy join the Food on the Edge team. The FoodieForum is an interactive food education concept which was created as a networking platform for food producers, chefs, restaurateurs, food enthusiasts, educators and students. Its key aim is to raise the profile of local artisan producers and to create an educational environment for discussion on food trends, theories and new product development. The FoodieForum was the first such initiative in the West of Ireland and first of its kind in an educational environment. It played a significant part in the naissance of Galway and the West of Ireland as an emerging region of gastronomy.
Our Professional Conference Organisers are Go West