Since February 2015, Temple Dairy Ltd has been producing delicious chocolate milk which is now being supplied to SuperValu and Centra stores across the country. CEO and former Republic of Ireland women’s soccer international Marie Curtin explains more about the award-winning family-run enterprise.
Producing farm fresh foods which are healthy, natural and wholesome, Temple Dairy has come a long way in just two years. Having initially supplied its chocolate milk to 36 SuperValu stores in the Munster region, the Temple Dairy range can now be purchased around Ireland following a recent rollout at selected SuperValu and Centra stores.
To coincide with this exciting development, Munster and Ireland rugby star Keith Earls has become a brand ambassador for Temple Dairy chocolate milk. For Temple Dairy, quality and taste is everything and this was undoubtedly a major factor in the Limerick / Cork-based firm being honoured with the prestigious Agribusiness Rising Star Award at the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin on November 17 last.
“It’s an exciting time for the company,” Marie says.
“Right now, we are a small, but growing company. To win the Rising Star Award was tremendous recognition for us because we were up against some of the biggest names in the agribusiness sector. Our product is now available nationwide thanks to our association with Musgrave and we’ve got a proud Limerick man in Keith Earls on board as brand ambassador.
“Keith is the perfect fit for us because we promote getting active and being mindful in health. He’s a local sporting icon, role model and family man who happens to love the great taste of our dairy chocolate milk. His children love it too!”
Marie set up Temple Dairy with the help of her father Sean Curtin, who has been running a successful dairy farm in Athlacca, Co. Limerick since the 1950s. She had just returned from spells in the US and Norway where she played soccer semi-professionally in a full-time training environment. During her playing career, the talented sports woman earned 45 caps for the Republic of Ireland and also won an All-Ireland junior ladies football medal with Limerick at Croke Park in 2010.
The idea for producing chocolate milk grew from Marie and Sean’s respective sporting and dairying backgrounds. “It came from a conversation I had with him,” she recalls.
“My father, who like all dairy farmers had suffered with falling milk prices, always wanted to do a value-added product and we could both see that there was a gap in the market for a healthy flavoured milk drink. Shortly after, Temple Dairy came into being.”
Sean and his son John’s expertise in milk production is paramount to Temple Dairy. Their extreme care and deep enthusiasm for bringing a quality and beneficial product to the consumer is evident in their management of milk production operations. Marie and John’s brother Donie, who had been in Canada for a number of years, is also involved in the business which currently has seven staff on its books.
From the green grasslands of the family farm where the 100-strong Holstein Friesian herd grazes, to milking, to cream separation and mixing of ingredients, to homogenization and pasteurization, and to bottling and packaging, Temple Dairy aims to operate in the most environmentally-friendly fashion. By using its own farm milk, the freshest and most delicious produce is assured.
Furthermore, the farm uses GM (Genetically Modified) free meal to feed its cows, meaning they are on the most natural and wholesome diet there is to bring the most and healthy range.
Temple Dairy uses ingredients in their basic form where possible. The natural taste of its products make for a ‘Heaven Sent’ tasting experience. Temple Dairy Chocolate Milk is a low-fat product with no artificial preservatives, flavourings or colourings. It’s naturally high in protein. The product is 94 per cent fresh milk and thus is almost completely made up of natural sugars. The low-added sugar in every bottle is natural brown cane sugar, while the cocoa ingredient used is known to be a natural anti-oxidant.
The Temple Dairy Chocolate Milk range currently comes in two sizes – 250ml (RSP €1.95) and 500ml (RSP €2.95). The company is in the process of developing more flavours and products which it hopes to bring to the market in the near future.
“There’s a lot more to come, but as a start-up company there are huge challenges involved. Our viewpoint is that if we are going to produce anything, it has to be good. It has to be as pure as we can make it. Quality is key,” the affable CEO adds.
With a brand emphasis on health and wellness – as some foodies’ favourite mantra ‘My body is a Temple’ – Temple Dairy represents the love for where it comes from, the product it produces and the values of the people the brand is reaching out to. The word ‘Temple’ derives from Rosstemple, which is the townland in which the family farm is located.
In summary, Temple Dairy’s mission is to make high-quality products as close to nature and wholesomely good as possible.
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 2, March 2017
