Ballymaloe foods
1.6
County Cork, Ireland
June 2026
Food products
Manufacturing
Ireland
Ballymaloe Foods is a family-owned Irish food company with deep roots in the culinary heritage of Shanagarry, County Cork. The company’s story dates back to the late 1930s, when Ivan Allen began growing tomatoes in local glasshouses. With an abundance of produce, his wife Myrtle Allen developed a tomato relish recipe that would later become iconic. In 1964, Myrtle Allen opened a restaurant in the dining room of Ballymaloe House, establishing a reputation for exceptional food and helping to shape modern Irish cuisine. She went on to become the first female chef in Ireland to be awarded a Michelin Star, which she held from 1975 to 1980. Her original tomato relish quickly became a signature accompaniment, laying the foundation for what would become Ballymaloe Foods. The company itself was founded in the 1990s, when Yasmin Hyde, Myrtle’s daughter, began producing Ballymaloe Relish in her own kitchen using her mother’s recipe. What started as a small-scale family operation has since grown into a recognised premium food brand. The next generation joined the business with Maxine and Rose Hyde in 2008 and 2016 respectively, continuing the family tradition while driving innovation and expanding the product range to meet evolving consumer tastes. Today, Ballymaloe Foods produces a wide ran
Overall B Impact Score
Governance 9.3
Governance evaluates a company's overall mission, engagement around its social/environmental impact, ethics, and transparency. This section also evaluates the ability of a company to protect their mission and formally consider stakeholders in decision making through their corporate structure (e.g. benefit corporation) or corporate governing documents.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.
Workers 27.2
Workers evaluates a company’s contributions to its employees’ financial security, health & safety, wellness, career development, and engagement & satisfaction. In addition, this section recognizes business models designed to benefit workers, such as companies that are at least 40% owned by non-executive employees and those that have workforce development programs to support individuals with barriers to employment.
Community 18.3
Community evaluates a company’s engagement with and impact on the communities in which it operates, hires from, and sources from. Topics include diversity, equity & inclusion, economic impact, civic engagement, charitable giving, and supply chain management. In addition, this section recognizes business models that are designed to address specific community-oriented problems, such as poverty alleviation through fair trade sourcing or distribution via microenterprises, producer cooperative models, locally focused economic development, and formal charitable giving commitments.
Environment 23.3
Environment evaluates a company’s overall environmental management practices as well as its impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity. This includes the direct impact of a company’s operations and, when applicable its supply chain and distribution channels. This section also recognizes companies with environmentally innovative production processes and those that sell products or services that have a positive environmental impact. Some examples might include products and services that create renewable energy, reduce consumption or waste, conserve land or wildlife, provide less toxic alternatives to the market, or educate people about environmental problems.
Customers 3.1
Customers evaluates a company’s stewardship of its customers through the quality of its products and services, ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels. In addition, this section recognizes products or services that are designed to address a particular social problem for or through its customers, such as health or educational products, arts & media products, serving underserved customers/clients, and services that improve the social impact of other businesses or organizations.