Winning the Fruit and Vegetable Agribusiness of the Year 2017 represents a hat trick for Meade Potato Company, having won the coveted award in 2015 and 2016. Irish Tractor & Agri learned more from those behind the running of the Co Meath based firm.
Eleanor Meade is the Business Operations Manager of the Meade Potato Company and made no secret of the fact that November’s victory at the Ballsbridge Hotel was both a surprising and welcome one.
“We were surprised but delighted to win for the third year in a row. The competition was tough but I think our continued efforts on the sustainability front, as well as our ability to bring the family farm ethos to a large scale professional operation is what got us over the finish line first,” Eleanor comments.
On the night, they also picked up the Prepared Foods Agribusiness of the Year for their new venture, the Meade Prepared Foods Division.
They started supplying peeled potato products at the end of 2016 concentrating on the catering and foodservice markets.
“The uptake on this arm of our business has been good; I think there is a real appetite out there by catering and foodservice customers for high quality Irish potatoes. We’ve grown quite significantly in the last 12 months. It’s a part of our business that really aids our sustainability so we are determined to push for further growth,” adds Robert Devlin, General Manager of the company.
The grower, packer and distributor from Lobinstown, Co. Meath has gone from strength to strength since it was first founded in 1982 by Philip Meade Sr. They have grown in tandem with the supermarkets they supplied, diversifying in the process.
While they specialise in growing potatoes and carrots, they offer the full range of fresh produce to their customers. A trusted team of growers across Ireland and throughout the world enable them to provide retailers with the complete fresh produce basket.
“We work with a great team of growers, many that are second and third generation. They care about the quality of the produce as much as we do,” says Philip Meade Jr., Commercial Director.
Farm Manager Conor O’Malley oversees the potato and carrot crops.
“The geographical spread of our land in the northeast region can be quite demanding at times, having to travel to spray our various crops during the spring and summer, but it’s part and parcel of the job. Part of our sustainability plan is to decrease crop inputs and aim for more organic inputs so with the right management we hope to spend less time in the tractor,” observes O’Malley.
Their tractor work is done by a John Deere fleet, with carrots being harvested by a Grimme 1700 DLS while potatoes are harvested by a Grimme GT170. De-stoning is done by Grimme Destoner and bed tilling by a Machsio bed tiller. Spraying is done by Amazone UX3200. GPS trackers help minimise input costs.
Sustainability is a big part of what they do and to that end they are using more organic based fertilisers alongside implementing the latest agronomic trends. Regular soil testing also forms a part of their sustainability regime to ensure that crop applications are designed specifically for the land planted.
In an effort to help other growers learn more about the new sustainability measures that have been rolled into the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme for growers (now called the Sustainable Horticulture Assurance Scheme), Meade Potato Company facilitated two days of workshops given by Bord Bia on the new schemes.
“We were delighted to host them. It gives our own growers, as well as others, a better understanding on how to comply. With a Bord Bia QA mark meaning so much to our customers and to Irish consumers, it is time well spent learning how to achieve it,” notes Louise Joyce, Technical Manager for the company.
Quality Assurance is an essential part of the service that Meade Potato Company provides. With a team consisting of a Potato Quality Manager, Fruit and Vegetables Quality Manager, a Technical Manager (who manages all audits and certifications) and numerous QA technicians, significant resources at Meades are directed towards this aspect of their business.
“Quality Assurance is of the utmost importance to our company. While we always strive to produce premium quality crops, that is only the beginning of the quality journey,” explains Business Operations Manager Eleanor Meade. Once the produce arrives from the farm into their food production facility it must be stored at the optimal temperature, packed correctly and managed well in the distribution process.
“Our IT system plays a huge part in making sure produce is fully traceable throughout the supply chain. We have made a significant iinvestment in our IT department over the past two years to both track our efficiencies better and to give us an airtight traceability system,” Eleanor explains.
Double AA ratings from the BRC for the past 2 years and successful Bord Bia and Global Gap audits are testament to this complete commitment to quality assurance.
This has been an eventful autumn for the company. In addition to winning the Agribusiness Awards, they also took home a commendation for their Rooster potatoes at the Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards. “We were proud to receive this award amongst a competitive field. The judging was done in July when we were coming to the end of our Rooster supply so it’s satisfying to know that our potatoes are as delicious in July as they were the previous September when they were harvested!” notes Philip Jr.
November saw them featured in the Ernst & Young Awards in a piece on one of their community foodbanks, Foodcloud. Foodcloud was recognised for their work in preventing food waste and chose to showcase their partnership with Meade Potato Company in the awards night video and television piece.
“We have a great relationship with Foodcloud, and with Crosscare our other farm to fork community foodbank partner, as all three of our organisations have a strong commitment to preventing food waste and re-directing food surplus to those in need. We have just started a gleaning pilot project with Foodcloud that promises to be both sustainable and social, so watch this space,” adds Eleanor.
Meade’s were on the small screen again in January in an RTE documentary (One Day: How Irelan Eats) featuring a day in the life of Farm Manager Conor O’Malley. Meade was chosen to tell the story of the potato with other food producers such as a bread maker and a pig farmer.
“We were thrilled to see the potato being featured so prominently on this prime time documentary. I think viewers will gain a new appreciation of the hard work that all of Ireland’s potato growers put into their crops,” observes Conor.
Meade’s commitment to consumer education on the farming life also extended to staging a Family Fun Day at the Farm this year for the second year running. With an array of activities on offer including field to fork tours, bouncy castles, tractor rides, mini tractor grand prix and a children’s hoedown, the event was a fun, affordable family day out with all funds raised going to the two local schools.
“We highlighted the carrot this past Family Fun Day which was great. It was harvest time and we had some of our carrot crop on site so it was a great opportunity for tour groups to learn more about the health benefits of this nutritious mainstay of the Irish diet. The samples bags we gave out also went down a real treat,” explains Patrick Meade, Commercial Director.
Shortly after the Family Fun Day at the Farm, another crop was featured with National Potato Day. Celebrating their namesake, the company hosted a Boyne Valley Food Series event, “Behind the Scenes with the Spud” as well as a school tour.
“People, both children and adults alike, are always amazed at the hard work that goes into bringing our crops from field to fork. It’s really good to give them an insight and to educate them a bit about our sustainability journey,” explained Jeni Meade, Marketing Communications Manager.
While all the community work and accolades are encouragement for a job well done, the core business of producing quality crops to achieve customer satisfaction is what drives Meade Potato Company on.
“Along with our team of growers, our main focus day in and day out in bringing quality produce to our customers. Once you do that well, that’s the main thing,” says Philip Jr.
Meade Potato Company
Lobinstown,
Navan,
Co. Meath
Tel: 046 905 3198
Web: meadepotato.com
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 2, March/April 2018
