Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Ltd in Tralee, Co Kerry has grown to become one of Ireland’s leading DeLaval dealers, so we felt it was time to catch up with company Sales Manager Derek O’Brien to find out more.
The origins of Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Ltd date back to 1972 when north Kerry native joined Blennerhasset Brothers in Tralee. At that time, the Blennerhassets were the main Alfa Laval (now better known as DeLaval) dealers in Co Kerry.
Two years later, Eddie joined Alfa Laval and worked with them over the next seven years, initially as a serviceman before delving into their sales department.
Before long Eddie would leave the company to set-up his own business venture, which saw him installing new milking parlours, servicing DeLaval milking systems and bulk tanks for Kerry Co-Op.
Since that time, Eddie and his team of staff have grown a glowing reputation for their outstanding service which caters for the needs of progressive milk producers. Along with milking equipment, they also supply automatic yard scrapers, cow comfort and slat mats, power washers and a wide range of premium quality, dairy detergents and teat dips.
Derek O’Brien filled us in a bit more about the company.
“We’re based in Tralee, Co Kerry and the current company was set-up in 2002,” explained Derek.
“Eddie has been in this line of work since back in 1972 though and his son Tommie is the Technical Director here. We have 12 staff at the moment in total.”
He continued: “What we do here is basically milk machines and service tanks for Kerry Co-op. We have three lads working here full-time dedicated to servicing and fitting.
“We have 10 vans and two jeeps on the road and we cover the whole county – from Kenmare to north Kerry to the Dingle peninsula. We run a fleet of Nissans here and we’ve a mobile shop on the road too which calls to all of our farmers on a monthly basis.”
According to Derekkreidytransport@eircom.
A prime example would be a farmer calling a serviceman at 7am in a panic with a plant broken down. Fortunately for the farmer, his servicemen are often able to diagnose and fix the problem over the phone. This is then followed up later with a service call to repair or replace any problem component.
Eddie has a team of 11 capable men available which cover the entire north Kerry region and beyond. They are: Derek O’Brien, Ballymacelligot; Joseph Diggins, Causeway; Robert Bower and Tommie Slattery, Killarney; Paudie O’Callaghan, Rathmore; Kevin O’Sullivan, Castleisland; Kevin O’Dwyer, Freemount; Declan O’Callaghan, Causeway; Mike O’Connor, Ballyduff; Richard O’Mahony, Ballyheigue; Francis Cunningham, Ballyduff.
Those 11 men leave Eddie’s customers a phone call away from professional assistance and most clients can expect the emergency service within one hour of picking up the phone and calling.
The service men at Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Ltd are all carefully trained by DeLaval engineers and accredited to a very high standard.
Tim Hussey of DeLaval Ltd and Eddie both continually stress the benefits of a milking parlour which is well maintained. The famers which avail of the preventative maintenance programs have their plants and equipment serviced twice annually, so as they can sleep soundly as a costly breakdown during milking for them is unlikely.
All this adds up to the reason why business at the moment is thriving for Eddie Slattery.
“Business is very good. We’ve recently installed robots for Dermot and Monica Flynn in Causeway and for Gerard O’Hanlon as well,” Derek stated.
“We do a lot of milking tanks here too and are providing customers with a service which is 24/7 and 365 days a year.”
Over the space of 12 months or so, Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Ltd have installed five DeLaval VMS or Robots in Co Kerry.
The DeLaval VMS milking robots are renowned for their operating efficiency as well as their robust, around the clock performance. What is most impressive is that they enable you to harvest up to 3,000 litres of milk per day per robot and come as a standard with four quarter milking mastitis detection (MDi) milking analysis technology, among other things.
As aforementioned, the company have installed for Dermot and Monica Flynn, Causeway, Co Kerry, a 44 unit Parallel Rotary PR2100 complete feed to yield and a drafting system.
So why is it that Eddie Slattery’s customers continue to choose him first? The company’s MD cites two key reasons in his explanation.
“I think they choose us because of the quality of the product that we have here and the different options that we give them,” said Derek.
“Our business has grown hugely in the north Kerry area down through the years and we’re happy to report that we’re still experiencing busy times.”
Even throughout the economic downturn the company was managing well and Derek sees 2016 as being tough again. However, he is confident that they’ll come through.
“This year is going to be a tester with the way milk prices are,” he said.
“Eddie has been going with DeLaval since 1972 and he is now the main dealer for them in Ireland, so there’s no arguing the company’s record of success. Hopefully we’ll continue to stay busy like we are at the moment and that things will eventually turn around with regards to milk prices and that.”
So if you’re looking for a reliable outfit to install your VMS machines or robots, look no further than Eddie Slattery Dairy and Refrigeration Ltd down in Tralee.
Eddie Slattery Dairy & Refrigeration Ltd
Address: Unit D Mart Yard,
Árd na Sidhe, Carrigeendaniel,
Tralee, Co. Kerry
Phone: (066) 711 8800
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 5, June 2016
