User:CLWE/Workshop/Spice burger

A spice burger is a sandwich consisting of beef, cereals, herbs, onions and spices surrounded by a "traditional outer crumb". It is a popular food item in Ireland where it originated and has been described as one the country's few original contributions to world cuisine. It is considered the staple of chippers in Ireland, with vegetarians even being known to enquire about the product.

The spice burger has been on sale in Ireland since the early 1950s. It is manufactured by Walsh Family Foods from Finglas, Dublin, and was the company's first product. The spice burger was developed by Maurice Walsh, a pork butcher, at the back of his Glasnevin premises. Walsh's children, Helen and Paddy, began to assist, particularly when the business expanded and began to export their products outside Ireland. The recipe for the spice burger was patented but Walsh proved to be the only producer and for several decades the product attracted little attention outside Ireland. The Walsh family's other products include burgers, garlic mushrooms and onion rings. The Walsh family sold most of the company in 2000 for less than €1.27 million. Annual turnover increased to €14 million with €4 million of this being exported to the United Kingdom. But with the weaking of the pound sterling currency the company began to have difficulty operating. The pork contamination scare in late 2008 led to several pork products being recalled; the spice burger was one of these.

The spice burger received national and international attention in June 2009 when Walsh Family Foods was threatened by the global economic recession of the late 2000s and announced its intent to shut down with the loss of fifty jobs. Intense media scrutiny and online campaigning&mdash;a Save Our Spice Burger Campaign was launched on the social networking service Facebook and internet forums were said to have been flooded with burger-related nostalgia&mdash;led to increased interest in the spice burger from potential customers. Mothers were reported to have expressed their disappointment for the sake of their children and highly-rated companies even seemed interested. With enough orders from retailers, the company was able to resume production on a temporary two-day week basis in July 2009.

Walsh Family Foods had requested assistance from the government agency Enterprise Ireland but when expense outweighed demand a receiver, KPMG, was called in. The publicity generated enough interest to resurrect the spice burger despite the difficulties its manufacturer faces from the weakness of the pound sterling against the euro currency and a tighter, more competitive market.