Knockanore Farmhouse Cheese Company has been producing speciality cheeses for the past 22 years. The proprietor, Eamonn Lonergan, outlined for the Rural Development Support Unit how the need for an alternative income on the family farm spawned a successful indigenous business that is now exporting to Europe and the US.
Having grown up on a farm, Eamonn tried his hand at a variety of roles in industry, from accounts to sales. However in 1978 he returned to the farming life, working on the family’s dairy farm in Co Waterford. He tried a number of different farm-based initiatives to develop an income stream: renting land, growing crops, rearing calves. He still felt though that he needed something separate to provide a top-up to the income generated through farming.
In 1985, there were very few farmers engaged in alternative enterprises and the inspiration for Eamonn’s next move originated not in farming but in the capital city. Veronica and Norman Steele were based in Dublin when they first began to weave their cheese-making dream. That dream brought them to West Cork where they bought a farm and a cow. By the time Eamonn came across the couple, they had been making cheese for almost 10 years. Eamonn was fascinated by the fact that they had started from scratch and, developing their skills and their know-how as they went along, they had built up a successful cheese-making business. What was more, they were using their own milk in the process. Very quickly, he was hooked on the idea.
Eamonn knew very little about cheese making at that point but both his sister and his brother-in-law had studied food science. “It was great to be able to bounce ideas off them”, he says. Those ideas though needed to be transformed into something more practical. He found just the support and expertise that he needed for that at University College Cork (UCC). In particular, he notes that Professors Patrick Fox, Charles Daly and John Foley were very supportive of Irish cheese-making. In 1986 and 1987, Eamonn attended UCC where he learned about the theory and the practical aspects of cheese-making, working with milk from his own farm to discover the distinctive qualities and flavours that he could bring out in his cheese.
“I came out of UCC full of ideas for different cheeses. But there was a long process ahead of me in terms of product development. There wasn’t much interest at that time in tasting panels or in-store tasting so the process of testing a product in the market-place was a slow one.” However Eamonn persisted and he found another source of support when Teagasc’s Moorepark Technology Limited opened in Fermoy. “They were very helpful, in particular Tim Coogan and Tim Guinea. The support they provided in fine-tuning and in getting the product ready for market was invaluable.”
Eamonn began selling Knockanore Farmhouse Cheeses in 1987/88, concentrating initially on the local market. Since then his business has gone from strength to strength. While the bulk of today’s sales are in Ireland, his farm-based enterprise is also selling into markets in the UK, Denmark and the USA.
Asked about what has contributed to achieving this success, Eamonn points to a number of different elements. First and foremost, he says “We’re very much a family business. I’ve had great support over the years from my late parents Ned and Mai, my wife Patricia and my five children Aisling, Orla, Lisa, Edward and Joanne.” He speaks of a process of continuous development: “If you’re not getting repeat business, if your business isn’t growing enough, you need to be continually asking yourself ‘how can I improve this?’” He refers to his involvement with CÁIS, the Irish Farmhouse Cheese-makers Association, of which Eamonn is the current Chairman. “The Association is about networking and sharing ideas. You get to talk with other cheese-makers about the issues you’re having, something that’s very beneficial, particularly to a person who is just starting out. The network provides a good environment where you can learn how to walk and then run.” CÁIS is currently looking at pooling the resources of its members to develop marketing supports for the group. Eamonn notes also the contribution of Teagasc, whose Artisan Food Technologist, Sara McSweeney, works with cheese-makers to help them with training, advice and technical assistance. Not least in Eamonn’s list of supports is Waterford LEADER. “I couldn’t say enough good things about what LEADER has done, whether in supporting us with grants for building and equipment or providing training and marketing supports.”
Reflecting on the recent economic boom, Eamonn feels that one of the main benefits for his business from the Celtic Tiger years was a broadening of tastes for Irish palates. While the current downturn presents challenges, he thinks the artisan food industry will manage. “People want to know where their food is coming from. There’s still a market there to support the production of local food.” This was very evident at a recent slow food event hosted on the Lonergan farm. In the region of 400 people showed up to sample and buy local ice-creams, cheeses, breads, pancakes, jams and sausages.
Given his success in cheese-making, it’s easy to forget that Eamonn is also a farmer. When asked why he continues to farm rather than go fully into cheese production, his answer is telling: “Part of the mystique and the passion of what we do is about the production of the raw materials. There’s just as much interest in the milking of the cows as there is in the cheese-making process.” It’s that passion for the ways of farming and the art of cheese-making that comes across in the taste of Knockanore Farmhouse Cheeses.
Eamonn can be contacted via his web site www.knockanorecheese.com
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