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What is the background to Castlecor Potatoes?
I started growing potatoes about 40 years ago, along with my wife Mary. While we still grow our own crops, we have now moved up the supply chain, packaging and supplying potatoes and onions to Lidl. The business is still very much a family affair, with my son Edward and my daughter Niamh very enthusiastic and involved in the enterprise.
How is this year’s planting progressing?
At the moment we have about half of the potatoes planted and ideally we will have all in before mid-May. We are growing 430 acres of potatoes, all main crop varieties with Rooster the most popular. Back in March we planted 150 acres of onions, which is a new venture for us.
How did last year’s adverse weather affect the potatoes?
Last year was a difficult one. It was almost a perfect storm. Planting last year didn’t get going until 18 May and it was mid-June before all potato seed was in the ground. With the drought then, yields as expected would be back significantly but we just focused on keeping the quality right and thankfully strong prices made up for the poor yield somewhat.
When did you start packaging and supplying your own potatoes?
We have been packing and supplying potatoes to Lidl for the last 12 years or so. We had been knocking on the door of various retailers for a few years until the persistence finally paid off and Lidl gave us the opportunity. We started off packing and supplying about 3 tonnes of our own crop per week. Today we employ over 50 people between the farm and the packing facility, and we supply 16,000t of potatoes to Lidl each year. Anything we can’t grow ourselves is bought in from 10 suppliers.
Why did you decide to go into growing onions?
This year is our third year of growing onions for Lidl – they actually came to us with the idea. Back in March we planted 150 acres of onions, three times what we grew last year.
They are a very sensitive crop with very short planting and harvesting windows, meaning we need a huge capacity for storage and drying when these windows open.
What are the biggest challenges facing your enterprise?
I am a firm believer in continuous improvement. We are never standing still and we pump a lot of profits back into the business. Quality standards have been the biggest change over the last few years and our customers will simply buy elsewhere if our products aren’t up to scratch, so we are always tweaking our systems and trying to improve.
A lot of time, effort and money has gone into the business but it’s a rollercoaster. We get great satisfaction from providing jobs to the local area and seeing our own products on the shelves.
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