In 2019, the Irish Country Living team visited the O’Driscoll family farm in west Cork for their Carpool in the Country video series, where milk for the Simply Better West Cork Co-op Extra Mature Drinagh Cheddar is produced. The cows feast on lush, herbal grasses which, in turn, affects the deep, creamy flavour of the cheese. You can watch the video on the Irish Country Living Facebook page and social media streams.
Today, the focus is on two other Munster-based members of the Dunnes Stores Simply Better family: brothers Dermot and Michael Walsh from Walsh’s Bakehouse, who now craft the Simply Better Handmade Waterford Blaa selection and Helena and Eugene Hickey, who produce Skeaghanore Duck in west Cork.
Michael and Dermot Walsh are third-generation bakers and co-own the iconic Walsh’s Bakehouse in Waterford. A city rich in history, the Walsh family has been baking Waterford blaa – a floury bap that was first made by French Huguenots in the late 1690s, using leftover pieces of bread dough – for nearly a century.
Waterford Blaa was granted PGI status in 2013, which means it can only be made in Waterford by designated bakers.
Gaining in popularity throughout the 1800s, in particular, with the establishment of the Christian Brothers seminary (who would bake blaa to feed hungry children); the bread is now considered a staple of the Déise diet and has become much-loved throughout Ireland, largely thanks to the culinary skills of the Walsh family.
“In the beginning, the blaa would be dusted with French flour which would have been whiter and finer than Irish flour [at that time],” Dermot says. “It was called ‘pain blanc’ – or white bread – which got shortened, and the word ‘blaa’ came out of it.”
The Waterford blaa was officially granted its Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) designation in 2013, to the delight of the brothers and other blaa makers in the region. This induction meant that blaa can only be made in its traditional home of Waterford; by specialist bakers like Dermot and Michael. It made perfect sense, when developing the product line for their Simply Better Handmade Waterford Blaa (which include two sizes of traditional blaa and a blaa-style bread roll), to incorporate another special Irish heritage ingredient.
“We decided to do something that the Dunnes Stores Simply Better brand has been doing all along, which is support other local producers in the making of our own product,” Dermot says. “We use Clogherhead Sea Salt from Carlingford, Co Louth, which has a similar European protection status. The salt itself is very unique. It adds an extra flavour and I don’t think there are too many other commercial breads being made with it.”
The (Oriel) Clogherhead sea salt has a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) which means its characteristics are shaped by where and how it is harvested and therefore can’t be replicated in another location. It’s the perfect companion ingredient in a bread of such historic and cultural importance.
“They were happy to work with us, because of their work with the Dunnes Stores Simply Better team. Their salt is a premium product, so we thought if Dunnes Stores are looking for a premium product [from us], we should step it up with each ingredient.”
Although the Walsh family have been baking their famous Waterford blaa since 1921, the bakehouse lost 85% of their business (mainly food service) overnight when the pandemic hit. Luckily, they were set up for large-scale production and packaging; enabling their sharp pivot into retail.
“We had met the Dunnes Stores Simply Better team in 2019,” Dermot says. “I rang them at end of January and then, literally, as the pandemic hit, we decided to go with it. They accelerated the process to get us on shelves quickly. We launched on 12 June and sales have grown day on day ever since.”
The brothers credit Dunnes Stores Simply Better with providing a new outlet for more Irish consumers to eat traditional Waterford blaa.
“[Working with Dunnes Stores Simply Better] has been super; they’ve been everything; helpful and patient,” Dermot explains. “They understand our position as a small producer and there’s weekly communication so that we’re all kept up to speed.”
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Walsh family’s famous bakery and the brothers have plans to mark the occasion, which will be made public in the coming months.
Helena Hickey co-owns and operates Skeaghanore Duck with her family in West Cork.
Eugene and Helena Hickey have been providing shops and restaurants with duck since 1994. When the pandemic hit earlier this year, like many other producers, their food service business immediately dried up. The Hickeys have been supplying the Dunnes Stores Simply Better range since 2016 and when things got tough; Dunnes Stores stepped up to help.
“Pre-pandemic, our business was 80% food service,” Helena says. “We had eight weeks of ducklings on stock – which were growing – so we had no choice but to continue processing the ducks. At least 80% were going in to the freezer, so we had to look at every side of [the business] and decide where we needed to cut down and what we needed to do.”
