Mary Sadlier didn’t grow up on a farm, but you wouldn’t know it to speak with her. The Co Meath-based CEO of Irish cream liqueur brand Coole Swan tells Irish Country Living that although she grew up in Dublin, she was always drawn to her mother’s agricultural roots.
“I married in, but my mother was a farmer’s daughter,” she says. “My mom was brought up in the Galtee Mountains! Growing up, there were nine of us, and my mother would regularly export us down there. I love the complex simplicity of farming. You’ve got to be flexible, strong – ultimately, your boss is Mother Nature. She’s fair, but she’s not consistent!
“I lived in the city my whole life but find myself at home in the farm,” she adds. “I think there’s an actual calling to it - some people wouldn’t leave the city for love or money, but I love nature. I find it very reassuring – you could see the news and think the world is ending, and then you look outside and cows are just out eating in the fields.”
Family-focused
Mary, whose background is in finance, operates Coole Swan with her husband, Philip Brady, on the family’s fifth generation Boyne Valley dairy, beef and sheep farm. The farm itself is operated between Philip and his two brothers. Coole Swan is now considered one of the top Irish creams on the global market. While it’s blended and bottled in nearby Co Cavan, it’s interesting to note that all of its business operations continue to take place on the family farm - despite its worldly reputation.
Originally developed by a number of drinks industry veterans, including David Phelan, in 2009, it took over 200 attempts to perfect the drink’s recipe.Mary was involved with the process from an early stage and stepped in as CEO in June, 2011. She and Philip have stayed true to the original recipe (which uses only three ingredients) and it continues to serve them well; selling over 250,000 bottles annually world-wide. Mary says when she first got on board with the brand, she didn’t necessarily have a “master plan,” but the product itself had a plan.
“I just got on the same page as the product,” she laughs. “At first, I was very ‘business’ about it and I suddenly realised - there’s more to [Coole Swan] than meets the eye. In terms of what we’re trying to achieve, the odds are stacked against us [with larger competitors], and yet this brand keeps plotting and finding its way.”
High praise
In 2020, this “little brand” became the first-ever Irish brand to achieve the highest score on Wine Enthusiast’s Spirit Rating (Wine Enthusiast is an American publication and its annual rating is considered the crème de la crème – excuse the pun – of wine and spirit scoring). Achieving a 96/100, at that time, Coole Swan was one of only three spirit brands to have achieved this rating in the previous three years.
While achieving such a high rating has definitely been a career highlight for Mary, she says that the brand is connected to lots of interesting stories and wherever she goes she runs into someone with something nice to say.
“Last year, [British food writer and personality] Andy Clarke was a judge at the Irish Food Writing Awards, where we were sponsors,” Mary recalls. “He bounced in the door and made a beeline for me and said, ‘I absolutely love Coole Swan!’
All of Coole Swan's business operations take place on Mary and Philip's Co Meath dairy, beef and sheep farm / Ramona Farrelly
“Tom Hanks, who tried the product when filming Saving Private Ryan, owns three restaurants in California and they all serve Coole Swan. We have lots of little stories and successes; it’s up to us to knit it all together [and continue to grow].”
Going for Growth
Mary took part in Bank of Ireland’s Going for Growth programme, supported by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG, which aims to help female entrepreneurs set and meet ambitious targets for their businesses. The programme is six-months long and is completed on a part-time basis. Mary says it helped her grow in confidence while she was growing her brand.
Coole Swan enjoys a strong export market; particularly in North America, and they are continuing to break into new markets in other regions. With this kind of expansion comes other tasks; including finding ways to tell the brand’s story in markets which may not have an understanding of Irish creams or the excellent reputation of Irish dairy.
However, even in the most difficult of times, with energy prices soaring and uncertainty as to when things might settle, Mary remains optimistic not just for her own business, but for the future of Ireland as a food producing nation.
“We see the world as being challenging, but it’s always been like that,” she says. “Anything big is going to be a challenge; whether the economic climate is good or bad. We keep marching on; we always have our eye on going forward. I love being part of this industry and there is a huge part of me who thinks we are the luckiest small nation in the world. Food is the petrol which keeps humans going and Ireland is steeped - we have the best produce.”
