FOOD & DRINK
RIB WORLD, Carrigeen Industrial Estate, Fethard Road,
Clonmel, Co Tipperary. Tel: 052 281863. www.ribworld.ie
The meat
factor
Theporkindustrymayhavegone
throughaturbulenttimeoflate,butat
leastonecompanycontinuestoshine
brightlywhenitcomestopositive
thinkingandanabilitytoexport
‘We don’t go out and do a
lotofblueskyprojects
because we are specialised-
rib producers, so we innovate
by enhancing our flavours or
our cooking methods’
Bo Nielsen
R
IB World was set up in 2004 with a clear goal: Thecompanynowemploysover40peopleatitsplant situation, and while he acknowledges that conditions
to become the largest cooked pork rib produc- —upfrom12in2004—andexpectsgrowthofover30pc have been tighter than heretofore, is confident that Rib
er in Europe. Just over four years later, it is for2009,withastrongandwell-establishedcustomerbase. World will continue to build its presence, both in Ireland
well on the road to achieving that goal. Alreadythisyear,thecompanyhaswonanumberofnew and elsewhere.
Bo Nielsen, managing director and founder of Rib contracts. “Intermsofexportmarkets,what’shurtingeveryoneat
World, had worked in the food industry for over 20 years Nielsen is modest about the achievement, but partially themomentistheweakeningofsterlingagainsttheeuro,
beforehestartedhisownfirmwithpartnersandthehelp attributesittothefactthatRibWorldisgoodatwhatitdoes. butifyouwanttostaywiththemarketyoustaywithitand
of an assistance grant from Enterprise Ireland. “We specialise in the product, can easily meet our cus- trytomakesureyouretainyourpositionbyreducingraw
Hespottedagapinanichemarketforgoodqualityprod- tomers’ real-time demands and we produce higher-quality materialcosts,ifpossible.Westillhavecustomersandplan
ucts that could be sold mainstream, and so Clonmel- ribsatthesamepriceascheaperentry-levelproducts.This to be in this business for the long haul,” he says.
based Rib World, a provider of fully cooked, high quality, means that those in retail receive the exact same quality Nielsen says it’s important to be aggressive in the cur-
succulent loin ribs was born. as those in the restaurant trade,” he says. rent economic climate.
“Therewasagrowingdemandforfullycookedribs,and Denmark-born Nielsen places huge pride in the atten- “We’re trying to maximise our profile in different mar-
alotofthelargermanufacturersdidn’tbotherwiththatmar- tiontodetailthatgoesintoRibWorld’sproducts.Thefirm ketssowedon’tdependonjustoneclient.Youhaveto
ket,sowecreatedaplantspeciallydesignedandonlygeared produces marinated and slow-cooked-in-barbecue-sauce spread your wings and, while retaining your present cus-
towardsproducinghigh-qualityribproducts,”saysNielsen. rackofporkribs,andistheonlycompanyofitskindtotrim tomers,trytoattractnewonesaswell.Then,whenthings
Inthefirsttwoyearsofitslife,RibWorldfocusedonpur- andremoveallthefatfromtheribs.Itisthisexactnessthat turn around you willstandstronger in more markets and
suingfood-servicecompanies,butaftertwoyearsofahard has won it plaudits and clients both here and abroad. In your brand will become well known.”
slog, Nielsen decided to branch into retail. fact,RibWorld’sproductsaresoldintheUK,Sweden,Den- DespiteRibWorld’shugegrowthinsuchashortspaceof
“I set about designing decent retail packaging in 2006, mark, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Iceland. time,Nielsenhasnotbecomecomplacent.Thecompanycon-
took the same product that we were providing to restau- Thecompanyhasambitiousgrowthplansforallofitsmar- tinues to innovate and is currently developing other niche
rants,didn’tchangethepricesorrecipesand—withinthree ketsintheyearahead,andcurrentlyhasthecapacitytomore products, which it plans to introduce to the market
months — we were in all major supermarkets in Ireland. than double its production and sales levels. It aims to sig- in 2009.
That presence in those supermarkets is still growing nificantly scale up production over the next three years, to “Innovation is very important to Rib World. We don’t go
organically year on year,” he says. hiremorestaffandtoincreasemarketshareintheUKand outanddoalotofblueskyprojectsbecausewearespecialised-
Indeed, Rib World has grown exponentially in recent Europe. If the cutting-edge Clonmel plant reaches full rib producers, so we innovate by enhancing our flavours or
years. In 2006, turnover had reached ¤2m; just two years capacity, the firm will have a workforce of about 60. ourcookingmethodsandintroducingnewtasteprofiles.We
later, it had increased to an impressive ¤8m. Nielsen is not deterred by the current global economic will continue do that this year and going forward.”
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