“We were still supplying our Simply Better products – the West Cork Confit Duck Leg, West Cork Irish Smoked Duck Breast and West Cork Duck Fat – to Dunnes Stores,” she continues. “Without them, we would have been much worse off. They did a promotion as well [at that time], so that upped the amount of product they were taking. Before, we weren’t really using the online shop, but we had it set up and it took off. We also got involved with Neighbourfood and had some other retailers.”
In addition to their duck, geese, turkey and, now, chicken, Eugene and Helena are also dairy farmers – they and their five children aren’t strangers to hard work. This helped them stay focused during the lockdown, but they also admit to being relieved; having other avenues of income for that time.
“I always said [when we first went into business] the milk was poor, which is why we started the duck as another source of income,” Helena says. “Then the milk started coming on, again. Then the [2008] recession hit, the ducks went out the window and the milk helped. Now it’s turning around again.”
Skeaghanore Duck is raised in picturesque west Cork, where they spend their lives exposed to the sea air. This adds what Helena and Eugene call a “salt marsh flavour” to the Pekin-breed meat. The unique flavour and high quality of their duck products has led to numerous awards over the years, including a Blas na hÉireann gold medal for their confit leg and Blas na hÉireann Best Artisan/Best Chief awards (2013) for their smoked duck – both products were since inducted to the Dunnes Stores Simply Better collection. Helena also credits their work with Dunnes Stores with helping them achieve their Great Taste Awards (their West Cork Confit Duck Legs and West Cork Irish Smoke Duck Breast were each awarded two stars).
“It was at Blas na hÉireann where we first met the Simply Better team and were shortlisted for some awards,” Helena says. “We decided we’d better go to Dingle; when we got there it was all new to us. We got a gold for our smoked duck and that was grand; we came out smiling – it just gives you a boost! Then we got best artisan as well! We’ve been getting prizes every year since. To us, it means we’re keeping the product fairly right.”
It took a few years after their first meeting to develop the infrastructure, recipes and end products for the Dunnes Stores Simply Better collection, but they were ultimately perfected and have been on the shelves for several years now. Helena says their working relationship with the Simply Better team has been wonderful.
“They’re always approachable, you can ring them any time,” she says. “They’re like a family. And then you have Neven – he’s a great ambassador. You just know he treats everyone the same way; with complete kindness.”
In 2019, the Irish Country Living team visited the O’Driscoll family farm in west Cork for their Carpool in the Country video series, where milk for the Simply Better West Cork Co-op Extra Mature Drinagh Cheddar is produced. The cows feast on lush, herbal grasses which, in turn, affects the deep, creamy flavour of the cheese. You can watch the video on the Irish Country Living Facebook page and social media streams.
Today, the focus is on two other Munster-based members of the Dunnes Stores Simply Better family: brothers Dermot and Michael Walsh from Walsh’s Bakehouse, who now craft the Simply Better Handmade Waterford Blaa selection and Helena and Eugene Hickey, who produce Skeaghanore Duck in west Cork.
Michael and Dermot Walsh are third-generation bakers and co-own the iconic Walsh’s Bakehouse in Waterford. A city rich in history, the Walsh family has been baking Waterford blaa – a floury bap that was first made by French Huguenots in the late 1690s, using leftover pieces of bread dough – for nearly a century.
Waterford Blaa was granted PGI status in 2013, which means it can only be made in Waterford by designated bakers.
Gaining in popularity throughout the 1800s, in particular, with the establishment of the Christian Brothers seminary (who would bake blaa to feed hungry children); the bread is now considered a staple of the Déise diet and has become much-loved throughout Ireland, largely thanks to the culinary skills of the Walsh family.
“In the beginning, the blaa would be dusted with French flour which would have been whiter and finer than Irish flour [at that time],” Dermot says. “It was called ‘pain blanc’ – or white bread – which got shortened, and the word ‘blaa’ came out of it.”
The Waterford blaa was officially granted its Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) designation in 2013, to the delight of the brothers and other blaa makers in the region. This induction meant that blaa can only be made in its traditional home of Waterford; by specialist bakers like Dermot and Michael. It made perfect sense, when developing the product line for their Simply Better Handmade Waterford Blaa (which include two sizes of traditional blaa and a blaa-style bread roll), to incorporate another special Irish heritage ingredient.
“We decided to do something that the Dunnes Stores Simply Better brand has been doing all along, which is support other local producers in the making of our own product,” Dermot says. “We use Clogherhead Sea Salt from Carlingford, Co Louth, which has a similar European protection status. The salt itself is very unique. It adds an extra flavour and I don’t think there are too many other commercial breads being made with it.”
