Family run businesses can stretch back for many years as the reins of the company is handed down from generation to generation.
Many customer prefer dealing with family run businesses as they feel that there is a more personal touch offered and this is certainly the case for fresh fruit and vegetables’ supplier Jackie Leonard & Sons Ltd who has been supplying their excellent service to a large customer base for the past 123 years!!
Amazingly, the Leonard family has been able to continue their business through three different centuries having first started traded in 1892.
The Dublin fruit and veg market is the heart beat of the capital and has been since it first began trading in the late 1800’s. A local woman known as Kate Leonard was one of the first people to take a stand in the new market which was opened by Dublin Corporation to cater for traders.
Kate worked hard to provide for her family and she soon became a popular figure in the area selling fresh fruit and fish to an ever increasing customer base.
Kate continued to work until her son Jack took over the business in the mid 1920s. Jack opened a retail green grocers on North King Street. His three sons Tom, Michael and Jackie all followed their father into the business as the next generation of Leonards put their stamp on the business.
Jackie in particular wanted to bring the business forward and the introduction of fresh fruit helped the company expand their portfolio.
Indeed, it is proudly stated that the first fresh fruit to be sold by Jackie was a pallet of Jaffa oranges. The three brothers worked tirelessly to develop the business and when Michael and Tom retired in the eighties, Jackie renamed the company Jackie Leonard & Sons.
Shortly after this Jackie was joined in the business by his own three sons Justin, Derek and Gary. Along with their mother Patricia, the family were very much hands on in the business as Justin explained to us for this month’s edition of Irish Tractor & Agri.
“I would go in with Dad to the market and work from 6am to 8.30am before heading off to school and I would return then in the evening. It was a long day, but we enjoyed it at the same time,” said Justin.
When I finished school, I got into college in 1986 and I was going to study art in Dun Laoghaire, but my father said why don’t I take a year out and work in the business and I’m still here since,” he joked.
“In 1988, we bought the stand of NJ King in the Dublin market. They specialised in exotic fruit and veg, supplying the catering trade which included hotels and restaurant in the city. I looked after this end of the business as we went from whole sale fresh produce to also supplying a direct delivery service from the market to the greater Dublin area.
“1991 was a big year for us as my father bought the old school house in north Anne street Dublin 7, his old national school, which he attended as a boy and turned the premises into a distribution depot to service the growing catering side of the business.”
In 1999, Jackie decided to retire from the business having spent a staggering 56 years developing the business into what it is today.
“Two years after Dad retired, the decision was made to focus more on the central distribution of fresh produce and we built an in-house pre-preparation room and cold storage are.”
Today Jackie Leonard and sons provides a wide range of fresh produce, from fresh fruit and vegetables to dairy, cheese, eggs, cooking oils, cooking wines and fresh prepared produce cut to order. With a modern fleet of vehicles delivering seven days per week throughout Dublin city and the greater Leinster region, Jackie Leonard & Sons has become a truly one stop shop for chefs and caterers.
“Versatility has been the key for us over the years and we are in a market that there is great demand for. We supply a number of restaurants, hospitals and hotels. As my father used to say ‘A clinched fist never caught anything’ which basically means we are always open to ideas on how to improve the business.”
Jackie Leonard & Sons Ltd offer a wide range of services and through their extensive network of contacts both here and abroad, they are able to source any type of fruit and veg even when it is out of season here.
We strive to supply Irish produce whenever the seasons allow, however when Irish produce is out of season.
“We would bring in a lot of fruit and veg from mainland Europe. I worked in this area and developed a lot of contacts over the years, many of who we have been dealing with for a number of years now.”
The company’s customer base has grown from just being in Dublin as the delivery vans can be seen in Louth, Meath, Carlow, Wicklow, Armagh and Kildare on a regular basis.
“It’s a big logistical task to get the products delivered to our large customer base. We have eight vans on the road and the time constraints involved are very tight indeed as you can imagine when dealing with foodstuff. Fortunately, we have a very highly professional staff here who work tirelessly to ensure that the customers get their deliveries on time.”
Jackie instilled one mantra that has been handed down from generation to generation, it is to never grow too big. “We have a saying in the family that ‘a small fire keeps you warm, but a big fire burns you out’. We were always happy to keep things just big enough that we could manage everything and that is something that we will continue with.”
We believe in being ‘’small enough to care, big enough to cope’’.
Health & Safety is obviously paramount with the company as working with food means that there are very high standards to be maintained at all times.
“We are certified in the management of hygiene and we take a great deal of pride in ensuring that the premises are kept to the highest standard.”
Their location on the Corporation Fruit Market in Dublin 7 allows them to have a quick turnaround. “We can get products here in no time and if we don’t have it, we will just source it from one of the traders here. It means that we can have orders done in double quick time and that is what the customer wants.”
Jackie Leonard & Sons,
Corporation Fruit Market,
Dublin 7.
Tel: +353-1-8733-055
Fax: +353-1-8733-056
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 10, November 2015
