Athlone entrepreneurs confirm Aer Lingus partnership

A company run by two siblings from Ballykeeran continues its market growth following the announcement of a partnership with Aer Lingus.

Niamh and Ruairi Dooley will supply the national airline with their 60g maple crumble bar from the pair's BiaSol brand for in flight purchase from April 27.

Confirming the partnership on social media, entrepreneur Ruairi Dooley said that the business decision was a "significant step forward" for the BiaSol brand.

"From April 27, our 60g maple crumble bar will be available for purchase on Aer Lingus flights," Dooley said.

The company co-founder said the product was "built for the travel environment".

"The product is portion controlled, easy to handle and designed to fit into airline catering without adding complexity.

"Alongside sustainability, a big part of the focus is nutrition. There's a clear push to give passengers better options and that's where we are seeing strong alignment with what we do," Dooley added.

Trading as Lurgan Foods, the BiaSol brand repurposes food waste as a sustainable solution to create their food products.

The business sources grain from local breweries to produce the Circular Food Co brand of baking mixes and also create nutritious food products, growing their BiaSol range to include granola and protein bars.

BiaSol’s oat bars are stocked in Aldi, Holland & Barrett, and SuperValu, and the entrepreneurs employ 10 staff in the company's fully-fitted manufacturing facility in Tullamore.