Flahavan’s oats standing test of time
The Flahavan family has been milling oats beside the River Martin in Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford, for over 200 years.
As a result, Flahavan’s porridge has an iconic place in the mindset of Irish people at home and abroad.
The story of the family business, with turnover close to €17m, also forms a rich part of the history and ongoing development of the country’s agri-food industry.
It employs 55 people, works with a panel of 150 growers and exports to the North, Britain, the US, South Korea, Russia, India, and Spain.
Over the years, it has won multiple honours for its products including five- gold stars at the prestigious Great Taste food Oscars in 2014.
The company described the accolades as testament to the focus it puts on innovation and quality in order to ensure it maintains high standards.
Last year, it was also presented with the green supplier — most eco-friendly supplier award by Checkout magazine.
That acknowledged Flahavan’s credentials, not just in terms of product formulation, but also in areas such as strategic environmental thinking.
It was pointed out at the award presentation that the company has put a commitment behind sustainabilty into practice in a number of ways including combining old technologies with new.
For example, it uses the original stream to generate 10% of electricity requirements to assist with powering the mill. It also use the husk (by-product) of the oats to support environmentally friendly manufacturing processes by burning it to power the boiler, which in turn generates steam for the cooking.
The company has also reduced overall waste by 60% and waste going to landfill by a remarkable 87%.
It is further committed to protecting the environment by funding the recovery and recycling of packaging through Repak.
Managing director John Flahavan, who is a great-great-great-grandson of Thomas Dunn, the man who took over the mill in 1785, said the company is a major employer in the Kilmacthomas region.
“We have seen employee numbers grow in parallel with the company revenue numbers,” says Mr Flahavan. “We are lucky to have a very dedicated and experienced workforce with very low levels of employee turnover.
“We anticipate employee numbers to grow further in line with our growth aspirations.
“We also are a significant contributor to the economy of the surrounding area in so far as we purchase all of our conventional porridge oats within a 50-mile radius of the mill.
“We are also a substantial purchaser of local goods and services. For the past six years we have actively been involved in promoting food in the area through our sponsorship of the West Waterford Festival of Food, our recent participation in the Waterford Harvest Festival and through our support in other activities.
“We are an active member of Love Irish Food which seeks to promote indigenous food brands and we are also a sponsor of the GIY Food movement.”
Mr Flahavan said the company is committed to sustainability and protecting the environment and the countryside surrounding the mill.
It is one of the founding members of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme and will soon be installing a wind turbine at the mill.
“The turbine will add to our credentials as being an environmentally friendly producer in conjunction with our water turbine and our oat husk burning boiler,” says Mr Flahavan.
The company, whose mill has been expanded over the years, produces Ireland’s favourite porridge brand. It has over a 50% share of the €28m hot oats cereals market and over 60% of the sector’s convenience segment.
It also recently launched a promotional campaign on television for its quick oats porridge convenience range, which taps into the growing consumer demand for a healthy and nutritious breakfast.
The advert was shot in Bray, Co Wicklow, and stars Waterford-born Holly Browne alongside award-winning Irish actor Jack Lowe, from Co Wicklow, and includes a cameo performance from Ellen Flahavan, daughter of John and Mary Flahavan, who own the family business.
It opens on a beautiful early morning seascape and cuts to Holly’s character preparing to leave home to cycle to work every morning, with the anticipation of a warm bowl of oats porridge sprinkled with her favourite fruit and honey topping.
The campaign aims to reach out to the growing phenomenon of professionals who eat breakfast at their place of work and will provide tips on how they can eat this important meal of the day alongside their colleagues.
Flahavan’s sales and marketing director John Noonan says that the campaign recognises the active, healthy lifestyle of the millennial generation.
It will appeal to those people who are not prepared to compromise on the most important meal of the day just because they have busy active lives.
“Our growing range of quick oats pots, sachets and drum means that there’s always time for a nutritious and convenient breakfast on the go,” says Mr Noonan.
“Flahavan’s is a brand steeped in history in Ireland with unrivalled family expertise and oat-milling tradition.
“We believe the quintessential Irishness of the brand comes across in the new campaign.”
