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People like to know where their beef and chicken is coming from and they like to know that you are buying locally, Pat McDonagh, the CEO of Supermac’s, has said.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal at the Agri Careers Expo in the RDS on Thursday, he said that the Galway-based company’s fresh, never frozen burgers have really underlined the importance of traceability to Supermac’s.
“The sale of those products is in excess of 35% of our whole turnover. Irish food is renowned the world over – when you’re talking to Americans, they like Irish foods, the quality, traceability, the greenness of Ireland – maybe we don’t appreciate that fully,” he said.
You have to stand up for what you believe in and worked for all your life
McDonagh said that Supermac’s pays at least 30-35% more for Irish product.
“You know where it’s grown, you know the birds are treated well. We have suppliers with us in excess of 30 years. Ethically you pay back the people you’re getting it [the food] from.
“It’s a win-win situation. We celebrated recently that our meat supplier has been with us for 38 years and some of our chicken suppliers are with us 35 years,” he said.
Trademark case
The Supermac’s CEO said that the recent win over McDonald’s was a big win for the company. “This is a case that’s been going on for over four years. We applied for a trademark to expand in Europe and competitors objected to it.
They tried to trademark our snackbox
“It went on, we were granted the trademark for Supermac’s but not for food. We had 50% success so we said we’d go back again and go for the food side of it.
“They tried to trademark our snackbox”, McDonagh said and that willed the company on to fight for their brand.
“It’s a street fight at the end of the day. You have to stand up for what you believe in and worked for all your life, you’re not going to allow someone to bully you. If you believe in what you do and you integrity is right, do whatever it takes to do that,” he said.
The importance of attitude
When it comes to applying for a job, McDonagh said that attitude is hugely important.
“There’s nothing as bad as being in a job you don’t like. Knowledge of any business you want to go into [is essential] – is it a temporary job or a career? There’s a massive difference. It’s no harm to learn as much as you can from whatever jobs you’re in.
“In my case, I’ve had various different jobs – whether it’s the farmer you worked with or not, you learn how to deal with people as you go along.
“There is plenty of opportunity at the moment. Never in the history of mankind was there so much opportunity out there. It’s a great time to be in the market for a job at the moment,” he said.
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