REPORTS

on the MARKETS

If you had the '.choice of buying your fresh groceries from a farmers' market or a supermarket, it's not hard to imagine which would be your first choice. While the supermarket is great for getting everything you need under one roof, there is something special about buying your fresh produce from someone who has actually grown, reared, or made it themselves.

This may be the reason why so many so-called farmers' markets are springing up all over Ireland. Currently there are as many as 100 such markets taking place
each week around the country, selling anything from organic fruit and vegetables and homemade breads and pies through to handmade jewellery.

"Markets are the future and they are just going to get bigger and bigger," says Sean McArdle, who runs five farmers' markets in the Dublin area each week which he estimates are attended by as many as 7,000 people. "They are becoming a serious new retail force and supermarkets and other shops just can't compete with the quality, choice or price."

Jenny Kirkup agrees. The 37-year-old mother of two buys all her fresh produce from the market at Leopardstown Race Course each Friday. "Why would I go to a supermarket when I can come here and speak to the people about the products they are selling," she says. "It gives you confidence in what you are buying and the personal touch is much more welcoming." Kirkup doesn't seem to be alone. According to Tommy Relihan, of Relihan's Dry Cured Bacon, who has a weekly stall at the Leopardstown market, many customers come back each week especially to buy his bacon and, when he's not there, they complain.

"For them it's about having confidence in the quality of what they buy," he says. "It's about traceability. People want to know where their food has come from and I can tell them exactly because I have watched over it."

So what does this mean for the Socal shops? According to McArdle, it's only good news. "Markets are not a threat because they bring people into the area," he says. "They encourage people to come in and spend more money, maybe in a coffee shop or the pub, and in the long run actually benefit local shops rather than detracting attention away
from them."

Ronan Reynolds, chairman of the Malahide Chamber of Commerce, agrees. "We've definitely seen an increase in visitors since we've had the market," he says "It has brought a lot of peopK into the village who wouldn't normally come."

According to Reynolds, the people who come to such markets generally have a certain level of disposable income and may well pop into the local gift shops or clothes shops as well, just because they happen to be in the vicinity.

Weekend markets, such as those at Howth, Dun Laoghaire and Ranelagh, are particularly good for attracting new people to the "area, as market people see a trip to a farmers' market as a day out.

Stallholders are generally charged between €50 and €60 a day, though discounts are available to those who sign up in advance or attend several markets a week. Each seller is also required to cover his or her own insurance costs, the price of which varies depending on the individual market.

Many of the market stalls also trade as shops in the city centre or elsewhere, something that David McEvoy believes is necessary to make a living. "The markets are great and demand is strong, but for traders it is also expensive," says the butcher who four years ago converted one of the barns at his farm in Termonfeckin, Co Louth, into a shop. "We found that many Dubliners in were coming down to us for our produce so we decided to come up and bring it to them. But it involves a lot of travelling and is b\

a long day.

"Still, it's probably fair to assume that all the stalls are making money, otherwise why would they do it? Paddy Jack of Abbey cheese, Co Laois, has been selling his wares at markets for five years now and has seen a steady increase in sales - anywhere from 10-20 per cent each year. The cheese maker, who supplies fresh cheese to stores including Superquinn, has seen the revenue generated from his presence at farmers' markets
overtake that of his wholesale business over the past few years. "All the growth was coming from the markets, so that's where we decided to concentrate," he says. "For us, the markets are the future."

However, competition is hotting up. As the idea of purchasing goods from a market becomes more popular, so the number of markets increases. But can you have too much of a good thing?

Letty Lejeune of Blazing Salads, which has stalls at several of the Dublin-area markets as well as a shop in the city centre, thinks that maybe you can.

She believes that while the markets are great for bringing fresh, and in her case organic, produce to a wide range of customers, it is also important that there aren't too many of the same stalls at each market. Last Friday at Leopardstown at least three of the 20-odd stalls were selling bread.

So while there's no doubt that farmers' markets have an important part to play in the future shopping habits of many consumers, the proliferation of such events needs to be controlled. Where supermarkets have become old hat, markets need to remain individual and independent, surely after all, that is the whole purpose.

Festival-goers can expect to do well in the nutrition stakes this summer, with the launch of Pie Kitchen Irish-made gourmet pies, which will be available at many big music events, as well as from Farmers' markets in Leopardstown, Malahide and Howth, Co Dublin.

