It’s been an exciting week for Enterprise Nation member Taragh Hanley as a late afternoon phone call led to her being on a Hollywood film set the very next day.

“I got a phone call last Tuesday evening at 4.15pm saying 'our caterers have let us down tomorrow'. Can you come and cater for 230 people?” Taragh explains.

Lindsey Lohan

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Taragh and her team jumped in to action and began prepping their catering offering for the film set of Lindsey Lohan’s new movie, Irish Wish.

Filming was taking place up in the Hollywood mountains, the ones in Wicklow, not LA.

On location

The Divine Foodie team did such a good job filling in last minute on the Wednesday that they were asked to return to feed the cast and crew on set, at different locations around Wicklow and Dublin, for the following six days.

“We were in four different locations with 230 people roughly each day,” explains Taragh. “We provided a hot boxed meal, pulled all our staff in, got all the local suppliers onboard and just went for it. 1200 meals served over six days.”

“It was really good fun, hectic but fun. Very rewarding also as you could see those people having long days on set and we arrived and handed them a hot meal and a sweet treat,” she says.

This opportunity to impress could open up more doors for The Divine Foodie to win film location catering contracts, given they are ideally located in Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow. Wicklow and South Dublin are popular areas for filming with Ardmore Studios located in Bray.

Up for the challenge

Stepping up to the plate on this occasion didn’t come without its challenges.

“It was just getting the packaging right - they had to be individually boxed, they had to be kept warm and transported up to the Hollywood mountains on the first day,” she says. “It was a minor challenge initially but it came together once we got the choices planned out to keep everyone happy.”

“It just shows, as a small business what you can pull out of the bag - we had the perfect solution by the end of it."

"Just don’t be afraid to try something and give it ago,” she adds.

Well it certainly paid off for The Divine Foodie, it’s not every day your catering business gets the opportunity to feed Hollywood stars, in the Hollywood mountains…in Ireland!

Access to Finance: Raising money in the food and drink sector

Small businesses frequently need support with managing money and accessing finance. Enterprise Nation has partnered with SBCI, BPFI and Sage to show you which funding options are available to you, and to help you gain access to them.

On Tuesday 25 October 2022 Enterprise Nation will host an Access to Finance online event to help those who are considering raising money for their food and drinks business.

The event will be chaired by Johnny Harte and a panel discussion will be held featuring John Stapleton, an entrepreneur, investor and adviser in the food and drinks industry.

Find more details and register for this event here.