Zoe Kidd attended RYE Pre-Start workshops in Northern Ireland while studying at CAFRE Loughry for a degree in Food Technology.

She has always had a passion for food and in particular a passion to have her own bakery however things took an unexpected turn when Zoe was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, not long afterwards her two younger brothers were also diagnosed as Celiac.

Partly driven by frustration in trying to find suitable Gluten Free products and the realisation that there was a gap in the market, Zoe returned to her idea of wanting to open a bakery but this time a bakery purely for Gluten free products.

Zoe had completed a business action plan during the RYE workshops and found this useful to return to as a basis for her new idea.

Zoe commented “the RYE workshops helped me to focus on my idea, think about my customers and how best to market my products but most of all they motivated me to give it a go.”

Zoe was the winner of the ‘One to Watch’ Award at the recent RYE NI Awards, she explained how she has been developing her recipes, branding and packaging.

She has also had the Environmental Health out to her home kitchen to ensure her premises are Gluten Free and suitable for producing her baked goods for sale.

Zoe will be joining the RYE Connect Start Phase and with the one to one support to write her full Business Plan hopes that her business Scrumptious Little Bakes will be up and running by the end of the year supplying Gluten Free baked products to shops and restaurants across Northern Ireland.