€1.5m trade shows Bandon Co-Op knows its onions

THE onion import replacement success story continues, with the first of the new season home-grown crop now in the shops.

Co Cork’s Bandon Co-Op began to develop its onion business in the mid nineties, when a study reported that Ireland imported 20,000 tonnes of onions per annum, and that there was potential to replace 10% of these imports with onions grown in West Cork. A subsidiary company, Bandon Valley Foods, was set up, and Musgrave SuperValu-Centra (MSVC) were approached.

Bandon Valley Foods invested in computer controlled and refrigerated long term storage facilities, and has now built up a €1.5 million (retail value) annual business, as the sole Irish supplier of onions to MSVC, which serves 180 SuperValu outlets in the Republic of Ireland.