John, who runs Blackcastle Farm at Two-Mile Borris, launched his Piedmontese Gourmet Sausage product as a Special Buy this month. The award-winning product will return to shelf for a six-month period next April.

John is the fourth-generation farmer at Blackcastle Farm, where he breeds Piedmontese cattle, imported from Italy in 2005. But as the pandemic struck, the restaurant sector – which accounted for over 30% of his revenue – completely seized up. In response, John decided to join Tangent’s level 9 Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation and Enterprise Development. Since graduating, John has expanded Blackcastle Farms by converting 200-year-old stables into two food units, where he now creates products specifically for the food retail market. The business continues to go from strength to strength.


Speaking of his experience at Tangent, John said:

“The additional entrepreneurship skills that I learnt on this course made me immediately think about how I could pivot my business so that I would be in a position to keep my staff and keep supplying my customers. Luckily, I now have an on-farm approved food unit which means I can develop new products”.