When you think of the zing of chillies, immediately those sensational Mexican dishes come to mind. Spicy fajitas, hot nachos topped with chilli con carne or salsa with that warming heat. Then close your eyes and think of your favourite garlic dish, freshly baked bread oozing garlic butter or creamy potatoes with that distinctive aroma.
As a nation, we have embraced these flavours, but let’s be honest, we don’t assume them to be very Irish. Garlic reminds us of the green fields of France while chillies transport us to the hills of Central America. And yet, on a cold winter morning, I find myself in north county Dublin stepping into a greenhouse bursting with those distinctive red and green peppers. And it is the only place in Ireland where you’ll find such a sight.
“People thought we were mad when we started,” Alan Taylor says laughing as he picks a bright red chilli from the plant. “The thing is we wanted to do something different. We wanted to produce an Irish product that no one else was growing and bring something new to the market.”
Alan and his brother Mark have been farming in Lusk in north Co Dublin their entire life, like their father Mark Snr. We don’t get a straight answer as to whether Mark Snr is retired or not but we do get a laugh when he says: “Ah I am out on the farm every day alright.”
Alan and Mark are seventh-generation farmers and the family farm has seen different productions over the years from dairy to tillage and potatoes. Chillies may be their latest venture but since the mid-80s, turnip has been the main crop.
“Turnip and broccoli,” says Mark. “And the turnips are the bread and butter that keep the business going, the reliable crop that allowed us to experiment with the likes of the chilli and garlic. It’s year round, we do early production and then put them into cold store in May and June.” But even with their bread and butter product, these farming brothers introduced innovation to further their offering. “We invested in machinery that peels the turnips so for the turnips that are too big or too small for the supermarket shelf, we sell on the seconds to food service. These are cut up for carvery or used in soups. Taste wise they are completely the same as the turnips that get sold on the shop shelf, it’s just they are a size that consumers wouldn’t usually purchase.”
“We are one of the few farmers offering this diversification and the investment has worked well for us. However, turnips will always be a commodity product, and as farmers selling into multiples, we will always be price takers which is one of the reasons that we started looking into growing products that are more niche.”
Doing their homework
Both Alan and Mark invested in quite a bit of research exploring different avenues, but it was chillies that excited them.
Alan says: “Spain is the main grower of chillies in Europe and no doubt many Irish farmers would presume that because our climate is so different, it wouldn’t be a runner. Of course, we initially thought the same but then we started trialling them, and quickly realised there was more potential than we thought.”
Production started small. “We were trialling with polytunnels that were three feet tall, those wire circles covered in plastic but the results were encouraging. Then Dunnes Stores started showing interest. They were keen to put an Irish chilli on shelf and their interest spurred us on.
“We were trialling about 10 different varieties, but after two seasons we identified the ones that would prosper best-fire flame and daredevil. That’s when the real fun started. Because we knew there was a retailer supporting the growth of Irish chillies as well as getting great support from the likes of Bord Bia and ifac, we were confident enough to invest in a greenhouse to progress us from a trial to proper production.”
Proof in the pudding
Standing in that first greenhouse surrounded by chilli plants, you can see how the brother’s excitement grew. Growing down from the plants are chillies that vary from the size of your nail to the length of your finger, all in different stages of growth, all in different colours.
“Many people don’t know this,” says Mark, “but green and red chillies are essentially the same, it’s just the green ones are picked earlier. When they are kept on the plant and allowed to grow. It progresses from green to orange and then to bright red over the space of 10 days to two weeks. It’s fantastic to watch.”
Mark Taylor.
Irish consumers are partial to red chillies. “We do have consumer evidence that when there are more red chillies in a packet of three, it sells better and that works fine during the middle of the season when we have plenty of sun. It is more challenging at the start and end of the season when we don’t have as much daylight hours to help it mature but you know green curries are just as nice,” he says laughing.
After two years trialling and one year in production, Irish chilli sales were flying. Mark says: “It was a combination of things. Our Irish chillies are at a very competitive price point – three chillies for €1 – and on top of that, they are being picked on the farm and going straight into store, no air miles so the shelf life is 17 days. That’s a full 10 days more than the chillies being imported from England and Holland, which have a seven-day shelf life. People want to support Irish and with a competitive price point and a better shelf life, this helped make the decision easy for them.”
Going whole hog
So after year one, the brothers decided to up their production level again. This time they invested in another greenhouse, six times the size of the original. This is a serious operation with temperature controls to maintain the humidity, beehives to promote pollination and even natural predators. Alan says: “We aren’t totally organic, but the predators help us to be close to it.” Sales have doubled year on year, giving the brothers the confidence to diversify into another product, garlic.
“We aren’t the only Irish garlic growers in Ireland, but it is still niche, there are just a handful of us.”
What’s interesting about the Taylors garlic is its sheer size, nearly double the size of the imported garlic that consumers usually see on the shop shelf. Alan explains: “We are trying to grow our garlic as big as possible which the Irish climate is allowing us to do because we have a longer growing season. On top of that, the flavour is more intense, more powerful than imported bulbs. This means your Irish garlic will last you longer. If a recipe calls for two cloves of garlic, one of ours should do you fine.”
“This was another product that we developed with Dunnes but it’s not just putting garlic on the shelf. We’re thinking of consumer cooking habits and we also sell packets of cloves so all that exterior skin is removed, minimising waste and cooking time. Food service is also really interested in this product. In other countries, they are selling garlic cloves fully peeled. As a country, we are not there yet, but who knows what the future holds?”
