Glenilen Farm
ALAN AND Valerie Kingston are the driving force behind Glenilen Farm, an artisan, dairy-based food manufacturing business based in Cork.
When Valerie began to make and sell homemade cheesecakes at the local farmers’ market, using milk from the couple’s dairy farm in Drimoleague back in 1997, she never thought her kitchen-table business would develop into the successful food development and manufacturing concern it is today.
Having quickly realised the increase in return that could be achieved by processing their milk into cheese, cream, and dairy-based desserts, which could be sold directly to the customer, the couple invested in a dedicated production unit on their farm in 2002. Sales of Glenilen Farm cheesecakes, cheese and mousse desserts quickly grew and, in 2006, Glenilen Farm was registered as a limited company.
The company now employs a team of 30 staff, that includes a sales and marketing manager for the Ireland and the UK markets and a quality and production manager whose primary aim is to ensure the quality and taste of Glenilen Farm products is maintained or improved.
Numerous business and food awards have been won by the couple, including a British Cheese Gold award; a Bord Bia Real Thing Award; and an Irish Food Writers’ Guild Award. Valerie also won the FBD and Irish Farmers Journal Women’s Agri-Business Innovation Award in 2011.
Since Glenilens entry to the UK market, exports have played a significant role in the company’s success, accounting for 11 per cent of sales in 2011, compared with just 1 per cent in 2010. Turnover for the business was €3.2 million for year-end February 2012.
Products:
A range of artisan, dairy-based chilled products that are free of additives and preservatives. These include layered fruit yoghurts, cheesecakes, low-fat cream cheese, mousses, panna cotta, cream, crème fraiche, butter and lemonade.
Customers:
The company currently supplies Glenilen products to major wholesale and retail chains in Ireland, including Musgraves, Tesco, Dunnes Stores and Superquinn. It also supplies a host of speciality and independent retailers that include Avoca Handweavers, Mortons of Ranelagh, Fallon Byrne, Dublin’s Merrion Hotel and The Ritz Carlton in Enniskerry.
Having successfully broken into the UK market, Glenilen provides products to retail outlets including Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Wholefoods and Waitrose.
Are there any interesting or unusual circumstances surrounding the inception of the company or its evolution?
“Valerie learned to make soft cheese while working in west Africa, and with her passion for food this ignited the spark that was to become Glenilen Farm. The business wasn’t part of a great master plan but rather a hobby that roller-coasted and we decided to go along for the ride, never realising quite how far it was going to take us.”
What are the biggest challenges you face now?
“Supplying short shelf-life products to a large retail system and the complex logistics involved. Also, ensuring that we never compromise on taste and quality, and maintaining our artisan image within a ‘mainstream’ market.”