The (Oriel) Clogherhead sea salt has a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) which means its characteristics are shaped by where and how it is harvested and therefore can’t be replicated in another location. It’s the perfect companion ingredient in a bread of such historic and cultural importance.
“They were happy to work with us, because of their work with the Dunnes Stores Simply Better team. Their salt is a premium product, so we thought if Dunnes Stores are looking for a premium product [from us], we should step it up with each ingredient.”
Although the Walsh family have been baking their famous Waterford blaa since 1921, the bakehouse lost 85% of their business (mainly food service) overnight when the pandemic hit. Luckily, they were set up for large-scale production and packaging; enabling their sharp pivot into retail.
“We had met the Dunnes Stores Simply Better team in 2019,” Dermot says. “I rang them at end of January and then, literally, as the pandemic hit, we decided to go with it. They accelerated the process to get us on shelves quickly. We launched on 12 June and sales have grown day on day ever since.”
The brothers credit Dunnes Stores Simply Better with providing a new outlet for more Irish consumers to eat traditional Waterford blaa.
“[Working with Dunnes Stores Simply Better] has been super; they’ve been everything; helpful and patient,” Dermot explains. “They understand our position as a small producer and there’s weekly communication so that we’re all kept up to speed.”
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Walsh family’s famous bakery and the brothers have plans to mark the occasion, which will be made public in the coming months.
Helena Hickey co-owns and operates Skeaghanore Duck with her family in West Cork.
Eugene and Helena Hickey have been providing shops and restaurants with duck since 1994. When the pandemic hit earlier this year, like many other producers, their food service business immediately dried up. The Hickeys have been supplying the Dunnes Stores Simply Better range since 2016 and when things got tough; Dunnes Stores stepped up to help.
“Pre-pandemic, our business was 80% food service,” Helena says. “We had eight weeks of ducklings on stock – which were growing – so we had no choice but to continue processing the ducks. At least 80% were going in to the freezer, so we had to look at every side of [the business] and decide where we needed to cut down and what we needed to do.”
“We were still supplying our Simply Better products – the West Cork Confit Duck Leg, West Cork Irish Smoked Duck Breast and West Cork Duck Fat – to Dunnes Stores,” she continues. “Without them, we would have been much worse off. They did a promotion as well [at that time], so that upped the amount of product they were taking. Before, we weren’t really using the online shop, but we had it set up and it took off. We also got involved with Neighbourfood and had some other retailers.”
In addition to their duck, geese, turkey and, now, chicken, Eugene and Helena are also dairy farmers – they and their five children aren’t strangers to hard work. This helped them stay focused during the lockdown, but they also admit to being relieved; having other avenues of income for that time.
“I always said [when we first went into business] the milk was poor, which is why we started the duck as another source of income,” Helena says. “Then the milk started coming on, again. Then the [2008] recession hit, the ducks went out the window and the milk helped. Now it’s turning around again.”
Skeaghanore Duck is raised in picturesque west Cork, where they spend their lives exposed to the sea air. This adds what Helena and Eugene call a “salt marsh flavour” to the Pekin-breed meat. The unique flavour and high quality of their duck products has led to numerous awards over the years, including a Blas na hÉireann gold medal for their confit leg and Blas na hÉireann Best Artisan/Best Chief awards (2013) for their smoked duck – both products were since inducted to the Dunnes Stores Simply Better collection. Helena also credits their work with Dunnes Stores with helping them achieve their Great Taste Awards (their West Cork Confit Duck Legs and West Cork Irish Smoke Duck Breast were each awarded two stars).
“It was at Blas na hÉireann where we first met the Simply Better team and were shortlisted for some awards,” Helena says. “We decided we’d better go to Dingle; when we got there it was all new to us. We got a gold for our smoked duck and that was grand; we came out smiling – it just gives you a boost! Then we got best artisan as well! We’ve been getting prizes every year since. To us, it means we’re keeping the product fairly right.”
It took a few years after their first meeting to develop the infrastructure, recipes and end products for the Dunnes Stores Simply Better collection, but they were ultimately perfected and have been on the shelves for several years now. Helena says their working relationship with the Simply Better team has been wonderful.
“They’re always approachable, you can ring them any time,” she says. “They’re like a family. And then you have Neven – he’s a great ambassador. You just know he treats everyone the same way; with complete kindness.”
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