Awards for McCormack's Farms and Clonarn Clover
Meath based companies, Clonarn Clover and McCormack Farms Ltd are celebrating success at the Leinster final of the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards. The awards, presented at The Aviva Stadium, Dublin saw six other Leinster businesses selected as winners. The eight winners will now progress to the national final in December to compete with winners from Munster, Connacht and Ulster.
A total of 676 companies entered this year’s awards – including 260 Leinster businesses.
The winner of the Leinster Best Agri Business was McCormack Farms Ltd, a family run agri-business in Kiltale which was established in 1984. The farm produces various vegetables including broccoli and lettuce and sells directly to the Smithfield Market in Dublin. Since 2007, having spent the best part of 20 years selling directly to business, the company earned its first retail account by selling its herbs and baby leaf to Superquinn. Since then McCormack’s has gone from strength to strength and today is a supplier to all of the top retailers in Ireland including Lidl, Tesco and Dunnes Stores. They employ 83 staff in Kiltale.
Clonarn Clover was the winner of the Leinster Best Food & Business Award. Clonarn Clover is a producer of free range eggs that uses a pioneering alternative farm system allowing hens full and free access to the outdoors. The hens are housed in well-equipped traditional housing where they return several times a day from their rambles to feed/drink and for safety from predators at night. Clonarn Clover Free Range Eggs works with 21 farmers in Cavan, Meath, Longford, Limerick and Monaghan taking care of 130,000 free range hens; and gives employment locally to 30 people. The family run company is 100% committed to free range egg production. Their products are produced and packed on traditional Bord Bia approved farms. The company is based in Kells.
The Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards provincial winners for Leinster are as follows:
1. Business Start Up - DP Financial Ltd. t/a Rye River Brewing Company
2. Small Business – The Grafton Barber
3. Established SME – Integrity 360
4. International Business – Netwatch
5. Social Enterprise – Grow Dome Project
6. Food & Drink – Clonarn Clover
7. Agri Business - McCormack Farms Ltd
8. Women Led Business – Polar Ice
The 2015 Ulster Bank Business Achiever will receive a comprehensive prize package including a €50,000 publishing bursary with the Irish Independent, business mentoring from Enterprise Ireland, a full service communications workshop, as well as national and regional PR coverage.