SCHOOL EDITION 22 MARCH 2023 - Flipbook - Page 12
12
FARMWEEK
JANUARY 28 2021
RURALREALITY
Direct sale drive-through and
In 2015, Ballymakenny Farm, near Drogheda, County Louth, run by David and Maria Flynn, began to grow
heritage and speciality potatoes, an idea of Maria’s aimed at chefs of top restaurants and which proved incredibly
successful until lockdown brought a temporary halt. Undaunted, as Ian Harvey found out, Maria came up with
another ingenious plan – a drive-through and courier service!
“
W
HEN you paid us a visit
in August 2016 we were
relatively unknown in
the world of ne
food production Ian,
including the media,” remarked Maria
Flynn on the phone, reminding me
of just how energetic and engaging
a personality she is and how much
I enjoyed that visit to their farm
near Drogheda in County Louth for
FarmWeek.
“At the time I was growing a couple
of acres of heritage and speciality
potatoes and for a season before that
I started growing an even smaller
amount, more as a means of trying
something different on our farm to
boost our agging sales of traditional
varieties.”
Maria’s husband David had been
growing Rooster, Kerr’s Pink, Records
and Golden Wonder on 300 acres,
much of which was rented land, selling
to local shops to avoid the pressure
of supermarket sales but nding the
competitiveness of the business
beginning to tell a depressing tale in
nancial returns.
“A vegetable producer had suggested
I try to sell my potato varieties to the
chefs of top restaurants as a potential
outlet rather than direct to shops,
so I gave it a try as you recall and
the response to my purple eshed
Violetta and Red Emmalie was an
instant hit with chefs and I never
looked back.
“Since then I’ve had amazing sales
for my increased list of heritage
and speciality potatoes to chefs of
ne food restaurants the length and
breadth of this island, both North
and South, who have really supported
my efforts and become friends in the
process.
“That original off beat business idea
had turned our farming concepts
around but with the pandemic this
past season we decided to stop
renting land to grow and, instead,
rent out land on our own 120 acre
One leap forward
came from an idea
to do direct sales
of our potatoes on
the farm... opening
what I now call our
Spudshack
Maria Flynn
DRIVE THROUGH: David and Maria Flynn on their family farm near Drogheda, County Louth, have taken on drivethrough Ballymakenny Farm ‘Spudshack’ and courier service, which has really caught the attention of customers
during lockdown. FW-1A.
farm, including some of our storage
facilities.
“When Covid-19 hit we lost all
our chef and restaurant customers
overnight, which was a bitter blow
when we’d worked so hard to build up
a reputation throughout the country
for our heritage and speciality
potatoes
“Overheads in farming are high as
you know, so it’s a case of doing what
it takes to survive in the current crisis
and hopefully we’ll come out of it all
and pick up where we left off.
“Currently we’re growing up to 17
acres of my heritage and speciality
potatoes, the varieties of which have
increased over the years to ve,
Violetta, Red Emmalie, Pink Fir Apple
and more recently added Mayan Gold
and Mayan Rose.
“They’re simply delightful potatoes
to grow and to eat.
“Violetta’s a purple eshed potato
as you know, Ian, and it has a beautiful
earthy avour. Red Emmalie with its
pink esh is slightly sweeter than
Violetta.
“Pink Fir Apple has become one of
the chef’s favourites, a waxy potato
dating back to the 19th century with
a slightly nutty avour.
“Mayan Gold is a potato with a
PURPLE MASH: Ballymakenny Farm Violetta potatoes,
LOAD UP: Customers who arrive at Ballymakenny Farm to buy speciality potatoes can also have with purple flesh and delightfully earthy flavour, are
their choice of home grown mainly brassica vegetables, all paid for and loaded without leaving
already a big hit with chefs and restaurants and are now
their vehicles. FW-1J.
finding a more direct way to householders’ plates. FW-1K.
fascinating heritage also from the
1800s and grown by the Mayan tribe
of Peru in the Andes Mountains of
South America; it has a really oury
texture and a gorgeous old fashioned
potato avour.
“As for Mayan Rose, bred from
Mayan Gold, it has a fantastic avour
and is also a great all rounder for
cooking.
“We really miss our chefs and
restaurants and look forward to the
resumption of that market when
restrictions lift, but in the meantime
this past year, although it hasn’t by
any means compensated us for our
lack of restaurant trade, we’ve picked
up a direct sale retail business with
shops.
“Small 3kg bags for shops were the
ideal size and in fact north of the
border our Ballymakenny Farm brand
excelled and helped our cash ow.
“We now can’t afford the time to
deliver around the growing band of
shops like family owned butchers
and bakeries, so we have wholesalers
distributing for us with an average of
10-15 bags a week, which all adds up.
“On top of that we introduced online
sales with couriers delivering right
across the island with a minimum
order of 6kgs and in the rst two
weeks of January we averaged over 40
SPECIAL CRISPS: What could be
more special and unusual than
Violetta potato crisps, a great
talking point and tasty too. FW-1M.