NEWS - Meet the Entrepreneur: Sofie Rooney from Chimac - 16th September

• Date: Wednesday 16th September
• Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
• Venue: The Address Hotel, Citywest, Kingswood Village, Dublin 22, D22W580
• Cost: FREE

The Local Enterprise Office South Dublin are delighted to announce a Meet the Entrepreneur event with Sofie Rooney from Chimac.  Sofie is LEO South Dublin's Ambassador for this year's National Women's Enterprise Day 15th October 2026.

Meet the Entrepreneur event will take place on Wednesday 16th September from 9:30am - 12:30pm in The Address Hotel, CityWest, Kingswood Village, Dublin 22, D22W580

Sofie Rooney is the director and co-founder of Chimac, an Irish-born food brand that has grown from a cult Dublin restaurant into a multi-channel business spanning hospitality, retail, foodservice and manufacturing.

An award-winning founder, including InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Dublin winner and IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year finalist, Sofie has built Chimac into one of Ireland’s most exciting food brands, with a growing footprint across Ireland, the UK and international markets. Backed by Enterprise Ireland as a High Potential Start-Up (HPSU), Chimac’s Great Taste award-winning sauces are now stocked in over 800 retail locations worldwide.

Sofie brings a rare founder perspective on scaling a food brand from restaurant kitchen to retail shelf, navigating hospitality, manufacturing, export, grocery, foodservice and brand building along the way.

Hosted by - Lorraine Allen

Lorraine Allen has 26 years’ experience in growing businesses across the EU and internationally for large multinationals such as Cereal Partners (Nestle & General Mills JV), Glanbia Performance Nutrition, Wella, and Kellogg, holding senior commercial, insight, brand, and innovation roles. She has led business growth & brand development strategy, built insight & innovation capability & processes, created & commercialised innovation and led expansion into new markets across EU & beyond.

Founder of Brand Innovation Ireland in 2018, also now proudly a B.Corp,  Lorraine works with business owners across food & drink, agrifood tech, biotech, functional foods and circular economy - from early start-ups to larger organisations. She also works with universities to commercialise scientific research. Her passion is in creating innovation that tackles key global challenges, increasingly with a sustainability focus.   Lorraine is an advocate of design thinking and supports organisations to create and validate their ideas with target customers and consumers to successfully launch and grow them in the global marketplace. 

Lorraine sits on the board of Bord Bia and Research Ireland given her experience in their sectors. Lorraine works with the European Commission as an expert, coach & evaluator for various innovation funds. She is a resident expert with the EIT Food for early-stage European food start-ups launching globally. She also works as a Consultant & Mentor with Enterprise Ireland & various Local Enterprise Offices in Ireland.