"In my 12 years working as a journalist, I’ve never seen that,” I said to the guy beside me as we shuffled out of the Phoenix Cinema in Dingle.

“That’s because it hasn’t happened in 20 years,” he replied laughing.

It was the Friday evening of the 2018 Dingle Food Festival and Artie Clifford, chair of Blas na hÉireann, had achieved the near impossible – convincing the buyers of most of the major retailers to sit together on a panel and have a frank and honest conversation about the Irish supermarket and food industry, the relationships they have with suppliers, giving advice to food producers about how to get on shelf and what they are looking for in the future.

Diarmuid Murphy (Dunnes Stores), Laura Harper (Aldi), Joe Manning (Tesco) and Fergal O’Gara (Musgraves) all spoke about their businesses.

Was it really a frank conversation? Not entirely at first. All buyers certainly had their PR hats on.

However, there was one man who had the ability to dig that bit deeper and expose the home truths in a way most other people could not: Malachy O’Connor. That’s because five years ago, Malachy himself would have been sitting on the panel, having spent the last 20 years living and breathing life in the multiples.

Having worked in Dunnes, Superquinn, Spar, Aldi and Tesco, at different buyer and director levels, he has been there and worn the t-shirt. Now he has broken away from the big boys and is running his own consultancy business, Food First Consulting. Malachy is hopeful that all the buyers will come together again this September at the Dingle Food Festival, including Lidl. With more input from food producers in advance, it will bring the conversation to an even deeper level.

Ahead of that though, he is gearing up for the Backyard at Blas roadshow with his talk at the Séamus Ennis Arts Centre taking place on 19 June. Malachy says: “In my consulting role, I deal a lot with medium and large producers but these Blas talks are really relaxed and also are a very affordable way for small producers to get advice for getting listed and maintaining a relationship with retailers.

“When I first went into consulting, clients were saying to me: ‘Malachy, you’ve sat on the other side of the table. You know how retailers think, can you give us the inside track?’ And that’s essentially what I have been doing and what I will be discussing at the Backyard at Blas.

Negotiation will be front and centre. “Getting in the door is one thing but when you are in the door, it’s you, the producer and a large multi-million retailer. It is a power struggle and they have the power, but good negotiation is so important. In my view, far too many companies are under-selling themselves and have lost sight of the money they need to make. Profit is not a dirty word. This is not a vocation, as much as it may feel like it. Trying to get profitability back into food companies is a big focus for me.

“One of the key messages that came out of the discussion with the retailers at Blas last year is that they all have an interest in premium brands and ranges, and artisan and small producers feed into that. There is a lot of price competition amongst the retailers on the everyday products but there is more profit for them at the higher end of the scale. There is a demand for it from consumers and it lifts their brand, shows they are supporting Irish and, overall, makes good business sense.

“Consider this when going to negotiate and go in there thinking not about your own problems but instead, the solutions you are offering to the retailer.”

To go into these meetings with that level of confidence, Malachy advises to have your homework done with a very clear business strategy.

“Businesses need to go back to basics about who they are and what they stand for. Think about your brand position, your culture, your values. What is your story? These may seem like the fluffy statements, but if you don’t get that right, you are immediately trading on price, and when you are in that price battle with retailers, it will always be a hard fight.

“Tactically, when you have that strategy clear, when you are going into those meetings with confidence in yourself and your business, you are approaching everything from a place of strength, rather than feeling you are on the backfoot.”

Malachy will have this advice and more at the Backyard at Blas, taking place on 19 June at the Séamus Ennis Arts Centre, Naul, Co Dublin. Tickets for each standalone event are priced at €75 each (inc VAT & Fees) but you can opt for a two-event ticket at €125 (inc VAT & Fees). Tickets are available to buy now at Eventbrite.ie CL