“Think big! You’ve gotta think some way, so you might as well think big”

This is the motto that one food entrepreneur shared with her fellow food producers on the first day of the ‘Our Food Matters’ training programme which started in Bunclody on 9th November.

It went down well among a group of people who exude the energy and optimism that has brought Ireland out of recession. The purpose of the training programme is to build on the strengths of local food businesses to help Wexford and in particular Bunclody to share in the recovery. 

As part of its REDZ proposal (Rural Economic Development Zone) Bunclody plans to build a Food Hub in 2016. The Food Hub will offer solutions to the dilemmas facing growing food businesses. Many start out at home and grow over time. As they grow, the business begins to feel under pressure in terms of space, time, manpower (or womanpower as there is a high percentage of female entrepreneurs in the food sector) and in general the ability to be all things to all people. 

A food entrepreneur wears many hats – producer, bookkeeper, delivery driver, salesperson, marketer. They can get overwhelmed by the workload and lose focus on the overall business. Wexford and Carlow County Council are driving this initiative in collaboration with the Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) and have commissioned the ‘Our Food Matters’ programme to ensure that both counties produce sound, sustainable businesses. 

As a home-based business moves to a bigger premises, it will be able to rent space at the Food Hub in a shared industrial kitchen rather than having to rent an industrial unit, which is too big a step too soon for many people. In the shared kitchen they will have space to work, be able to avail of training and mentoring, share knowledge with other businesses using the kitchen and use the storage facilities for items such as ingredients, packaging and finished product which have become too bulky to store at home. The Food Hub will also have food units to rent for those businesses who need their own space to produce more and sell more. Furthermore, the food hub will aim to support businesses to create new innovative food products, through links with third level institutions. 

“We have fantastic food businesses in Wexford with real potential to create jobs” says Tom Banville Head of Enterprise at Wexford County Council’s Local Enterprise Office. “We are providing support and training to maximise and realise this potential.” 

Kieran Comerford, Head of Enterprise at Carlow County Council’s Local Enterprise Office adds “Carlow has lots of innovative, exciting food products. Alongside the ’Our Food Matters’ programme, we are running a food tourism programme to get more restaurants and hotels using Carlow produce and to highlight all this fabulous food on our food tourism website, which includes a food trail.” 

John Carley, Director, Wexford County Council is adamant that Wexford will attract more domestic and overseas visitors for its farm to fork approach to food tourism. “This is only the beginning of the process. Wexford will roll out its food tourism project in 2016. The number of tourists to the region continues to grow. We need to use this to boost sales for our food producers which will allow them to create jobs.” 

Food businesses participating in the ’Our Food Matters’ programme will draw up a two year business plan which will reflect moving their production to the Food Hub and hiring extra staff to assist with the growth process. They will have a deep understanding of their business at the end of the 6 weeks, and their business plan will provide them with a roadmap for growth and job creation. 

These 15 businesses are now known as the Blackstairs Food Group and are organising a Christmas Fair in Bunclody to invite locals to try and buy their delightful products. More details of the Christmas Fair will follow in the coming weeks. 

Wexford and Carlow County Council secured funding from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government under the Pilot Rural Economic Development Zone Initiative to deliver this Food Hub Programme in Bunclody.