Betty Smith may be turning 80 next May, but the award-winning producer behind A Taste of Irish Spirit poitín marmalade shows no sign of slowing down.

“We keep saying we came over to retire,” laughs Betty, as we chat in her kitchen in Newcestown, near Bandon. “That was 20 years ago – when are we going to do it?”

But the former forensic scientist proves that age really is just a number, as a product that she first developed to sell to repay a credit union loan is now stocked in almost 30 SuperValu stores as well as independent stores throughout Munster.

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Originally from Yorkshire, Betty met her husband Jim while working in Derry. But as it was the start of the Troubles, the couple decided to return to the UK, where they settled in Nottingham; which they choose by sticking a pin in the map.

“But all the time we were over there, Jim was saying: ‘When I retire, I’m going back to Ireland.’ And I was going: ‘That’s never going to happen,’” she recalls.

“But then he took early retirement and we sold the house and came over here. We take chances... and they usually pay off.”

On their arrival in Newcestown in 1995, Betty immediately got involved in the community, joining the local ICA, chairing a retirement group and co-founding a gardening club. However, it was a link with the Irish Guide Dogs association that proved most fortuitous. Both dog lovers, Betty and Jim began rearing pups for the association, including Cassie, who went to work with a lady in Dublin.

Sadly, she passed away after six years and the couple were asked if they would take Cassie back. They were delighted to do so, but were heartbroken when Cassie got cancer and, despite a series of operations, did not recover – this left the couple with a large veterinary bill.

Eager to clear it as quickly as possible as the vet had been so good to them, Betty took a loan from the credit union. But she was then left with the dilemma of how she would pay that back as a pensioner.

A member of the country markets, she initially thought about selling crafts, but soon realised that would not generate enough money. So, she started to look around the house for inspiration.

“We had this bottle of poitín that Jim had bought the summer before from a shop in Killarney and I thought:‘That is so Irish. I must do something with that,’” she recalls. “And I had one of those tins of orange pulp. So I thought: ‘I’ll make some marmalade.’”

After perfecting her recipe, Betty and Jim cleared out their attic and sold the contents at a car boot sale to raise some money to buy more ingredients to get started, before officially registering A Taste of Irish Spirit, as well as getting a sign off from the HSE.

“They came and inspected the kitchen and I expected them to say, ‘These worktops are no good, you’ve got to have stainless steel,’” she recalls. “But, actually, I don’t, because the marmalade is very low-risk.”

Armed with her paperwork, Betty approached a number of stores – the first being Scally’s SuperValu in Clonakilty – and took any opportunity that came her way; from doing a start-your-own-business course with the local enterprise board to auditioning for the Taste of Success TV programme with Lidl.

However, it was getting involved in SuperValu’s Food Academy that really proved the game changer, and now A Taste of Irish Spirit is stocked in almost 30 of their stores in Munster, as well as several independent outlets.

Betty works with Sunnyside Fruit Farm in Rathcormack to source her orange pulp, while the poitín – which has been legally distilled since 1997 – comes from West Cork Distillers in Skibbereen. As well as the original marmalade, she has also developed a “hot toddy” recipe with cinnamon and cloves that won the top prize at the Cork Kerry Food Forum.

While there have been challenges along the way, Betty says age is certainly not one of them – despite what some people might think.

“People seem to wonder what the heck I’m doing at my age,” she says.

“Somebody who was quite high up said to me: ‘Why don’t you go home and enjoy your retirement?’ And I said: ‘But I am enjoying my retirement.’

“I thought: ‘What an attitude!’”

And she believes that no matter how old you are, you can always take a chance – once you have the right spirit. Literally, in this case.

“If there’s something there that I think I can do, I’ll go ahead and do it,” she says.

“It’s so exciting to see how far you can go.”

For further information and stockist details, please contact bettysmith.cork@gmail.com