Folláin Traditional Irish Preserves is doubling its workforce from 20 to 40 over the next five years with the opening in August of a new, energy efficient facility in Ballyvourney, West Cork.
The total investment of over €2m will allow the company to grow its capacity by 100%, add a more specialised production line and also branch into new product offerings.
A family-run business founded in Ballyvourney by Máirín O’Lionaird and her husband Peadar, Folláin has been producing fresh fruit marmalades, jams, relishes and chutneys with 100pc natural ingredients since 1983.
“Folláin started because of a desire to preserve food traditions and passing on those traditions from one generation to the next is at the core of our ethos,” she said.
“Our new facility will have two production lines as opposed to the one we currently operate from. This will enable us to produce premium food products made with natural ingredients at a larger scale and also enable us to bring new innovative specialist products to the market.
“We will also move to a more sustainable manufacturing process, for example, using gas as our energy source and installing heat exchangers to allow us to recover energy.”
In the future the new facility will be developed further as a destination for people to visit, with a coffee shop where Folláin will trial new products and serve local produce and a visitor centre where people can view the production process.
Folláin products are stocked in Tesco, SuperValu, Dunnes Stores, independent outlets and fine food shops nationwide.