Mayo s Joanne Clarke Wins RT One s the Taste of Succe

Mayo s Joanne Clarke Wins RT One s The Taste of Success

27.10.15

Mayo woman Joanne Clarke was declared the winner of The Taste of Success on RT One tonight scooping one of the biggest prizes in Irish television.

In the dramatic finale of the eight-week programme, The Taste of Success viewers saw Joanne, a 43-year-old single mum from Westport, Co Mayo, emerge victorious with her Nutty Brioche and Butter Pudding. Joanne wins a prize worth 100,000 and her product will be available on the shelves of more than 140 Lidl Ireland stores nationwide from tomorrow morning.

The victory marks a major turnaround in fortunes for Joanne. During tonight's final viewers heard how she has struggled financially in recent years with the bank repossessing her home.

All through the competition, I had been really confident about the product, thinking it could go all the way but you can never dare to dream. Anytime someone broached the subject about the prize I would start talking about something else! said Joanne, I suppose, even though I count myself as a positive thinker, I didn t want to risk dreaming about what I would do with the win and then maybe be disappointed. I made a conscious effort to just live in the moment, and enjoy the experience and I have to say I loved every minute of it. I really enjoyed developing the product and tweaking it along the way. I hope people like it. I am still in shock. The impact of winning this prize is going to be huge for me .

The Taste of Success, produced by RT Cork and sponsored by Lidl Ireland, travelled around the country, with mentors JP McMahon, Domini Kemp, Catherine Fulvio, Martin Shanahan and host D ith S sampling the wares of food innovators from Donegal to Bantry and everywhere in-between. The regional champions honed their product with their mentors before facing the Lidl judges, including chef Paul Flynn, and they ultimately chose the winner.

In tonight's final, viewers watched as Connaught/Ulster victor Joanne battled it out with Dublin regional champion Ken McHugh to win The Taste of Success and saw her revealed as the winner when the curtain dropped to reveal her product at Lidl Ireland's flagship store.

D ith S said: I had a feeling that Joanne's brioche and butter pudding was in with a great chance when I first had a taste of it at our Athenry heat. She is a very worthy winner. We travelled around the country and met some extremely creative and enthusiastic people there are great things happening in food in this country and it's great to see someone like Joanne get the boost that this prize gives .

Winning in his first year on the show, Joanne's mentor Michelin-starred chef JP McMahon said he was delighted to see Joanne take home the prize.

It couldn't happen to a more worthy person and I think it is something that is absolutely going to change her life, he said.

Colm Crowley, RT Cork head of production, congratulated Joanne on her win and praised all the food innovators who entered this year's show.

When we launched the second series, we were thrilled and delighted with the response from the general public, who applied in droves and once more showed their boundless skill, energy and commitment to good Irish food. It's been a long and arduous eight weeks for all our contestants but all here in RT Cork couldn't be happier for Joanne Clarke our The Taste of Success winner for 2015. It's the start of a truly wonderful success story and we wish her well for the future, he said.

Liam Casey, The Taste of Success judge and commercial director at Lidl Ireland commented: The standard of entries to the show this year was outstanding - it really is fantastic to see such passion and dedication for food in Ireland. Our aim was to find an innovative and unique product that uses traditional Irish ingredients and most of all tastes great! With Joanne s Nutty Brioche and Butter Pudding we are confident we have the right product to offer our customers .

LINK:	http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2015/1028/73791...
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