To learn more visit www.cooleswan.com
Read more
These friends are proving a small food business can thrive in rural Ireland
Using tech in your small food business can save money, time and waste
Mary Sadlier didn’t grow up on a farm, but you wouldn’t know it to speak with her. The Co Meath-based CEO of Irish cream liqueur brand Coole Swan tells Irish Country Living that although she grew up in Dublin, she was always drawn to her mother’s agricultural roots.
“I married in, but my mother was a farmer’s daughter,” she says. “My mom was brought up in the Galtee Mountains! Growing up, there were nine of us, and my mother would regularly export us down there. I love the complex simplicity of farming. You’ve got to be flexible, strong – ultimately, your boss is Mother Nature. She’s fair, but she’s not consistent!
“I lived in the city my whole life but find myself at home in the farm,” she adds. “I think there’s an actual calling to it - some people wouldn’t leave the city for love or money, but I love nature. I find it very reassuring – you could see the news and think the world is ending, and then you look outside and cows are just out eating in the fields.”
Family-focused
Mary, whose background is in finance, operates Coole Swan with her husband, Philip Brady, on the family’s fifth generation Boyne Valley dairy, beef and sheep farm. The farm itself is operated between Philip and his two brothers. Coole Swan is now considered one of the top Irish creams on the global market. While it’s blended and bottled in nearby Co Cavan, it’s interesting to note that all of its business operations continue to take place on the family farm - despite its worldly reputation.
Originally developed by a number of drinks industry veterans, including David Phelan, in 2009, it took over 200 attempts to perfect the drink’s recipe.Mary was involved with the process from an early stage and stepped in as CEO in June, 2011. She and Philip have stayed true to the original recipe (which uses only three ingredients) and it continues to serve them well; selling over 250,000 bottles annually world-wide. Mary says when she first got on board with the brand, she didn’t necessarily have a “master plan,” but the product itself had a plan.
“I just got on the same page as the product,” she laughs. “At first, I was very ‘business’ about it and I suddenly realised - there’s more to [Coole Swan] than meets the eye. In terms of what we’re trying to achieve, the odds are stacked against us [with larger competitors], and yet this brand keeps plotting and finding its way.”
High praise
In 2020, this “little brand” became the first-ever Irish brand to achieve the highest score on Wine Enthusiast’s Spirit Rating (Wine Enthusiast is an American publication and its annual rating is considered the crème de la crème – excuse the pun – of wine and spirit scoring). Achieving a 96/100, at that time, Coole Swan was one of only three spirit brands to have achieved this rating in the previous three years.
While achieving such a high rating has definitely been a career highlight for Mary, she says that the brand is connected to lots of interesting stories and wherever she goes she runs into someone with something nice to say.
“Last year, [British food writer and personality] Andy Clarke was a judge at the Irish Food Writing Awards, where we were sponsors,” Mary recalls. “He bounced in the door and made a beeline for me and said, ‘I absolutely love Coole Swan!’
All of Coole Swan's business operations take place on Mary and Philip's Co Meath dairy, beef and sheep farm / Ramona Farrelly
“Tom Hanks, who tried the product when filming Saving Private Ryan, owns three restaurants in California and they all serve Coole Swan. We have lots of little stories and successes; it’s up to us to knit it all together [and continue to grow].”
Going for Growth
Mary took part in Bank of Ireland’s Going for Growth programme, supported by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG, which aims to help female entrepreneurs set and meet ambitious targets for their businesses. The programme is six-months long and is completed on a part-time basis. Mary says it helped her grow in confidence while she was growing her brand.
Coole Swan enjoys a strong export market; particularly in North America, and they are continuing to break into new markets in other regions. With this kind of expansion comes other tasks; including finding ways to tell the brand’s story in markets which may not have an understanding of Irish creams or the excellent reputation of Irish dairy.
However, even in the most difficult of times, with energy prices soaring and uncertainty as to when things might settle, Mary remains optimistic not just for her own business, but for the future of Ireland as a food producing nation.
“We see the world as being challenging, but it’s always been like that,” she says. “Anything big is going to be a challenge; whether the economic climate is good or bad. We keep marching on; we always have our eye on going forward. I love being part of this industry and there is a huge part of me who thinks we are the luckiest small nation in the world. Food is the petrol which keeps humans going and Ireland is steeped - we have the best produce.”
To learn more visit www.cooleswan.com
Read more
These friends are proving a small food business can thrive in rural Ireland
Using tech in your small food business can save money, time and waste
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