The three family farmers were speaking at the Agri Careers jobs fair and conference organised by the Irish Farmers Journal with Devenish in Dublin this Thursday.
Do your sums, do all of them and don’t skip any. Then get somebody to check all the figures
Pat Lalor, Kilbeggan Porridge, Co Westmeath
Pat turned his family's drystock farm into an organic enterprise 20 years ago and has been focusing on making porridge and other food products from his own oats.
"It has made the farm viable," he said. His son abandoned a career as a physiotherapist in Australia to join the business seven years ago.
Aside from strict financial planning, he said farmers interested in processing their own food must never compromise on their integrity and be able to stand over what is on the label.
"For the first time, I was meeting people who were eating my product from my field and there is nowhere to hide," he said.
Find a person you can bounce stuff off who will not always give you the answer you want
Caroline Keeling, Keelings fruit, Co Dublin
Keelings has grown into an international fruit business with distribution across Europe and farms in Latin America after bouncing back from crises.
When the farm's main buyer was taken over, Caroline's father had to start selling directly into the Dublin market. Then when Caroline took over, the recession hit and she found herself doorstepping a lot of people for advice.
"I looked at what else is out there. That’s how we ended up selling strawberries in Hong Kong, software in China," she said.
The company now licences out the IT systems it has developed to keep a close eye on its operations, cashing in on the Keeling's family tendency to "be control freaks", Caroline said.
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. If you tick their boxes, you’ll be ticking your own
Alan Kingston, Glenillen Farm, Co Cork
Alan's other piece of advice is to "marry a smart woman" – having left school to work on the family dairy farm, he soon became aware of his limitations and gives his wife Valerie credit for turning Glenillen into a successful yoghurt brand.
"I realised – wow, 59ac trying to make a living and pay the bills," he said.
"We weren’t realising the value of what we were producing."
Valerie started making yoghurt and the couple sold it at farmers' markets in west Cork. Capturing the entire value from the final product was a revelation for Alan, who said farmers never see what happens to their milk once it is collected by the lorry.
The toughest decision they had to make was whether to stay small or expand. Alan said he wanted to grow and create employment, but warned of the many costs that have to be taken into account between the farm gate and the consumer when expanding.
From market stalls to supermarket shelves, he insists that listening to consumers, retailers and those who move your products in between is key to success.
Read more
Agri Careers: people like to know where their food comes from – McDonagh
Agri Careers: Chinese and Spanish are the languages of the future
Agri Careers Expo live stream: vets, guests and panel discussions
The three family farmers were speaking at the Agri Careers jobs fair and conference organised by the Irish Farmers Journal with Devenish in Dublin this Thursday.
Do your sums, do all of them and don’t skip any. Then get somebody to check all the figures
Pat Lalor, Kilbeggan Porridge, Co Westmeath
Pat turned his family's drystock farm into an organic enterprise 20 years ago and has been focusing on making porridge and other food products from his own oats.
"It has made the farm viable," he said. His son abandoned a career as a physiotherapist in Australia to join the business seven years ago.
Aside from strict financial planning, he said farmers interested in processing their own food must never compromise on their integrity and be able to stand over what is on the label.
"For the first time, I was meeting people who were eating my product from my field and there is nowhere to hide," he said.
Find a person you can bounce stuff off who will not always give you the answer you want
Caroline Keeling, Keelings fruit, Co Dublin
Keelings has grown into an international fruit business with distribution across Europe and farms in Latin America after bouncing back from crises.
When the farm's main buyer was taken over, Caroline's father had to start selling directly into the Dublin market. Then when Caroline took over, the recession hit and she found herself doorstepping a lot of people for advice.
"I looked at what else is out there. That’s how we ended up selling strawberries in Hong Kong, software in China," she said.
The company now licences out the IT systems it has developed to keep a close eye on its operations, cashing in on the Keeling's family tendency to "be control freaks", Caroline said.
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. If you tick their boxes, you’ll be ticking your own
Alan Kingston, Glenillen Farm, Co Cork
Alan's other piece of advice is to "marry a smart woman" – having left school to work on the family dairy farm, he soon became aware of his limitations and gives his wife Valerie credit for turning Glenillen into a successful yoghurt brand.
"I realised – wow, 59ac trying to make a living and pay the bills," he said.
"We weren’t realising the value of what we were producing."
Valerie started making yoghurt and the couple sold it at farmers' markets in west Cork. Capturing the entire value from the final product was a revelation for Alan, who said farmers never see what happens to their milk once it is collected by the lorry.
The toughest decision they had to make was whether to stay small or expand. Alan said he wanted to grow and create employment, but warned of the many costs that have to be taken into account between the farm gate and the consumer when expanding.
From market stalls to supermarket shelves, he insists that listening to consumers, retailers and those who move your products in between is key to success.
Read more
Agri Careers: people like to know where their food comes from – McDonagh
Agri Careers: Chinese and Spanish are the languages of the future
Agri Careers Expo live stream: vets, guests and panel discussions
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