An award-winning chocolatier from Galway is competing with the country’s best small businesses as one of the Finalists for the National Enterprise Award this week.

Gráinne Mullins’ company, Grá Chocolates will represent Local Enterprise Office Galway at the prestigious awards that take place today (Thursday) in the Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin.

Gráinne founded Grá Chocolates in her hometown of Kilchreest in 2020, and the business has gone from strength to strength. Her creations use ethically sourced Valrhona Chocolate, Casa Luker cocoa butter and Irish cream and butter – resulting in decadent, small batch treats.

Grá Chocolates competes against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the €35,000 winner’s prize fund.

This is the 24th year of the Local Enterprise Office initiative, which was won last year by Advanced Cosmetics, supported by Local Enterprise Office Mayo.

“Myself and the LEO team are delighted that Gráinne Mullin’s and Grá Chocolates will be representing Galway at The National Enterprise Awards,” said Acting Head of Enterprise at LEO Galway, Caroline McDonagh.

“Grainne overcame the challenges of starting a new business during a pandemic and has built a strong brand and a sustainable business.

“What sets Grainne apart is her ability to blend tradition with innovation and sourcing the best lo”cal ingredients with a focus on individual and seasonal products. We believe that Grá Chocolates has the potential to follow in the footsteps of previous winners to become a successful global company,” she added.

The Finalists compete for a prize fund of €50,000 and along with an overall National Enterprise of the Year winner there are categories for Best Start-Up, Best Export Business, an Innovation Award, a One-to-Watch Award, and a Sustainability Award.

Pictured: Success story…Gráinne Mullins of Grá Chocolates.