How much oats does Flahavan’s buy annually?

We buy two types of oats – conventional and organic oats. We buy nearly all the organic oats grown in this country, but it is still not enough to meet our needs. We import any deficit in organic oats from the UK or other EU countries. For conventional oats, we source all our oats within a 60-mile radius of the plant here in Kilmacthomas.

How was the quality of this year’s oat crop?

This year’s crop has been good. As our oats are grown nearby, we were fortunate to be sourcing from the southeast rather than the western corridor of Ireland, which was more affected by the poorer weather.

What price did you pay for oats this harvest?

We pay a premium for oats above the price of green barley at harvest time. When prices are poor, we are more supportive of farmers in terms of price premiums. This year, we paid a base price of €150/t for oats and there are bonuses for low moisture and high hectolitre/bushel weight.

Is demand for porridge increasing?

Yes, the Irish market for porridge oats is over €30m at RSP prices and growing at about 8%. Roughly speaking, over the past 10 years the market has doubled.

How has the Flahavan’s business developed over time?

In 2000, we had one retail packing line at the plant that produced 1.5kg, 1kg and 0.5kg packets of porridge oats. Today, we have nine packing machines that produce 35 different product lines in a range of formats. We’ve developed a lot of new products in the last few years such as organic oats, quick oats, muesli, granola and flapjacks aimed at the on-the-go consumer. You have to be careful not to get pigeonholed by your product offering if you’re only going to offer one packaging format option.

How have you invested in the business?

We’ve made some very significant investments in the business over the last few years. In 2009, we built a new grain drying facility. We have invested in new packing lines, upgraded our milling equipment and following this we built a new warehouse in 2012. In total, we have invested close to €7m in recent years.

Is Flahavan’s exporting any product?

Exports account for about 25% of all our sales. We export to 17 different countries as a brand. We first started exporting about 20 years ago but we’re in a significant growth phase for exports now. Our biggest export market is the UK but that’s having its challenges at the moment with sterling exchange rates and the possibility of tariffs and customs issues on a hard Brexit. Our other important export markets are the US and South Korea.

Is the health food trend benefiting your business?

We have a very healthy product and our brand’s recent partnership with Operation Transformation is a culmination of that. We recently gave away 200,000 Flahavan’s 500g porridge packs for free in association with RTÉ’s Operation Transformation. The promotion was fully supported by SuperValu, Tesco, Eurospar and Dunnes, who rolled it out in-store to consumers.