When you think of the zing of chillies, immediately those sensational Mexican dishes come to mind. Spicy fajitas, hot nachos topped with chilli con carne or salsa with that warming heat. Then close your eyes and think of your favourite garlic dish, freshly baked bread oozing garlic butter or creamy potatoes with that distinctive aroma.
As a nation, we have embraced these flavours, but let’s be honest, we don’t assume them to be very Irish. Garlic reminds us of the green fields of France while chillies transport us to the hills of Central America. And yet, on a cold winter morning, I find myself in north county Dublin stepping into a greenhouse bursting with those distinctive red and green peppers. And it is the only place in Ireland where you’ll find such a sight.
“People thought we were mad when we started,” Alan Taylor says laughing as he picks a bright red chilli from the plant. “The thing is we wanted to do something different. We wanted to produce an Irish product that no one else was growing and bring something new to the market.”
Alan and his brother Mark have been farming in Lusk in north Co Dublin their entire life, like their father Mark Snr. We don’t get a straight answer as to whether Mark Snr is retired or not but we do get a laugh when he says: “Ah I am out on the farm every day alright.”
Alan and Mark are seventh-generation farmers and the family farm has seen different productions over the years from dairy to tillage and potatoes. Chillies may be their latest venture but since the mid-80s, turnip has been the main crop.
“Turnip and broccoli,” says Mark. “And the turnips are the bread and butter that keep the business going, the reliable crop that allowed us to experiment with the likes of the chilli and garlic. It’s year round, we do early production and then put them into cold store in May and June.” But even with their bread and butter product, these farming brothers introduced innovation to further their offering. “We invested in machinery that peels the turnips so for the turnips that are too big or too small for the supermarket shelf, we sell on the seconds to food service. These are cut up for carvery or used in soups. Taste wise they are completely the same as the turnips that get sold on the shop shelf, it’s just they are a size that consumers wouldn’t usually purchase.”
“We are one of the few farmers offering this diversification and the investment has worked well for us. However, turnips will always be a commodity product, and as farmers selling into multiples, we will always be price takers which is one of the reasons that we started looking into growing products that are more niche.”
Doing their homework
Both Alan and Mark invested in quite a bit of research exploring different avenues, but it was chillies that excited them.
Alan says: “Spain is the main grower of chillies in Europe and no doubt many Irish farmers would presume that because our climate is so different, it wouldn’t be a runner. Of course, we initially thought the same but then we started trialling them, and quickly realised there was more potential than we thought.”
Production started small. “We were trialling with polytunnels that were three feet tall, those wire circles covered in plastic but the results were encouraging. Then Dunnes Stores started showing interest. They were keen to put an Irish chilli on shelf and their interest spurred us on.
“We were trialling about 10 different varieties, but after two seasons we identified the ones that would prosper best-fire flame and daredevil. That’s when the real fun started. Because we knew there was a retailer supporting the growth of Irish chillies as well as getting great support from the likes of Bord Bia and ifac, we were confident enough to invest in a greenhouse to progress us from a trial to proper production.”
Proof in the pudding
Standing in that first greenhouse surrounded by chilli plants, you can see how the brother’s excitement grew. Growing down from the plants are chillies that vary from the size of your nail to the length of your finger, all in different stages of growth, all in different colours.
“Many people don’t know this,” says Mark, “but green and red chillies are essentially the same, it’s just the green ones are picked earlier. When they are kept on the plant and allowed to grow. It progresses from green to orange and then to bright red over the space of 10 days to two weeks. It’s fantastic to watch.”
Mark Taylor.
Irish consumers are partial to red chillies. “We do have consumer evidence that when there are more red chillies in a packet of three, it sells better and that works fine during the middle of the season when we have plenty of sun. It is more challenging at the start and end of the season when we don’t have as much daylight hours to help it mature but you know green curries are just as nice,” he says laughing.
After two years trialling and one year in production, Irish chilli sales were flying. Mark says: “It was a combination of things. Our Irish chillies are at a very competitive price point – three chillies for €1 – and on top of that, they are being picked on the farm and going straight into store, no air miles so the shelf life is 17 days. That’s a full 10 days more than the chillies being imported from England and Holland, which have a seven-day shelf life. People want to support Irish and with a competitive price point and a better shelf life, this helped make the decision easy for them.”
Going whole hog
So after year one, the brothers decided to up their production level again. This time they invested in another greenhouse, six times the size of the original. This is a serious operation with temperature controls to maintain the humidity, beehives to promote pollination and even natural predators. Alan says: “We aren’t totally organic, but the predators help us to be close to it.” Sales have doubled year on year, giving the brothers the confidence to diversify into another product, garlic.
“We aren’t the only Irish garlic growers in Ireland, but it is still niche, there are just a handful of us.”
What’s interesting about the Taylors garlic is its sheer size, nearly double the size of the imported garlic that consumers usually see on the shop shelf. Alan explains: “We are trying to grow our garlic as big as possible which the Irish climate is allowing us to do because we have a longer growing season. On top of that, the flavour is more intense, more powerful than imported bulbs. This means your Irish garlic will last you longer. If a recipe calls for two cloves of garlic, one of ours should do you fine.”
“This was another product that we developed with Dunnes but it’s not just putting garlic on the shelf. We’re thinking of consumer cooking habits and we also sell packets of cloves so all that exterior skin is removed, minimising waste and cooking time. Food service is also really interested in this product. In other countries, they are selling garlic cloves fully peeled. As a country, we are not there yet, but who knows what the future holds?”
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