They might be a staple of Mexican cuisine but if Philip Martin has his way, Ireland will soon be leading the way in Europe with homegrown maize tortillas. Phillip has launched a crowd-funding campaign to bring his Blanco Nino #tortillaRevolution to the masses.

Philip was born and raised on an organic farm in north county Dublin and in 2012 he opened the award-winning Mexican street food restaurant, Little Ass Burrito Bar. However, he quickly noticed that the average tortilla lacked flavour.

“So what I’m trying to do is produce a tortilla that is full of flavour and that will encourage more people to use them in their everyday diet,” he explains to Irish Country Living.

“The beauty about the product is that it is simple, but tasty and healthy – it’s what people want.”

Having travelled extensively throughout the US and Mexico, Philip is currently trying to uncover the optimum variety of maize to grow in this environment. He is working in partnership with other Irish farmers to achieve this.

“I’m working with a number of farmers to grow the maize. But the first crop will be grown in Balbriggan,” he says.

“The collapse of the sugar beet industry in 2006 created mass unemployment and left many fields bare. We want to cover these fields, which once supported sugar beet, with our maize.

“The yield of the crop is roughly 2.5 tonnes per acre. We aim to be growing 600 acres of maize by year five.

“I also plan on setting up a production facility in Fingal, Co Dublin.”

While Philip has already invested his own money in the start-up, he is hoping to raise further finance through Crowd Cube, a platform for everyday investors who want to help entrepreneurs raise the finance they need to grow their business.

By tapping into a crowd of like-minded individuals who are willing to invest directly in exchange for equity, entrepreneurs can access funds that have been hidden away or controlled by venture capitalists or business angels in the past. The company, although in the developing stages, has received a huge amount of interest.

“I have invested €15,000 to date, but will need a further €70,000,” says Philip. “The capital is needed for the initial set up and machinery costs to get the business up and running. I do not plan to take a wage for the first two years, so the money will be reinvested into the business.”

From day one, Philip hopes to be selling to the Irish and UK markets, using social media as a major marketing tool. He hopes to be in a position to approach supermarkets once the final product is produced.

“We already have 550 twitter followers and they haven’t even tasted the product yet,” he says. “It just shows that the interest is there.”

For more information on Blanco Nino, visit www.blanco-nino.com.