At the prestigious national Q Mark Awards ceremony in late September, Manor Farm Chicken was chosen from a very strong field as overall winner in Hygiene & Food Safety. Earlier in the night, the industry-leading, eighth-generation family business also scooped the Best Quality Certified Poultry Plant in Ireland award to make it another night to remember for the multiple award-winning Carton Bros.
Synonymous with quality and excellence, Manor Farm’s stunning Shercock facility has been singled out by the Excellence Ireland Quality Association (EIQA) as the country’s Best Quality Certified Poultry Plant. At this year’s Q Mark Awards, Manor Farm then went on to be crowned overall national winner in Hygiene & Food Safety – an accolade they garnered previously in 2008.
Manor Farm is the chicken brand of Carton Bros – now in the eighth generation of the Carton family, with Vincent Carton currently serving as managing director. Proud of its Irishness, the company employs more than 850 people directly, contracts a further 160 farmers and gives indirect employment to many more throughout the 26 counties.
Manor Farm is also committed to the Love Irish Food campaign, which reassures consumers that Irish products are kept on the shelves and keeps jobs in Ireland.
Based in Shercock, County. Cavan, Manor Farm is the largest chicken processing company in Ireland and has been run by the Carton family since 1775. They have been a member of the EIQA programme since the 1990s. This year, they beat off 15 other companies to claim the coveted Q Mark -. the highest quality award on offer to Irish businesses.
Their nomination placed them in the top 6.75% of all audits completed by the EIQA on the island of Ireland.
At the glitzy, black-tie national awards ceremony in Dublin’s Clayton Hotel on Friday, September 29th, Justin Carton was also recognised as a remarkable unsung hero to complete a magnificent hat-trick of awards for the Clonee, County Meath headquartered company on the night!
MD Vincent Carton stated: “Manor Farm is proud to be the recipient of this Q Mark Award as it underlines our commitment for high quality standards within the Irish poultry processing industry and recognises the company’s commitment to quality and hygiene at all levels.”
Meanwhile, Irene Collins, managing director of EIQA added: “Constant delivery of exceptionally high operating standards has taken Vincent, Justin, the team to the top of the Q. Their commitment to high standards of team training and customer satisfaction is recognised throughout the plant. A brilliant result for a brilliant team!”
EIQA has been the Irish National Quality Association since 1969. They currently audit the operating standards of thousands of organisations and businesses both in Ireland and internationally. EIQA is known as the ‘Guardian’ of The Q Mark suite of standards which includes: The Q Mark for Hygiene & Food Safety; The Q Mark for Quality Management Systems; The Q Mark for Nursing Homes; The Q Mark for Leisure Centres; The Q Mark for Accessibility (ABLE); and The Q Mark for Environmental Awareness (The Green Q).
Widely recognised as The Oscars of Business Excellence, a Q Mark Award is the highest accolade an Irish business can achieve, given both the intense competition and the exacting standards required. Over 500 people representing 135 companies attended the 2017 awards ceremony.
With its head office in Clonee and processing plant in Shercock, Carton Bros / Manor Farm is one of the oldest family companies in the country, dating back more than 240 years to 1775, when it was trading in the Dublin markets. Consistent within Manor Farm at all times is an unwavering dedication to quality and the production of unique and tasty chicken products using the very best chicken, which they produce themselves.
Manor Farm strives for top quality for all their Irish retailers, distributors and exports. The company prides itself on being an innovator within the poultry industry, constantly researching and benchmarking against its competitors both in Ireland and abroad.
This Q Mark Award is a testimony to the whole company and the teamwork generated throughout. There are many behind the scenes who go unrecognised for their hard work but without them, this landmark award could not have been achieved.
Following a major €13m overhaul, the poultry processing plant in Shercock is one of the most modern and sophisticated in Europe, as Manor Farm continues to relentlessly improve its processing facilities to levels way above industry standards. Through dedication to quality throughout all its facilities, Manor Farm produces the best chicken possible and is continually innovating and developing new recipes to bring delicious new chicken products to the table.
Consequently, they have been honoured with many awards over the years to mark these achievements – just one of the many reasons why retailers and consumers alike tend to choose Manor Farm’s chicken!
Notable for the number of firsts achieved, Manor Farm prides itself on the number of awards secured throughout the years and continues to invest heavily in quality assurance, through its highly-trained quality assurance personnel and quality systems. They were the first chicken company to be awarded the Irish Quality Mark; the first in Ireland and the UK to be EEC approved; the first to become ISO approved; and the first to win the overall National Hygiene & Food Safety award.
Twenty-thirteen was a particularly successful year on the awards front as six different products from their range achieved a gold star at the Great Taste Awards, while Manor Farm also won all the awards in their category at the Blas na hÉireann Awards that year.
Four years on, and not much has changed – they are still setting the gold standard when it comes to collecting major awards!
From one of the most modern processing facilities in Europe, producing up to 600,000 birds per week at its home in the heart of County Cavan, the company supplies customers from all the major supermarkets, local stores and butchers as well as foreign markets through exports.
Manor Farm retains total control over all stages of the chicken production process – all here in Ireland. They have their own feed mill (Manor Farm Kolbe Feed Mill) producing dedicated poultry feed only, whilst the contracted hatchery is Irish Department of Agriculture approved, ACP registered and adheres to all guidelines laid down by Manor Farm.
Contracted farmers grow only for Manor Farm and must comply with all the processes and guidelines defined to grow the best chickens possible.
Little wonder so many top accolades continue to wing their way to the state-of-the-art Shercock plant!
Manor Farm,
Shercock,
County Cavan.
Tel: 042 9691100
Fax: 042 9669698
email: [email protected]
Web: www.chicken.ie
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 8, December 2017/January 2018
