Yoghurt firm Glenisk seeks organic solution to recession

AFTER THE BOOM:YOGHURT PRODUCER Glenisk was established during the last recession in 1987 and, since the mid-1990s, has specialised in organic products.

The family-run business has a turnover of €12 million and employs 45 people. Although yoghurt sales have steadily increased in Ireland in recent years, the market has been affected by the recession, with overall sales down this year.

Glenisk’s founder and managing director, Vincent Cleary, says when the scale of the downturn became apparent last year, the company decided to act quickly. “Last autumn, we sat down . . . and looked at how we could proactively market our product. We realised that we needed to give consumers reasons to purchase Glenisk during recessionary times.”

They decided to offer 50 per cent extra product for the same retail price by giving two extra pots of yoghurt with all their four-pack offerings. The initiative has evidently worked, with sales of Glenisk yoghurts up 20 per cent on the same period last year.

Last month, Glenisk also held a series of consumer focus groups to help it develop a new product and to hear feedback on existing products.

Mr Cleary believes that listening to consumers is essential for companies in a recession. “Companies can have a certain image of how consumers perceive them, but this can be very different than the reality,” he says. “You have to be prepared to tweak products and make changes.”

Glenisk has also embarked on partnerships with different organisations, which gives Glenisk customers access to special deals, from free entry to Dublin Zoo to hotel weekend breaks.

As well as addressing consumer concerns, it has had to balance its relationship with suppliers. Unlike many companies, Glenisk has not cut the price it pays suppliers.

“We have continued to pay our farmers premium price for their organic milk” Mr Cleary says.

“Things might be tight now, but we believe that organic produce will become even more popular in the coming years. If we are to be ready for the recovery, we need to look after our suppliers and encourage as many dairy farmers as possible to become full-time organic farmers.”