David and Dee Coffey set up in Smithfield, in Dublin, three months ago; they are now making about 500 savoury pies a week, using Irish ingredients. Everything from the stocks to the herb-flecked pastry is home made, and the pies are filled with hearty chunks of well-seasoned meat and veg. Current varieties are chicken Chardonnay, steak and stout, lamb and rosemary, and seasonal vegetable. Until they secure nationwide distribution, their pies, which cost about €5, are available from Haddington's Deli, Dublin 4: SuperValu, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin; Spars in Booterstown, Monkstown and Stillorgan, Co Dublin: Nolan's of Clontarf, Dublin 3; and Fresh, in Smithfield, Dublin 7.

See www.piekitchen.ie.

Marie-Claire Digby

Pie of the land

Sunday hunch

He's back, he's brasher than ever and he's got a cookbook to plug. Gordon Ramsay (left) bounced back on to our TV screens this week with the second series of his excellent Channel 4 show Gordon Ramsay's F Word, and this time he's on a mission to change the way we eat. He's targeting home cooks with his campaign to revive family meals, Sunday lunch in particular. Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch (Quadrille, £19.99) arranges the recipes cooked on the show into 25 three- course menus, with stunning photos byJill Mead.

Marie-Claire Digby

Irish Times June 24, 2006

LARCHILL Arcadian Gardens, Kilcock, will host the North East’s newest Farmer’s Market, a monthly market which will open on Sunday (16^th May) at 11 am and will run on the third Sunday of every month thereafter

The Farmer’s M'1rket movement has been sweeping the country over the last year. There are now over 20 markets running throughout Ireland. Irish Farmers Markets Limited is a pioneer of this movement with five well established markets already up and running on the East Coast

The Larchill market now joins Malahide, Glendalough, Leopardstown, Dun Laoghaire, IFSC (Dublin), and the extremely successful Castlebeillngham market.

Larchill is one of Ireland’s most important rediscovered gardens. Created in the mid 18th century, this award winning garden is the only surviving complete garden of its type in Europe. Scenic walks through parkland and beech avenues link 10 magical garden follies.

There is a picturesque eight-acre lake with two fairytale island follies, a formal Walled Garden with Shell Lined tower and a decorative gothic farmyard.

Larchill is truly a magical venue for hosting a Farmer’s market. So what's in store for market goers? Quality small food producers from around Ireland, and the North East will be tempting you with a wide variety of fresh produce, including organic meat, vegetables, fruit and herbs, specialty cakes & breads, cheeses, pasta, sauces, oils & olives, salads, jams & chutneys, home made fudge, chocolates, specialists teas & coffee, organic wine, whole food baking, savoury pancakes and waffles, soups, hand made fudge, as well Mexican, Indian and Malaysian food.

Top of Page

Producers

Some of the food producers attending the market include Denis

Healy from Wicklow, (largest selection of organic fruit and vegetables, from Ireland and abroad), Abbey Cheese from Abbeyleix, (Sheep’s and Goat’s specialist Cheeses), Pat Hyland from Dublin, (Organic Health Food - Rice & Grains, Irish Bay Tree from Leitrim, (Traditional Pate), French Charcuterie, Gallic Kitchen, Philip Little from Waterford, (Home produced organic, apple juice and apples), Corrylane Smokery from Westmeath, and Culdrum Organic Farm from Leitrim, (Organic Meat).

So far over 40 high quality food stalls are confirmed for Sunday’s Market. Craft workers from around the North East area will also be showing an exciting range of work. Quality handknits, clothes, jewellery, kitchenware and wooden crafts, are just some of the items that will be for sale. Also on display on the day will be shrubs, garden plants, and floral sundries. The Garden Department is a new gardening/floral mail order company.

At the market they will be showing a range of products, including; shrubs, climbers, etc. filled window boxes, hanging baskets and pots, bedding plants, fuchsia, etc. and a range of gardening and floral accessories.

For more information on the market contact Sean McArdle @ 087 611 5016 or 0402 36546 or isit www.irishfarmrsmarkets.ie

A new weekly Organic Market opportunity has developed in South Dublin, with the opening of the Leopardstown Organic Market. This market is open every Friday from 1 noon until 7pm at the famous racecourse venue. There is a large FREE CAR PARK at the venue, with very good access to both an indoor and OUTDOOR Market.

All the produce sold at the market is grown or crafted by the stall holders and is either Organic or a related foodstuff, craft, etc.

- The Western Organic Producers Jan/Feb 2003

Top of Page