During the first Covid lockdown, Conor Sweeny was at home watching TV and snacking on a tub of ice cream. It was a non-dairy variety and this professionally trained chef wasn’t impressed. He reckoned he could produce something that tasted much better, which prompted him to start developing the plant-based recipes that have since become Dae ice cream sandwiches.
Familiar with the growing issue of food allergies from his working life, Sweeny (a long-time vegetarian) also decided to make his ice cream allergen-free so the company’s products do not contain dairy, egg, gluten or nuts.
“Basically I stumbled into a market that had been badly neglected, and this was the start of creating a business based around tasty, premium, free-from treats that could be enjoyed by all,” says Sweeny. “According to the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, up to 5 per cent of adults and 3 per cent of children suffer from food allergies, while food hypersensitivity is also on the rise. If we go on figures from the last census, that adds up to roughly 400,000 adults and children with an extremely limited choice when it comes to treating themselves.
He was working in a vegetarian restaurant in London when Covid hit and started his business on €10,000, which was his furlough money from his job at the time
“The ice cream market is dominated by big players who fall short in their options for people who suffer with allergies, and we want to change this. Our aim is to be the trend setters in this sector, so we are looking to make a big bang. We are one of the few brands operating from our own allergy monitored facility and we lab test every product to ensure its safety and push the boundaries on what ‘free from’ treats really means,” Sweeny says.
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Sweeny trained in culinary arts at what used to be DIT Cathal Brugha Street and has spent the past eight years working in cafes, food production and in casual and fine dining in Ireland and the UK. He was working in a vegetarian restaurant in London when Covid hit and started his business on €10,000, which was his furlough money from his job at the time. He estimates his additional spending since then at about €60,000 between the cost of equipment, marketing, new product development and scaling the business. The company is planning a fundraising round for early 2024 to raise €325,000.
“Dublin City LEO [Local Enterprise Office] were good to us,” says Sweeny. “We were able to draw down their priming grant, which allowed us to hire our first two staff members, who are still with us today. We’ve also taken part in the FoodWorks accelerator, and Teagasc, Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland have all supported our growth and helped get us export ready for the coming year.”
Sweeny initially called his ice cream Leamhain, after a river in Kerry with personal significance, but he was advised that the name wouldn’t travel well
Dae ice cream is made with organic French-produced soya milk, which Sweeny chose because of its quality, availability and how well it takes on flavour. The company’s products are retailing in about 130 outlets between SuperValu shops and independents around the country and come in two flavours: vanilla caramel with a blondie biscuit, and chocolate cookie with a chocolate biscuit.
Sweeny initially called his ice cream Leamhain, after a river in Kerry with personal significance, but he was advised that the name wouldn’t travel well in overseas markets, so the company rebranded to Dae earlier this year.
“Our ice cream will be available in three flavours in tubs from early 2024 and we are also developing a line of free-from cookies and brownies for the wholesale trade, which will be going to trial with consumers this side of Christmas. We are currently only in the frozen market with our ice cream products, but we will be entering the ambient treat market with our new bakes, which we think offer the desired deliciousness we expect from baked goods but are often disappointed when we try them,” he says.
