FOOD & DRINK
GLENILEN FARM, Gurteeniheer, Drimoleague, Co Cork.
Tel: 028 31179. www.glenilen.com
Cream of
the crop
AlanandValerieKingston,
foundersofGlenilenFarm,
havemadethetransitionfrom
smalldairyfarmtosuccessful
artisanproducer,andrecently
upgradedtoan8,000sqftunit
‘Without a big
expenditure, we were able
to make our produce on a
small scale and test it out
with consumers’
Valerie and Alan Kingston
F
ARMERS’ markets in West Cork gave owners of “Wekeptallofourfiguresfromthefarmers’marketsover opportunity to co-operate with other artisan companies.
Glenilen Farm Alan and Valerie Kingston the two years and, even though the amounts were small, the “As we were distributing to stores around the country,
confidence they needed to take their artisan enterpriseboardacceptedthatdatatofundusforthebusi- we thought: ‘why not take other products as well?’, so we
dairy products into the mainstream retail ness,” Kingston explains. now distribute the products of four other artisan compa-
domain in 2002. This year they’re targeting turnover of Glenilen Farmgotlistingswithtwoofthemultiples and nies: Skeaghanore Duck, The Just Food Company, Caher-
¤2m and are looking at exporting to the UK. was able to supply directly into 40pc of their best stores, beg Free Range Pork and Ummera Smoked Products,”
In the late Nineties, the couple realised dairy farming as well as independent stores. Employees grew from five says Kingston.
alonewasn’tsustainablefromanincomepointofviewand to 12 and, last year, the company outgrew its original Glenilenworkstogetherwiththesecompaniesinterms
decided to add value to what they produced by experi- dairy, so upgraded it to an 8,000 sq ft unit in November. of placing orders with certain stores as well.
menting in the kitchen. Using the milk from their own 50 cows, as well as from Word of mouth has been a major driver of Glenilen’s suc-
With a degree in food science and technology from neighbouringfarms,inonesectionoftheunitpasteurisation cess,leadingtoturnovergrowingby11pcin2008to¤1.58m.
University College Cork, Valerie Kingston had spent time and conversion into yoghurt, cream and cheese occurs. In “We’vedoneverylittleintermsofadvertisingandfeelword
making cheese with the nomadic people in Burkina Faso, another section, those ingredients are processed and made of mouth is the strongest possible way of building up busi-
so soft cheese was a natural product to start with. intofinalproducts.Athirdsectionisdevotedtopackaging. ness. Last year, we appointed Avril Twomey as key account
“We went to France one summer and bought a As the produce has a relatively short shelf life and needs manager, which has been a big relief to our workload.”
milk/cream separator and, then from the cream, started gentlehandling,theKingstonshaveoptedtodistributecoun- Enterprise Ireland provided financial aid towards the
to make cheese cake, mousses, double cream and clotted trywide themselves using three refrigerated vans. upgradedunitlastyearandoneofthetermsoftheagree-
cream. In 2000, we brought them to country and farmers’ “Theonlywaytomakethatviablewastohaveawidevari- ment is that the company looks at exporting. “We’ve just
markets in Skibbereen, Midleton and Bantry,” says Alan ety of products. We have over 20 different skews and started looking at entering the UK, with the help of Bord
Kingston. flavour variants. We’ve been very successful with Farm- Bia,” says Kingston.
“Thesemarketswereourlifeline—withoutabigexpen- house Butter, which we make with a traditional churn, “Wefeelourproductsarestrong.Thereisnootherfarm-
diture, we were able to make our produce on a small bringing back the old taste,” says Kingston. house cheesecake product available in retail, for example.
scale and test it out with consumers.” “Fromtheresearchanddevelopmentsideofthings,it’s Buyers like our offering because it’s different and delivers
Withproofoftheirabilitytomakeandselltheproducts, important to continually launch new products to keep a good, high-value, turnover.” The Glenilen product range
the Kingstons decided to go into retail. They built a ded- things fresh and customers interested. This is one of the comprises:cheesecake;mousse;blueberrysundaes;compote
icateddairyunit,costing¤130,000,withfundingassistance ways to counteract the recession. We aim to keep doing yoghurtjars;fromagefrais;clottedanddoublecream;pro-
fromWestCorkEnterpriseBoard.Theywerethenentitled what we’re good at.” bioticnaturalyoghurt;andfarmhousebutter.Itsfromage
toalicencenumbertogettheirproduceontoshopshelves. Another string to Glenilen’s bow is that it spotted an frais won Gold at the British Cheese Awards in 2008.
14 SFA NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS WWW.SFA.IE/AWARDS
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