It's easy to see how people can be passionate about flowers, food, wine or even dogs. . . it's not quite so easy to understand how someone can be passionate about vegetables, fruit and shrubs, but Mr Michael Maloney is.
The chief executive of Bord Glas, which is holding its first Fruit and Vegetable Week this week, does not have to fake it when it comes to the products his board markets. At the introduction of the week-long promotional campaign, he and Sonia O'Sullivan, who is patron of the campaign - and who has similar emotions about fruit and vegetables - drooled over the baskets of produce and fruit/ vegetable sculptures prepared for the occasion.
His favourite fruit is the strawberry; new potatoes and mushrooms are his favourite vegetables.
"There's nothing like Irish strawberries. I'm a very good fruit and vegetable eater. If you get vegetables in season, there's no substitute for them. Compare Irish strawberries with the imports - they may look red and beautiful when you get them at Christmas but there's no comparison in terms of taste."
It may be coincidental that mushrooms are our most important vegetable export, worth £90 million (€114 million) annually. But he's so enthusiastic and so convincing that you might overlook the point.
After a delicious vegetable brunch to start the week - you can see some of the celebrity recipes in Bord Glas's promotional leaflets in shops - Mr Maloney confesses that he does not have a horticultural background.
He took a degree in agriculture while his wife Sheila did horticulture. But Michael Maloney became head of the national horticulture marketing and development board and Sheila went into agricultural research at Teagasc's research centre at Abbotstown in Dublin.
Bord Glas's remit is the vegetable and amenity horticulture industries, which are worth £270 million at farm-gate level. "The fruit and vegetable side is worth more than £230 million - bigger than sheep, pigs, poultry or cereals. The amenity side - shrubs, Christmas trees, cut flowers, bulbs - is worth over £40 million," he says.
The board was established in 1990 to assist and encourage all aspects of horticulture. It operates on a budget of £2.5 million and employs just 12 people, who are either horticulture or marketing experts.
"Being small has to be an advantage in getting the best out of people," Mr Maloney says.
The board currently is two years into a six-year development plan. An investment of £100 million is projected, the aim being to increase domestic output by £50 million over the period of the plan, while an increase from £8 million to £16 million in amenity exports is targeted.
It also aims to maintain and increase domestic market share for Irish horticultural produce.
"If you look at our consumption and domestic output - potatoes and mushrooms - we're almost at saturation. Of field vegetables, 43-44 per cent of what we consume is domestic, so there's scope for that to improve."
An increase and improvement in the acreage under glass is needed.
"Most of the glasshouses in this country are quite old. To replace them would increase productivity by about 25 per cent," he says.
By 2006, about £15 million will be invested in glass, which should go a long way towards reducing imports of vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.
The major initiatives Bord Glas is working on are the Quality Programme for the fruit and vegetable sectors and a five-star scheme for garden centres.
The Quality Programme is designed to bring standards up to the highest level and provide reassurance on quality. Shortly, participation will be required of suppliers to all major supermarket multiples, which are taking the Bord Glas scheme as an industry standard.
"We are working the whole area of integrated crop management, reduction in plant protection products, putting standards in place and having growers audited twice a year by independent auditors, whom we employ." Almost 700 producers are in the programme and 1,000 is the target. EU accreditation comes next.
"The days of getting wizened turnips in the supermarkets are gone," Mr Maloney declares. "The produce that is available to the consumer must be a safe product. The follow-on from this is introducing a Bord Glas quality symbol."
Some 75 per cent of Irish people now eat the recommended "four or more" portions of fruit and vegetables each day. "People are becoming much more health-conscious, more aware that fruit and vegetables are an important part of their diet. Then the convenience aspect is one thing; the other area is value for money."
On the amenity horticulture side, there are about 600 nurseries and some 300 garden centres. Nursery stock and shrubs, foliage (from plants grown for their foliage) and Christmas trees are the main exports. Last year, almost half of the £10-million worth of trees exported went to Germany. "The quality of our Christmas trees is exceptionally good. Slightly over half of production was exported and this will increase to 70 to 75 per cent over the next two to three years," he says.
The board is looking at extending its Quality Programme to the amenity sector this year.
"There is big potential for growth. People have more disposable income. When people buy a house now, they tend to look at the garden as part of the house. In my case, it was something to do when you had time and money. Now people want to have the house and garden up and running when they move in. This is reflected in the nurseries and garden centres in demand for bigger and more expensive plants."
Bord Glas is developing a five-star awards scheme for garden centres. "It's in response to the industry. Last year about 70 garden centres participated. "Standards were quite low. Now they are raising standards. Those selling to the public are judged on a whole range of criteria: plant quality and range, customer service, standard of knowledge of the staff, and the type of facilities they have. Output from garden centres increased by 25 per cent in 1999 and by 15 per cent in 2000," he explains.
Mr Maloney was born in Co Louth and attended Dundalk CBS before going to UCD. He did a master's in animal science in the veterinary college after which he worked for the Farm Apprenticeship Board as a training officer. At the Goodman Group, he did research on feeding on a 10,000-cattle finishing lot in Castlebellingham, Co Louth.
He spent 10 years with the RDS in Dublin as agricultural officer and subsequently manager of its foundation activities.
His working day at Bord Glas starts at 7 a.m., and he's rarely home before 7 p.m.
But given that one of his main interests is gardening - he has a large garden in north county Dublin - followed by woodturning and tennis, he does get to see the great outdoors quite a bit.
"I enjoy being at home doing DIY or being with the kids. That to me is relaxation."
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