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In 1999, when Tom Brennan set up the Freshways sandwich business, not everyone could see what they could see. “People laughed, they thought, 'why would anyone pay IR£2 for a sandwich when they could nearly get a sliced pan and a packet of ham for the same amount?' What they didn’t see was the convenience factor and this strong emerging consumer trend,” says Brennan.
Back then, Brennan partnered with Enterprise Ireland, IAWS and Glanbia. Within four years the business was producing 500,000 sandwiches per week in a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Finglas and employing 400 staff. Kerry Foods soon paid in excess of €15 million for the business, representing a successful exit for its founders and investor partners.
Roll-on the years and Brennan got inspiration for a new food business. He explains, “the inspiration came to me when I experienced first-hand the challenge for parents finding healthy and convenient snacks for the lunchbox. Also, as my parents grew older, I realised that they had similar snacking needs to children but there was an absence of suitable products for seniors.”
Having identified another opportunity in snacking, Brennan came back to the food industry and set up Dairy Concepts IRL, based at the world-renowned Moorepark dairy research and development campus in Fermoy.
We have the tools to create a €100m plus dairy snacks business
“Snack sales are experiencing an exponential growth rate, but consumers are now seeking healthier and more convenient alternatives including protein-rich snacking options in more natural forms. While dairy based snacks are naturally high in protein and calcium and are perceived as a nutritional snacking option, there has been a lack of innovation in the category. Existing yoghurt snacks have limited nutritional benefits and portability and existing cheese snacks are not very exciting. Furthermore, the majority of existing dairy snacks target younger children with a very limited offering for teenagers and adults.
“By leveraging our team’s entrepreneurial ambition and business scale-up experience with Ireland’s dairy science expertise, quality dairy ingredients and global reputation in dairy, we have the tools to create a €100m plus dairy snacks business. Using emerging dairy technologies, we’re focused on the development of innovative, value-added, all-natural, cheese and yoghurt based handheld dairy snacks, aimed at children, teenagers and adults in key global markets.
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“Our first two innovations, dairy bars and crunchy cheese have recently been launched and a portfolio of other exciting world-first dairy snacks are in the development pipeline.”
The dairy bar product was developed using a novel dairy technology licensed from Teagasc. It’s a creamy, high protein handheld sweet snack bar that comes in a mess-free, easy to open pod which is good for on the go, lunchbox as well as in-home snacking and is available in chocolate and strawberry flavours. The dairy bars have been launched in France under the Tapufin brand, targeting the afterschool meal, or ‘Goûter’. The dairy bar is healthier and more portable or less messy than yoghurt.
The crunchy cheese product has been developed using a microwave drying technology licensed from a Canadian company to gently cook Irish Cheddar, creating crunchy puffed bites. The products are high in protein and calcium, suitable for vegetarians and gluten free. They come in a range of six popular flavours including Original, Cheese and Onion, Salt and Vinegar and offer a healthier alternative to existing savoury snacks including potato crisp and peanut based snacks.
We've invested over €7m to date in product development and building the manufacturing plants
Crunchy cheese products have been launched in the Irish and UK markets under the CheeseO’s brand. They have a 12-month shelf life and do not require refrigeration so can be easily exported.
“We recently exhibited our first products at Anuga in Cologne, the world’s largest food trade exhibition and the reaction to our products by leading distributors and retailers from around the world was fantastic. We have already begun taking export orders,” Brennan says.
Brennan says he is really excited about the portfolio of other innovative dairy snacks in the product development pipeline, including consumer specific products such as senior nutrition as well as market specific products for Asian markets. “In addition to the development and launch of our own products, we’re currently doing collaborative dairy snack development projects with well know international players,” he says.
“The global market opportunity for dairy snacks is huge; to put it in context, Kerry’s Cheesetrings snack, produced in Charleville, achieves retail sales of over €100 million in Europe and Group Bel’s Mini BabyBel achieves retail sales of over €1 billion globally.”
“We’ve invested over €7m to date in product development and building the manufacturing plants for dairy bars and crunchy cheese.”
The company is currently raising investment under the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS), to accelerate its product development plans and scale-up its manufacturing facilities.