Jam maker, baker and organic food supplier are hungry for success

LOCAL FOOD PRODUCER AWARD:THREE SMALL to medium-sized food companies from Cork, Laois and Cavan have been shortlisted in the Local Food Producer Award category of the SuperValu Food Producers Awards.

The local food producer category is designed to recognise producers whose product is produced within the community and which make a contribution to the local economy.

Gourmet Jams was founded by Laois resident Helen Gee in 1998, with financial help from Laois Leader. The company, which employs eight people, produces home-made jam.

The jam is made and packaged at a facility at the Gee family farm, just outside Abbeyleix, Co Laois. Raspberries – the main ingredient – are grown on a three-acre site on the farm.

Turnover at the company is €500,000 per annum and Gee hopes that this will increase to €1 million in the next couple of years.

In 2009, the company invested €100,000 in a capital investment programme which involved the installation of equipment for the capping and labelling process, although the jam itself is made from hand using a wooden spoon. Sales at the company increased by 22 per cent last year.

The company hopes to double its production and, in particular, expand its distribution network. The company, which last week hired a part-time driver, currently supplies supermarkets, delis and butchers in each county in the Republic.

The origins of the Just Food Company date back to 2004 when Deirdre Hilliard and her husband Kevin opened a stall in the Midleton market in Cork. The company’s move into a more commercial venture came in 2005 when Deirdre approached SuperValu in Midleton with a selection of Just Food products.

The supermarket agreed to give the company extensive shelf space and from there, the company began to expand, with help from Cork Enterprise Board.

Today, the company operates from a commercial kitchen in Rushbrooke Commercial Park in Cobh, Co Cork. It supplies 80 shops, 40 of which are SuperValu and Centra stores. The company employs 10 people.

The main products are organic prepared food products, soups, salads, hummus, pesto and muesli. Most of the ingredients are sourced locally.

Turnover at the company is expected to reach about €750,000 this year. Containing costs is a major focus for the company, says Hilliard. Because Just Food’s products are organic, the main cost for the company are ingredients. As a result, she adds, the company endeavours to contain costs in other areas, such as packaging, which is kept simple.

In order to keep travel costs down, the company has set up “drop-off points” at certain retailers which stock their products, where suppliers can leave orders for collection.

Economies of scale also come into play in terms of distribution networks, with the Just Food Company sharing transport and distribution costs with other small producers in their area.

Bakery has always been a family affair for Finola O’Reilly, founder of Manorhill Home Bakery in Co Cavan. Her mother has been running a successful bakery in Galway for almost 20 years. Finola began her business in 2008, in Kilcogy, Co Cavan, with the help of Cavan Enterprise Board.

The company now employs five people, including a full-time driver. It supplies home-made breads, cakes and other bakery products to shops and restaurants in Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Leitrim and Westmeath.

Work starts at four in the morning and sometimes earlier, with breads and pastry produced by hand using the same method that has been passed down two generations. Sales increased by an estimated 30-40 per cent last year and the company plans to expand its in-store presence to other counties.