Taste the Nation: This West Cork farming family turned their passion into a thriving business
Alan Owned Milk By Produces Dairy Valerie Farm Kingston, And Local Fresh Produts Using Glenilen
The story of family-owned food producer Glenilen Farm began in the kitchen of Valerie and Alan Kingston’s home in Drimoleague in 1997.
“We had no intention of starting a business, really. It was pin money, and it was a hobby and a passion,” Valerie says. “But we saw the potential and we’re very glad that it has grown into a business.”
Still based in Drimoleague, Glenilen Farm now processes almost 100,000 litres of milk weekly, churning out a quarter of a million pots of yogurt each week. But even as the company grew, the goal has continued to be producing “good wholesome, simple food” from Irish ingredients.
“My benchmark is that the products we produce today are to taste as good if not better than what we were making in the kitchen,” says Valerie.
The Kingstons are passionate about sustainability and have invested in solar panels, rainwater collection and heat recovery systems, planting native trees and using only locally sourced milk.
Sustainability is a big focus for the West Cork-based Glenilen Farm and will be at the core of what they do in the future.
Their main goal is to produce food that is good for your health.
Valerie studied food science and technology at University College Cork (UCC). She spent two years volunteering in Burkina Faso in West Africa with a dairy project before returning to West Cork and marrying Alan. The pair set up home on Alan’s farm, which has been in his family for 200 years.
Valerie has always loved baking and cooking from scratch. With a dairy farmer for a husband and her background in food science and technology, she began experimenting in the kitchen and selling her dairy-based products at the local country markets in Bantry.
One afternoon, she returned from the market having made €100 from selling her yogurt, soft cheese, and cheesecakes.
“That was the Eureka moment for Alan," she says.
“He came into the kitchen, put the apron on, and learned how to use the Kenwood mixer.
The pair started selling yogurts out of the back of a van at local farmer’s markets and their business began to grow alongside their family.
By 2008 they had outgrown their unit on the farmyard and built a larger space. Following steady growth, Alan and Valerie hired their first employee in 2002 and they now employ 50 people in West Cork.
Valerie and Alan have always focused on using simple ingredients, and this is something that has continued to lead their business.
“Even as a teenager, I would have made yogurt at home in a flask and gone out to the garden, picked berries, and put it together. I remember thinking that 'this just tastes so good - you can’t buy anything like this'. So, I suppose that is what I was trying to recreate.”
In keeping with their desire to produce good, healthy food, Glenilen Farm recently launched Kefir yogurt multipacks following the success of the 350g pot. Kefir has been one of the brand's most successful new products, tapping into the demand for healthy yoghurt snacks with the added benefit of gut health.
Glenilen Farm products are stocked in all major supermarkets in Ireland and sales are growing rapidly. Its retail partners include Supervalu, Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Lidl and Aldi.