Catherine Cocollos has 350,000 snails on half an acre of land out the back of her house. Her uncle, who has since passed away, gave Catherine some land. “Every time you’d go out, he’d say: ‘I hope ye do something with that bit of land.’ And we were like: ‘OK, what can we do with a half acre of land?’ So it turns out you can have a million snails on half an acre of land!” laughs Catherine.

Why anyone would want 350,000 snails in their back garden is beyond us, but Catherine has found many reasons. Firstly she says there is a world shortage of snails.

According to Louis Marie Guedon – their French consultant who’s been overseeing the farm for the last year (he consults worldwide in setting up snail farms) – the conditions in Kinvara, where the farm is located, are perfect for snail farming. Louis Marie was, in fact, shocked at the quality of snails Ireland could produce.

Catherine runs the business with her husband Richard, who is French, so this may explain the interest in snails.

The couple farm two types of snails: Gros Gris and Petit Gris. Gros Gris are sent back to France to be used in the cosmetic industry, specifically in a company set up by Louis Marie called LM Nature*, which produces beauty products such as moisturiser, serum and face mask (www.lmnature.com).

Snail slime is packed with glycolic acid, collagen, elastin, allantoin, and Louis Marie developed a machine which removes the slime from the snail without killing or hurting it.

“The snails go back out into the park and they could be fattened up and used for food or reused for slime or whatever he decides after that,” explains Catherine.

Catherine describes the humble snail as a “fascinating creature”. She doesn’t even need to worry about disease, as there aren’t really any snail diseases and she says the “babies are so cute”.

The baby snails arrived in April/May and are fully grown by September/October, so Catherine and Richard are in the middle of the picking season at the moment.

All the snails have to be picked individually – all 350,000! But how does one pick snails? “All the snails are under boards, because they’re night creatures, so in daytime they attach themselves to the board and sleep. During the day you go under the board and look at each snail individually and pick the ones that are fully matured, and keep going through them. There’s no fast way around that one, I’m afraid.”

Catherine also enjoys eating snails, and her snails are produced for consumption as well as for make up.

Snails are live exported. “I collect all my snails, put them in a poly tunnel and dry them out a bit. They purge themselves, dry themselves out and go into hibernation like they do in the wild. They seal over, and once they seal over they last like that for three or four months,” she explains.

From small ACORNS

Catherine had just bought in baby snails last year in a bid to start the business when she decided to get involved in the ACORNS programme, which essentially nurtures female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland.

Fully funded under the Department of Agriculture’s CEDRA Rural Development and Innovation Fund, the initiative is focused on female entrepreneurs who have recently started a business or who have taken concrete steps towards setting up a business. There is no charge for successful applicants.

This year’s ACORNS programme begins in October. Participants travel to Mullingar on the 10th of that month for a two-day event, which includes an overnight stay, as the organisers are keen for the entrepreneurs to network and form close bonds.

A core element of the ACORNS initiative is the involvement of “Lead Entrepreneurs”, who have already established businesses in rural Ireland. These business women, on a voluntary basis, facilitate interactive round-table sessions.

After the initial session in Mullingar, participants will have a meeting with their lead entrepreneur once a month in November, December, January and February. At the beginning of next April, there will be another two-day event that also includes an overnight. Costs associated with the overnights in both October and April will be covered.

The ACORNS programme is limited to early-stage businesses – those that have either been started no earlier than 29 June 2014, or businesses that are in the advanced stage of being established.

A pilot version of the programme ran last year, and this saw eight businesses begin to trade for the first time during the pilot. Of the 35 trading, 86% increased their combined sales by 43%. Ten participants made export sales, including five for the first time, and participants increased their total number of employees by 13%. Because everyone was so pleased with how it worked last year, numbers on the programme have been increased from 48 to 56 for the coming intake.

Paula Fitzsimons, founder of Fitzsimons Consulting, the company that developed the ACORNS programme, feels very strongly that peer-led growth is the best way for entrepreneurs to learn.

“Entrepreneurs learn best from each other. One of the things you get when you move away from a straight mentoring situation, which might be one-to-one, is that it reduces the psychological isolation. They’re meeting other entrepreneurs at an early stage who have the same challenges and barriers as they have themselves, so they no longer feel they’re the only one trying to do it.

“That sense of psychological isolation is particularly pertinent in more rural areas because you don’t, in your normal network, come across many other women who are setting up business,” explains Paula.

“It’s this early stage, when people don’t have a network, that they’re very vulnerable. The business is very new and fragile and that’s where we’re coming in: to strengthen them, personally, strengthen the business and put it on a sustainable footing,” Paula says.

There is no interview to get a place because, in Paula’s words: “We believe in keeping everything as simple as possible and putting no undue demands on anyone. So anyone interested can read more about it www.acorns.ie and, if they’re interested, register their interest there. Within 24 hours we will send them out an application form, if they’re eligible.”

The closing date for returning these applications is Thursday 22 September. ACORN lead entrepreneurs then come together for the selection meeting, go through the application forms and decide who they wish to invite to their table.

Last year there were over 200 applications for 48 places. The seven lead entrepreneurs are located from Donegal to Cork and from Kerry to Wexford, so organisers try to limit the distance participants have to travel. Organisers say that favourable consideration will be given to those applicants who expect to employ others over the next three years.

Catherine Cocollos gives the ACORNS programme her stamp of approval: “I found it very rewarding. It’s a great way to learn from other women who are at the same stage or a similar stage in their business.” Catherine says she found her lead entrepreneur Anne Cusack, to be very, very helpful and encouraging. “Each month when you meet you set targets. It’s very positive and motivational.

“The programme gave me the confidence to go forward and promote snail farming. I now run visits and training programmes through NOTS (National Organic Training Skillnet).” CL

*LM Nature is currently looking for an Irish Distribution Company for its products.

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